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

Stiffe caves: an underground river you walk beside

Stiffe

The river goes into the mountain further up the valley and comes back out here. The walkway follows it inwards, past waterfalls and pools, with the noise of moving water the whole way.

How the day goes

  1. In at the resurgence mouth with a guide, on walkways built above the river.
  2. Past the falls, loud enough that the talking waits until you are through.
  3. Out into the Abruzzo valley again, with L'Aquila a short drive north.

It stays cold in there even at the height of summer, so bring a jacket and shoes that grip — the wet rock is the slippery kind.

Where it is

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

Stiffe, and where it is from Rome Stiffe drawn at its real position relative to Rome, about 107 minutes by car. The faint dots are the other places we list, so you can see how far out this one is. 107 min Rome Stiffe

Open it where the roads are

Takes you to Via S. Vincenzo de' Paoli, 67028 San Demetrio ne' Vestini (AQ), the address the operator publishes.

Getting there

Getting there, the comfortable way

  • 1 h 47drive from the middle of Rome
  • 139 kmeach way
  • 1 honce you are there

  • 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 Vkrzalic, Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0. 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.

Links marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank