8-Day Archaeo Hiking Tour To Abandoned Roman Cities and Roman Baths

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Why Book With Us?

Overview

With Italian tour holiday and hiking experience dating back to 1994, we started out with the help of local guides to explore the Roman countryside. During these hiking tours in Italy, we discovered many fantastic short trails with Etruscan, Roman and Medieval ruins hidden in the beautiful Italian landscape.

Since the historical city centre of Rome is relatively small, much of the exploring can also be done by walking. Therefore, we have selected interesting Italy hiking tours with our archaeologists that are partially within the Roman walls and partially outside the walls in the countryside.

In the first four days, we will take you to see the main archaeological attractions of Rome and its suburbs and then on the fifth day, we will move to a hotel in the countryside with ancient thermal baths that were used by the Etruscans and the Romans. From there, we will do some beautiful Italy hiking tours to Roman and Etruscan cities, roads and tombs before relaxing at the thermal baths in the afternoon and evening.

As well as beautiful hikes and time to relax at the Roma baths, we will also take care of the enogastronomic aspect during your stay as we will dine in carefully selected restaurants and trattorias; our company has a 10-year experience as online dining guides for high-level restaurants in Rome and Italy. Depending on the season, we will make sure to let you taste typical Italian or local delicacies during your Italy hiking tours.

Meet your tour guides

Your tour guide : Dr. Anastasia Zourou

Anastasia Zourou was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece where she studied and got her degree in Byzantine Archaeology. When she obtained an Erasmus scholarship she also studied in Italy at the “Tor Vergata University of Rome”.

During her time in Rome, Anastasia fell deeply in love with the city’s rich history and vibrant culture. At the end of her studies, she faced a difficult decision. Return to Thessaloniki or pursue her dreams in Rome? Ultimately, she chose to stay in Rome. The city had become her second home, and its ancient history beckoned her to explore further. Soon after here studies Anastasia found herself involved in various archaeological digs in and around Rome.

Anastasia is fluent in English, Italian and Greek.

anastasia

Your tour guide : Robert Schmits

Robert is the founder of Italian Adventures. He spent 7 years in the Royal Dutch Navy as an engineer and more than 20 years as technician and manager in the international oil business.​

In 1983, during an assignment in Italy he met his wife Anna and in 1987 they finally settled in Rome. With a lifelong passion for history and archaeology, he started extensively to explore and to study the Roman archaeological sites in the city. He also started hiking and got to know most of the fantastic hiking trails north and south of Rome in Latium and Umbria.

These trails are exceptionally beautiful and interesting being a mix of a spectacular nature with hidden Etruscan and Roman ruins to which, over the years, he has taken many friends and clients. All persons he guided there remained astonished since they had no idea of these interesting and mystical archaeological objects that are hidden in the green countryside around Rome.

Robert speaks Dutch, English, French, German, Italian & Spanish.

Start & end Location

Rome International airport Leonardo da Vinci

Upon your arrival in Rome

You will picked up by us at the airport

Tour duration

8 days – 7 nights

Physical difficulty

Easy to moderate walks

Price Includes
  • 7 Nights 4-star hotel accommodation
  • All dinner and lunches 
  • An archaeologist as your tour guide
  • An expert hiking guide   
  • All entrance Fees
  • All transportation during the tour

Itinerary

Upon your arrival at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport or at the Termini train station, our staff will be waiting for you and bring you to the hotel where you can relax until shortly before dinner time.

Around 7 pm, we will gather, welcome you to Rome and explain to you the ins and outs of the hotel, the area of Rome where the hotel is located, and some other things regarding logistics and safety in Italy. It will also be a moment to meet the guides that run our Italy hiking tours and the other people on the tour.

Further, we will explain to you how your week with us will evolve. After this welcome to Rome and Italy, we are off to take a short walk towards our dinner location. On this walk, we will descend from the famous Spanish Steps, admire the Pantheon, cross Piazza Navona, and arrive at Campo de’ Fiori where we will have dinner. After dinner, we will return on foot to the hotel following another route to discover some more of Rome.

the Phantheon

After a good rest and breakfast, we will kickstart the Italy hiking tours by hiking from our hotel to the Colosseum where we will visit and explain to you extensively. After this first iconic building, we will go underground in the vicinity of the Colosseum to walk deep under the modern traffic in an ancient Roman street and visit a Mithraeum. Next (after a coffee, cappuccino, or other refreshments during your hiking tours in Italy), we will continue our urban hike to see the Roman Forum, the Palatine hill and the Capitol hill which each will be explained by our guide.

