A caver with a headlamp inside a cave passage Under the ground

Etruscan Rock Necropolises and Civita Museum, Grotte di Castro

Grotte di Castro

The tufa around Grotte di Castro is cut through with Etruscan chamber tombs, and two of the necropolises are open again: doorways in the rock face, with the lake sitting below the ridge.

How the day goes

  1. Start at the Civita museum in the village, where a tomb interior is rebuilt as it was found.
  2. Out to Pianezze and Centocamere, where the tombs are cut straight into the cliff.
  3. Vigna La Piazza any day of the year, on your own, with nothing between you and the rock.
  4. Down to Lake Bolsena on foot, if you book the walk at the info point.

The necropolises open in the back half of the week, so a Monday drive out would find the village museum and the free site only.

Where it is

Grotte di Castro at its real position from Rome, with everywhere else we list behind it — so you can see how far out this one is.

Grotte di Castro, and where it is from Rome Grotte di Castro drawn at its real position relative to Rome, about 122 minutes by car. The faint dots are the other places we list, so you can see how far out this one is. 122 min Rome Grotte di Castro

Open it where the roads are

Takes you to Piazza Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour, Grotte di Castro (VT), the address the operator publishes.

Getting there

Getting there, the comfortable way

  • 2 h 02drive from the middle of Rome
  • 150 kmeach way

  • Rent a car for the day

    The day stays yours: you leave when you want, stop where you want, and come back when the light goes.

    • You pick it up in Rome and drop it back in Rome
    • No timetable to build the day around
    • The stops on the way are the good part, and they need a car

    Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Localrent, and anything about that booking goes through them.

    See prices on Localrent

  • Have a driver take you, door to door

    No parking to find, no wrong turns, and you leave when the day is done.

    • Picked up where you are staying, dropped back there
    • No parking to find and no ZTL to worry about
    • Nobody spends the day driving

    Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Welcome Pickups, and anything about that booking goes through them.

    See prices on Welcome Pickups

More under the ground

Stalactites lit inside a show cave Under the ground

Pastena caves

Walk into the hill on wet steps, in a guided group of no more than twelve.

€10 per person

Books on grottepastenacollepardo.it

See the day
Cavers with kit bags in a lit cave passage Under the ground

Speleo-canyoning in a hidden cave

A trip that combines caving with canyoning progression techniques: you walk through underground chambers, cross fixed sections and rope traverses with a helmet, harness and head…

See the day

We have not verified this one yet. Everything below comes from the operator and we have not checked it — treat it as a lead, not as a listing.

Photograph by Llorenzi, Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0. Not this place: it shows what the day looks like, and will be replaced with the operator's own photograph or ours from the field.

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