Through this tour you will discover beautiful and less known aspects and places of the Roman countryside. From the Etruscan necropolis in Cerveteri to the Orsini-Odescalchi castle in Bracciano, from the fascinating archeological site of Ostia Antica to the Greek abbey in Grottaferrrata. Wonderful villas and gardens, such as Palazzo Patrizi park, one of the most important private rose gardens in Italy, Villa Taverna, created by the famous landscapes architect Russel Page and Ninfa, with its gorgeous English park and the little village created on Pope Bonifacio VIII input.

Sunday, July 10

Departure from Milan central railway station toward Rome central railway station. Bus transfer to Ardea and visit to the beautiful Parco di Villa Taverna, known as Giardini della Landriana. Its peculiarity is to be divided in “rooms”, each one with a specific botanical characteristic that makes it unique: the valley of the ancient roses and its lake, the orange trees garden, the white boulevard, the olive trees garden, the blue field, etc. Created in the 60s by Russel Page, the famous English landscape architect, it has been enlarged and revisit by marchioness Lavinia Taverna on a 30 years period. Bus transfer toward Sermoneta and visit to Caetani castle, one of the most complete monument of middle-age architecture and house of Lucrezia Borgia during the period when Pope Alessandro VI expropriated the Caetani family.  Bus transfer to Ninfa and visit to its world-renowned park. Created on order of Pope Bonifacio VII (Papa Caetani, that established the Jubileum), the park is hosted in the fourteenth-century historic village, between Romanesque ruins and Medieval buildings, streams and flowers. Its visual impact is even greater due to the medieval walls that surround the park, giving birth to beautiful views. Transfer in the late afternoon to the 4* Hotel Villa Grazioli or similar hotel. Dinner and overnight included.

Ninfa – CC BY-ND 2.0 | Francesca Pulvirenti | 2012
 

Monday, July 11

Breakfast included, at the hotel. Visit to the Greek abbey, founded by San Nilo on 1004 on the ruins of a Roman villa. The ancient monastery was built in Grottaferrata, on the road to Rome but far from the eternal city, that at that time was unhealthy and full of conflicts between patrician families. Bus transfer to Ostia Antica and visit to the site where the ruins of the big maritime city lay: the theatre, the forum, the flagstone streets, the small shops and the brand new findings. Bus transfer to Cerveteri and visit to the Etruscan necropolis, immersed in a pine trees park and one of the biggest site of burial mounds, whose large and painted interiors are accessible to the public.

Cerveteri necropolis – CC BY-SA 2.5 | Matteo Baroni | 2007

Bus transfer in the late afternoon to Anguillara Sabazia and visit to the medieval fishing village on Bracciano Lake. Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight included.

Tuesday, July 12

Breakfast included, at the hotel. Transfer by bus to Castel Giuliano and visit to the suggestive Palazzo Patrizi Park, the medieval fortress and the aristocratic Roman residence, with one of the main private rose gardens in Italy. Bus transfer to Bracciano a visit to the Orsini-Odescalchi castle, beautiful feudal building – still properties of the related ancient Roman family – erected on the second half of 1400 and ideal convergence of military and civil architecture. Bus transfer to Rome central railway station.

FEE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• City Tax, to be paid directly at the hotel if due
• Lunches
• Tips, porterage and various personal extras
• Optional insurance for cancellation AMIASSISTANCE