Secret Lazio: 10 Places That Aren't Rome or Touristy Tuscia

Lazio has the second-highest density of archaeological sites in Italy (after Sicily). But tourism stops at Rome and the Villa d'Este in Tivoli. The rest of the region — Etruscan Tuscia, the Simbruini mountains, the Sabina, the Ciociaria — remains nearly virgin territory for the standard traveler's eye.

1. Civita di Bagnoregio

Civita di Bagnoregio, "the dying town," is perhaps the most photographed village in Lazio: reachable only by pedestrian bridge, with twelve permanent residents and built on tufa. Crowded in high season; in November-March, authentic silence. See it at sunset.

How to get to Civita di Bagnoregio →

2. Etruscan Tuscia: Vulci, Tarquinia, Cerveteri

The necropoli of Tarquinia and Cerveteri are UNESCO heritage. Painted Etruscan tombs from the 6th-5th centuries BC, decorated underground chambers. Vulci with its Etruscan bridge and castle. An archaeological afternoon that rivals Pompeii.

3. The Park of Bomarzo and Villa Lante

The Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo (or Park of the Monsters) is a mid-16th-century Mannerist garden with surreal sculptures (the Ogre, the Elephant, the Leaning House). Nearby in the Viterbo area, Villa Lante at Bagnaia is one of the loveliest Italian Renaissance gardens, with water features and precise geometries.

4. Lake Bracciano

Lake Bracciano, of volcanic origin, is 45 minutes from Rome. The Odescalchi castle, the village of Anguillara, Trevignano. Swimmable and less crowded than Trasimeno.

5. The Monastery of Subiaco

Subiaco, in the Aniene valley, has two monasteries: the Sacro Speco (where Saint Benedict lived in a cave) and Santa Scolastica. The first is set into the rock face with 14th-15th-century frescoes. Fifty kilometers from the Colosseum, an entirely different world.

6. The Cistercian abbeys: Fossanova and Casamari

Fossanova (where Saint Thomas Aquinas died in 1274) and Casamari are two of the finest Cistercian abbeys in Italy. Pure Gothic architecture from the 12th-13th centuries. Casamari still produces monastic liqueurs.

7. Sperlonga and the Villa of Tiberius

Sperlonga, a seaside village south of Rome, is among the most photographed places in Lazio: whitewashed houses on the cliff. The Villa of Tiberius, with the Grotto of Tiberius (where Hellenistic sculpture groups were unearthed), is a spectacular archaeological site right on the water.

8. The Ciociaria: Ferentino, Anagni, Fumone

Anagni, "the city of popes," has a cathedral whose crypt of San Magno is frescoed like "the Sistine Chapel of the Middle Ages." Ferentino preserves its polygonal walls. Fumone's castle is where Celestine V died. The Ciociaria is the most medieval corner of Lazio.

9. The Simbruini Mountains

The Simbruini, straddling Lazio and Abruzzo, form a natural park of centuries-old beech woods, trails to Monte Livata, and cross-country skiing at Campo dell'Osso. An hour from Rome. Visitor density: shepherds and hikers.

10. Ostia Antica

The port city of ancient Rome, with its insulae, baths, and theater, is better preserved than Pompeii. Thirty minutes from Rome by metro. Admission is half the price of the Colosseum. It is the least visited site in Italy relative to its value.

Instead of Rome: Ostia Antica →

How should I plan the trip?

Weekend: Tuscia (Tarquinia + Civita + Bomarzo) or Ciociaria (Anagni + Ferentino + Fossanova). A week allows mixing North (Tuscia + Bracciano) with South (Sperlonga + Casamari + Simbruini).

When should I go?

April-June and September-November. Summer: coast is fine, interiors run hot. Winter: skiing in the Simbruini and a hushed Tuscia.