Full day excursion to Tivoli and Subiaco.

Wine wine and olive oil tasting tour. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Tivoli and Subiaco, 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 10:00 am and drive to Subiaco, where we visit the incredible labyrinth of chapels in the monastery of St. Benedict. If you like, we have lunch in the in a lovely little restaurant housed in the cellars of the Borgia Castle and in the afternoon we drive to Tivoli. In Tivoli we'll walk through the medieval town and visit Villa D'Este. At the end of the tour you'll be driven back to your hotel.

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We will be driving on the motorway towards Subiaco and reach it in about one hour. Subiaco is famous for being the location of two important monasteries: St. Benedict's, called "Sacro Speco" and St. Scolastica, but also for having been the birth place of two of the most famous Italian women: Lucrezia Borgia and Gina Lollobrigida! It's the "Sacro Speco" though the real attraction in Subiaco. This incredible monastery built and decorated between the 12th and 13th century is really unbelievable. Built on the cave where St. Benedict lived, it consists in a labyrinth of chapels all beautifully decorated with frescos, and one of the frescoes is a portrait of St. Francis made when he was still alive and before he received his stigmata. It's in fact the only picture of the Saint without the stigmata and the halo!

After visiting the "Sacro Speco", before we move to Tivoli to visit Villa D'Este, we can stop for lunch in Subiaco, in a little family run restaurant housed in the cellars of the Rocca (castle) of the Borgias where the famous Lucrezia was born.

Once in Tivoli we'll stroll through the streets of the medieval town to get to the Villa D'Este and visit the place. Built in the 16th Century for the Cardinal Ippolito D'Este (son of the famous Lucrezia Borgia) when he became the governor of Tivoli, the

Full day excursion to Tivoli and Ostia Antica. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Tivoli and Ostia Antica. 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 10:00 am and drive to Ostia. In Ostia we'll visit the excavations site and then drive to Tivoli. Lunch can be in Tivoli or Ostia. We'll tour around Villa D'Este in the afternoon. At the end of the tour you'll be driven back to your hotel. The itinerary could be reversed, Villa D'Este in the morning and Ostia Antica in the afternoon.

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Located at the mouth of the Tiber river, only a half-hour drive from Rome, Ostia Antica (Ancient Ostia) offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the Ancient Romans. Founded in the seventh century B.C., as a military fort, called Castrum, that guarded the river mouth against sea borne invasions, Ostia later gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. Ostia is easily comparable to Pompeii: you walk through the ruins of a city that was abandoned in the fifth century A.D., but you'll not have the company of thousands of tourists like in Pompeii because it's not nearly as well known. Ostia was for 1500 years a ghost town, covered by marshy swamp and infested with malaria. The Italian Government ordered the first systematic archaeological excavations in the beginning of the 20th Century, and to this day, not all of Ancient Ostia has been dug out. Driving from Ostia to Tivoli, we'll have to skirt Rome driving on the freeway the belts the city and then get on the motorway. On the way to Tivoli, time permitting we will stop to look at the marble quarries at the foot of the hill. Once in Tivoli we'll stroll through the streets of the medieval town to get to the Villa D'Este and visit the place.

Built in the 16th Century for the Cardinal Ippolito D'Este (son of the famous Lucrezia Borgia) when he became the governor of Tivoli, the beautiful villa is world known for its astounding garden decorated by hundreds of artistic water fountains.

Full day excursion to Ostia Antica, Castelgandolfo and Nemi.

Wine tasting tour. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Ostia Antica, Castelgandolfo and Nemi 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 10:00 am and drive to Ostia Antica. In Ostia we'll visit the excavations site and then drive to Castelgandolfo. Lunch can be in Nemi or Castelgandolfo. We'll tour around Castelgandolfo and Nemi in the afternoon. At the end of the tour you'll be driven back to your hotel.

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Located at the mouth of the Tiber river, only a half-hour drive from Rome, the visit of Ostia is like the visit of Tivoli and the Roman Castles: a relaxing trip. Ostia Antica (Ancient Ostia) was founded Ostia in the seventh century B.C., as a military fort, called Castrum, that guarded the river mouth against sea borne invasions. Ostia later gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. Ostia is easily comparable to Pompeii: you walk through the ruins of a city that was abandoned in the fifth century A.D., but you'll have the company of thousands of tourists like in Pompeii because it's not nearly as well known. Ostia was for one thousand and five hundred years a ghost town, covered by marshy swamp and infested with malaria. In the early nineteen hundreds, the Italian Government ordered the first systematic archaeological excavations, and to this day, with every unearthed stone, they add to our knowledge and understanding of a city that once stood next to Rome in grandeur. Driving from Ostia to Castelgandolfo we'll be go through the vineyards that produce the famous white wine of the "Castelli Romani". You may have tried the most famous one "Frascati". They call this area the Castelli Romani (Roman Castles) because the towns in this area originated from the castles the Roman nobles built for themselves here.

Full day excursion to Tivoli, Castelgandolfo and Nemi.