After the Capitol hill, it will be lunchtime which we have planned in a selected restaurant not far from there. After lunch, we will go back by making a small detour across Piazza Navona and another square to the Pantheon to admire this spectacular building from the inside. After the Pantheon, we’ll head back to the hotel for some relaxation until dinner which will be close to the hotel.

After breakfast, we will take the roman subway to a stop close to the Colosseum, from where we will walk to visit the Baths of Caracalla. The perimeter and the foundations of these baths, which are the second largest in Rome, have been completely preserved and it has been possible to reconstruct the amazing hydraulics and the logistics of this luxurious bathing and leisure complex.

From the baths, we will venture to the Appian Road to visit a beautifully decorated private Roman burial and have lunch in a very old osteria that is already marked as such on a map from 1547. After lunch, we will take a walk on the Appian Road, visit the catacombs of Saint Sebastian and hike back through the countryside full of Roman ruins and interesting things to see towards the metro station. Here it will be time for some relaxation at the hotel until dinner in a restaurant close to the hotel.

This morning we will leave Rome and travel by minivan or minibus to the top of a mountain near Rome for easy but beautiful archaeological Italy hiking tours in the countryside. From the starting point of the hike, we will lead you into an idyllic forest where after a few minutes we will have a beautiful scenic view of Rome and the Roman countryside. From there, we will hike down a beautifully preserved roman road to the idyllic village of Nemi where we will have lunch.

After lunch, we will hike even further down the mountain to visit the Temple of Diana and sample the local wine. From there it is only a short walk to visit the Museum of the ships of Nemi which date from the time of emperor Caligula. The existence of the two enormous ships at the bottom of the lake had been known since the renaissance but only in the 1930s were the ships pulled onto dry land and placed in a museum during an immense salvage operation.

Unfortunately, at the end of the second world war, the museum caught fire and the enormous hulls of the two floating temples burned to ashes. A visit to the museum is still very much worthwhile since it has numerous highly interesting artefacts that decorated the ships. From the museum, we will travel by luxury van to the hotel to relax and eat dinner.

Today we will change location, moving from Rome’s city centre to the countryside 50 km north of Rome. The new location will be an estate hotel with thermal baths that were already used by the Etruscans. Before we check in at our new residence, we will do a short hike to an abandoned village with a history from the bronze age until the occupation of Italian soil by Napoleonic troops close by.

After the hike, we will check into the hotel, have lunch, and relax by exploring the grounds or spending time in the thermal baths.

After breakfast, we will leave our hotel by minivan or minibus to travel to a small village with an interesting history and a big Roman amphitheatre. After visiting and taking a stopover for coffee, we will drive on to the starting point of easy but beautiful archaeological Italy hiking tours.

Upon arrival, we will lead you into an idyllic forest where we will start walking on a long-forgotten Etruscan and Roman road. We will cross a small stream using a majestic Roman bridge and pass numerous Etruscan and Roman tombs. At the end of our walk, an abandoned Roman city with its defence walls still standing will be waiting for us.

Lunch will be an Italian picnic in the forum of the old city, with typical Italian Pagnotta bread, delicious cheeses, salamis, Parma ham and naturally some excellent red or white wines. Dessert will be offered in the form of ice cream in a village nearby followed by a visit to a beautiful XI-century abbey.

In the late afternoon, we will arrive back at the hotel so that you can relax and make use of the thermal baths. Dinner will be enjoyed at a village nearby.

After a short transfer by minivan or minibus, we arrive at our destination and have a coffee or cappuccino at the south gate of the picturesque village of Barbarano Romano. After refreshments, we will enter the town and walk the main street until we exit town through the north gate. From there we will rapidly descend into a canyon with small streams and lush vegetation.

This part of our Italy hiking tours, which will be mostly at the bottom of the canyons surrounded by lush vegetation, will lead us to different types of Etruscan tombs, an Etruscan city a small Romanic church and an Etruscan bass relief of a deer and a wolf. We will surface the canyons to have a picnic lunch similar to the day before. After lunch, we will complete the loop to surface again at the starting point. After the hike, we will relax and eat dinner at the hotel.

