Day trips from Rome

The fast trains make Naples and Florence realistic as day trips, a hill town and a villa garden lie nearer, and Pompeii is the longest day of all. Train times are typical scheduled journey times from the Trenitalia journey planner for a weekday in November and start at Roma Termini unless noted; the fast Frecciarossa trains to Naples and Florence include a seat reservation in the fare. Car times are estimates from a routing engine on OpenStreetMap data and assume free-flowing roads, so allow more on a summer weekend.

Naples

1 h 8 min to 1 h 15 minFrecciarossa from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale
about 2 h 28 min

Rome's noisy southern cousin: pizza was born here, Spaccanapoli cuts the old town in a straight line, and the Archaeological Museum holds the finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum. A day covers the centre, the pizza and the museum, but not the city.

Tip: Eat your pizza at one of the old-town pizzerias and skip the queue at the most famous name, because the place a few doors down is often as good. Put the Archaeological Museum in the schedule first: it is the one stop that justifies the trip on its own. Finish at the Piazza del Plebiscito with the sea in sight, and leave a margin for the train back, as the roads around the station are busy.

Weather: Napoli

Florence

1 h 36 min to 1 h 42 minFrecciarossa from Roma Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella
about 2 h 59 min

The cathedral dome that Brunelleschi completed in 1436, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio and Michelangelo's David all stand within walking distance. It is too much for a day, so choose one museum and spend the rest of the hours outdoors.

Tip: Reserve a time slot for the Uffizi or the Accademia, where David stands, well ahead, and treat the dome climb in the cathedral as a booked visit too. Cross the Ponte Vecchio to the Oltrarno side for lunch and walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the view of the whole city before the last comfortable train.

Weather: Firenze

Pompeii

about 2 h 1 min to 2 h 13 minFrecciarossa from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, then the Circumvesuviana to Pompei Scavi
about 2 h 39 min

A Roman town sealed under ash by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Streets still carry the ruts of carts, bakeries and shops stand along them, and the frescoed houses show how well off some of the residents were.

Tip: This is the longest day on the list, so leave on an early train. Tickets carry the visitor's name and the daily entries are capped at 20,000, so buy ahead in high season. The site is bigger than it looks from the gate, with almost no shade, so bring water and a hat, and count on four hours inside.

Weather: Pompei

Orvieto

1 h 16 min to 1 h 34 minIntercity or regional train from Roma Termini, then the funicular up from the station
about 1 h 31 min

A town on a tufa cliff in Umbria with a cathedral whose facade glitters with mosaic, and, inside it, Signorelli's frescoes of the Last Judgement in the San Brizio chapel. Underneath the old town lies a network of caves and tunnels.

Tip: Take a direct Intercity if you can: the fastest trains need about an hour and a quarter, while some regional ones take two hours. The chapel with the frescoes is ticketed, so check the cathedral's site before you go. Come in the afternoon, when the sun reaches the facade, and walk the edge of the cliff on the way back to the station.

Weather: Orvieto

Tivoli

Fountains and a long pond among cypresses in the gardens of Villa d'Este — Photo: Marian Florinel Condruz / Pexels, Pexels License

50 min to 1 hRegional train from Roma Tiburtina to Tivoli
about 37 min

Two UNESCO sites in one town: the Villa d'Este, a 16th-century garden whose fountains run on gravity alone, and Hadrian's Villa, the emperor's country palace a few kilometres outside. The Villa Gregoriana adds a waterfall in a ravine.

Tip: The station lies in the lower town, and the Villa d'Este is a climb of ten to fifteen minutes up into the old centre. Hadrian's Villa needs a local bus or taxi from town, so do it in the morning and keep the garden for the afternoon. The tourist office of Rome describes both and the waterfall.

Weather: Tivoli

Timetables and tickets at Trenitalia