Wine tasting tour. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Tivoli and the Roman Castles, 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 10:00 am and drive to Tivoli. In Tivoli we'll walk through the medieval town and visit Villa D'Este. After the tour of the villa we drive to Castelgandolfo on a beautiful road through the olive groves first and vineyards then. Willingly we can stop for lunch in a little out-of-the-way restaurant. We'll then tour around Castelgandolfo and Nemi in the afternoon. At the end of the tour you'll be driven back to your hotel.

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We will be driving on the motorway towards Tivoli and reach it within 45 minutes. Time permitting we will stop to look at the marble quarries at the foot of the hill on the way to Tivoli Once in Tivoli we'll stroll through the streets of the medieval town to get to the Villa D'Este and visit the place. Built in the 16th Century for the Cardinal Ippolito D'Este (son of the famous Lucrezia Borgia) when he became the governor of Tivoli, the beautiful villa is world known for its astounding garden decorated by hundreds of artistic water fountains. Once we return to the car, we drive to Castelgandolfo on a beautiful road taking us through the olive groves that Tivoli is famous for and, once down from the mountains we'll be driving through the vineyards that produce the famous white wine of the "Castelli Romani". You may have tried the most famous one "Frascati". They call this area the Castelli Romani (Roman Castles) because the towns in this area originated from the castles the Roman nobles built for themselves here. Over the years the people built their homes outside the castles so to and that's how the towns were formed. In the Renaissance, those castles were made into villas where the nobles went to spend their summers away from the heat of Rome. The location and the climate are ideal for cultivating grape vines and the area has always been known for producing wonderful white wines. Wines usually named after the town that produces them, so Frascati wine is produced in the town of Frascati.

Full day excursion to Tour to Trisulti, Fumone and Fiuggi. 8 hours.

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Ciociaria to visit Anagni, Fiuggi, Fumone and Trisulti, 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 9:00 am and drive to Fiuggi. After a short break to enjoy the city and the famous "biscotti Amaretti", we continue to Trisulti to visit the "Carthusia" monastery. We will then continue to Fumone where we'll stop for an outstanding meal at the "Baron's Tavern" and visit the thousand-year old castle (optional). On the way back to Rome we'll stop to visit Anagni.

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Excursion to Sermoneta, Ninfa and Valvisciolo. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to the Agro Pontino, 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome any time between 8:00 and 9:00 am and drive to 

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We leave Rome around 9:00 am, but earlier would be better, heading for Sermoneta. This is one of my favored places in the area and in all of Italy. Perched on top of a hill dominating the valley which extends all the way to the sea, it is topped by the fortress built originally by the Annibaldi family in the 11th century and later owned by the Borgias. You walk into the city though one of the gates in the medieval walls and walk its cobble stone paved streets to reach the fortress that in the 15th century was also inhabited by the famous Lucrezia Borgia. We will visit the castle with the help of the local guide who unfortunately doesn't speak English, but don't worry, I'll translate for you. After visiting the castle, we will leave Sermoneta for the nearby Valvisciolo Abbey. This abbey, which was founded in the 8th century, was taken over by the Knights Templar in the 13th is a beautiful sample of medieval art which guards one of the mysterious palindromes which people have been engraving or painting on walls, but no one could ever translate, the so called "sator square" which in this unique case has a round shape! Leaving Valvisciolo we'll head for Bassiano which is a lovely little town known especially for its production of Prosciutto! Hopefully we'll have lunch there and try it. I'm saying "hopefully" because the restaurants in Bassiano are only open for lunch during the high season.

As an alternative we can have lunch in Sermoneta.

Excursion to the Etruscan sites:

Tarquinia, Ceri and Cerveteri. 8 hours

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Tarquinia, Ceri and Cerveteri. 8 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome at the time you like and we drive to Tarquinia, about 50 miles north of Rome on the coast.. Then we go to Ceri, where we'll have lunch. In the afternoon we drive to Cerveteri to visit the little town itself and the Etruscan necropolis in the nearby locality called “Banditaccia”.

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The room inside was decorated like a rich home, with paintings and bas-reliefs.

Find out more about the Etruscans here.

When these tombs where found they contained the items that we can now see in the museums: arms, jewels, pottery, statues, mirrors etc.The Etruscans were mysterious people who populated central Italy long before the days of Rome's greatness, People far advanced in civilization the Etruscans (apparently they called themselves Tyrrhenians) rose to prosperity and power, then almost disappeared from history, leaving behind themselves unsolved questions about their origin and culture. A common theory is that they came from Asia Minor and they would be the Lydian's described by the Greek historian Herodotus who left Asia because of famine and colonized northern and central Italy. They commenced with the Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Egyptians and they were obviously influenced by those cultures. They tried to overrule the Romans by merging with them rather than trying to conquer them; the last three of the “seven kings of Rome” were in fact Etruscan. It seems that the Romans changed from kingdom to democracy just to get rid of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscans were than expelled by the Romans who later conquered and absorbed them, finally adopting many of their advanced arts, customs and institutions. Little remains of the Etruscan literature and their language has been only partially deciphered. The knowledge we have of the Etruscans only comes from studying the remains of their city walls, houses, monuments, and especially their tombs. The tombs in fact contained weapons, exquisite jewellery, coins; statues of stone, bronze and terra-cotta. Plus their famous black pottery (bucchero). Grecian and Oriental influences are seen in the style of their pottery.