In the morning we will transfer you to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport or to the Termini train station.

Photos

Not sure if this tour is right for you?

Or do you have a question?

Call or send us a WhatsApp message and speak with one of our tour guides.

Reviews

Ryan Withey and Andrea Brockman
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Being our second trip to Italy we had already spent a great deal of time at the "tourist" locations. This time around we wanted to make it more adventurous. We planned a hike through an old Etruscan forest, where we were able to explore various tombs (AWESOME!). This hike allowed us to explore a "hidden" (at least from tourists) part of Italy.
Linda & Ron Jackson
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The places we were taken to during the hikes were awesome. We never imagined that such places existed, and we would have never found them on our own. Linda and I still talk about the wonderful food we had while on the trip. Give our regards to your wonderful staff and thank them on our behalf.
Ashley and Pat Holt
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We loved it! We felt immediately welcome; everyone got along. I felt the social structure of the event really enhanced the experience and to be able to absorb these wonderful sites. All that with the gorgeous meals really made a holiday to remember! We will certainly be considering one of your other tours in a couple of years.
Debbie, David & Tyler Willse
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Thank you for the pictures. They are wonderful momentos of our trip to Rome. We had a great time during our visits in Rome and during the hike. Thank you so much for your time and we hope to see you again.
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Italy Hiking Tours FAQs

Click on the questions below for the answers.

  • Airport transfers on first and last day of tour
  • Minivan or minibus travel throughout the tour
  • Accommodation in the centre of Rome in a historic 4-star hotel
  • Accomodation outside Rome in a 4-star hotel in the country 
  • All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
  • An expert archaeologist as guide
  • An expert hiking guide
  • All entrance fees and tips

During the last 10-year period, our company has worked with success as an online dining guide for medium high- and top-level restaurants in Rome and Italy. From our guide we have selected excellent restaurants we will visit to have lunch or dinner during our tour. Please inform us of any special dietary requirements at least 30 days in advance of your trip.

Your safety is our biggest concern. Our hiking tours in Italy have been carefully selected to be pleasant and never dangerous. All our guides have been trained to live by the “Safety First” rule while guiding. There will be at least one guide who has had First-Aid training on each hike.

Insurance is not included in your tour fee. Adequate business travel insurance is a condition of your contract with us. You must be satisfied that your business travel or other appropriate insurance fully covers all your requirements including pre-existing medical conditions, cancellation charges, medical expenses and repatriation in the event of an accident or illness.

If you choose to travel without adequate insurance cover, we will not be liable for any losses howsoever arising, in respect of which insurance cover would otherwise have been available.

Apart from our guides, there will be a minimum of six to a maximum of twelve participants on each tour. On our hiking tours in Italy, you will meet people from various parts of the world and therefore with different backgrounds, most will be in the 40-75 age range. The people that book our tours are curious individuals who want to explore the history, archaeology, and delicious food of Italy.

Our guides are all English-speaking professionals with years of experience in guiding groups through the areas on the tours. They all love to share their knowledge and experience with you.

The longest hike is 15km and the maximum height difference is 600 metres. All hikes are light to modest in difficulty.

The shops in Italy are open until 19.30 / 20.00 hrs., most of the time we will be back at our hotel in Rome by 18.00 hrs. to give you time to relax or to shop. If we are travelling by van, we can drop you off at shopping areas or commercial centres when they are not too far from our route.

We recommend you bring a good pair of hiking shoes, a small bag or backpack and a cap or hat for the sun and a rain jacket just in case. We can provide you with a walking stick, in case you need one. If you join us on a trip in spring or autumn pack raingear and a fleece to keep you warm. We advise people who wear spectacles to bring a spare pair just in case.

Please click here, this link will open a page of the Italian Ministry of Foreign affairs where you can check if you require a visa.

Italian Adventures can organise hikes or tours for private groups or companies of eight people or more.  Please send an email to sales@italian-adventures.com or call us at 0039-392-0360775

Open chat
1
Hi,
This is Robert, from Italian Adventures.
If you have any questions, please send me a message via WhatsApp or call me any time.

I am in Rome, Italy, therefore there might be a time difference.

Kind regards from Italy!