The car question
You do not need a car to leave Rome. You need one to have the day you imagined when you decided to leave Rome.
36 days out15 placesthe nearest is a 34 min drive from Rome
The honest version: almost everything on this site can be reached one way or another without a car. The question is not whether it is possible. It is what your day looks like at four in the afternoon, when you are somewhere beautiful and you want to stay another hour.
With a car, you stay the hour. You stop at the second town because you saw it from the road, you take the vineyard that is ten minutes off the main route, and you come home when the light goes. Without one, the last part of the day belongs to a timetable somebody else wrote.
The country around Rome is exactly the kind of country where this matters. The good things are scattered: a crater lake here, an abbey up a valley there, a beach beyond a pine forest. They are not on one line.
A word on driving here, since it worries people. The motorways and main roads are straightforward and well signed. Historic centres are mostly closed to traffic and you park outside them — which is what everybody does anyway. If that still does not appeal, the next page along is about having somebody else drive.
A few things about actually driving here, since they are what people worry about and nobody explains. The motorways and the main roads out of Rome are wide, well signed and dull, which is what you want. The small roads in the hills are narrow, unlit and often beautiful. Fuel stations on the smaller roads close in the middle of the day and on Sundays, so fill up when you see one rather than when you need one.
Where to pick the car up is the decision that most affects the day. Taking it at the airport or at Termini and driving straight out avoids the middle of Rome entirely, which is the part nobody enjoys. Returning it the same way means you are not navigating the city at the end of a long day either.
Sizes and gearboxes: smaller is better on hill-town roads and in the car parks outside the walls, and automatics are less common and cost more here than in some countries, so book one specifically if you need it rather than assuming. The supplier lists what they have and at what price — the link goes straight to them.
And the honest comparison with a driver, which is the next page along. A car is usually cheaper for one or two people and gives you the whole day on your own terms. A driver costs more and removes the parking, the navigation, the fuel stop and the drive home after a long lunch. On a day that ends in a cellar, that last item is worth more than the difference.
Scattered country, several stops, and nothing arriving on a schedule. These are the days people remember and the days that go wrong without wheels.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
Down the riverFive kilometres down the Aniene. Helmet and paddle included, shuttle to the start.
€25 per person
Books on viverelaniene.com
See the day
Down the riverForty-five minutes walking in, then two hours down the Fosso Ravi gorge.
€50 per person
Books on avventuristicandopark.com
See the day
On the trail6.8 km and 691 metres of climbing, with a guide and never more than ten of you.
€49 per person
Books on Nature of Sal — Salvatore Benintende
See the day
With your handsBe there for the 8:30 milking and the 9:00 curd: the timetable is the tour.
€15 per person
Books on agricolacirce.it
See the day
In the hot waterFive hours in thermal water up to 58°C and nothing else to plan that day.
€12 per person
Books on tusciaterme.it
See the day
Under the groundWalk 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
On the waterNo boat: a cable tows you across, and one hour on it is enough to find out.
€25 their price
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the day
In the airFifteen minutes in the air over Norma strapped to a pilot, or ninety if you want.
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the day
With your handsCut the grapes yourself. The window opens 1 September and shuts 15 October.
€40 per person
Books on Casale Mattia
See the day
With your handsPick olives all morning; lunch and a bottle of their own oil come with the day.
€65 per person
Books on Olive Hill Sabina
See the day
Off roadTwo hours on a two-seater quad through the Bracciano park, then the aperitivo.
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the day
On horsebackRide out into the Tolfa hills for three hours. They also go out at sunset.
See the dayEstates sit among their own vines, which by definition is outside town. It is the clearest case on this site for having a car.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
With your handsMake the pasta at a Frascati winery: 22 minutes by train, picked up at the station.
€109 per person
Books on farmexperiencestours.com
See the day
With your handsA private visit that starts in the vineyard and ends in the eighteenth-century rooms of the estate, led by a dedicated sommelier or by the owners.
See the day
With your handsA guided tour of a Frascati winery built around a 16th-century villa, including the vineyards and the historic volcanic cave used as a cellar, followed by a tasting.
See the day
With your handsA family estate on the edge of Frascati that makes Frascati wine and extra-virgin olive oil and has a page of its own devoted to events and tastings, alongside pages on the cell…
See the day
With your handsA walk through the vineyard, then the cellar and the barrel room of an organic Frascati estate, ending with a guided tasting of four De Sanctis wines.
See the day
With your handsThe short version: fifteen minutes by train to Tor Vergata, five on foot to the farmhouse, a walk among the vines with views back towards Rome, and three Frascati wines paired w…
See the day
With your handsA driver meets you at Frascati station, takes you to a sixteenth-century family vineyard for a tasting of three boutique wines with snacks, then a guided walk through Frascati a…
See the day
With your handsFifteen minutes by train from Rome: a walk through the vineyard with a local guide, then a hands-on class where you cook traditional Frascati dishes and the local wine cookies w…
See the day
With your handsA guided walk through the historic centre of Frascati tasting slow-roasted pork and jug wine, then a pizza lesson with a master pizzaiolo: you make your own, eat it with antipas…
See the day
With your handsPick-up at Frascati station at half past four, a tasting of three Frascati wines with local snacks at the farmhouse vineyard, then a guided walk through the historic centre and …
See the day
With your handsA guided walk through the estate on the volcanic slopes above Frascati, with the story of how vines have been grown here, ending in a tasting of the estate's own wines paired wi…
See the day
On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride leaving the centre of Frascati, climbing gently towards Monte Tuscolo and continuing on dirt tracks and hill roads to one of the area's historic wineries, w…
See the dayRoads that are part of the day rather than a way to reach it — the lake rims, the coast road, the climbs into the mountains.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On the waterWindsurf courses at beginner, intermediate and advanced level at the Banzai beach club on the Aurelia at Santa Marinella.
See the day
On the waterA surf school in front of Banzai Beach at Santa Marinella, running since 2002 with instructors certified by the Italian surf federation.
See the day
In the old stonesA Renaissance cathedral at Velletri.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
On the waterA sailing school on Lake Bracciano, affiliated to the Italian Sailing Federation since 1972.
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the day
On the waterA sailing club founded in 1968 on the Trevignano shore of Lake Bracciano.
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the day
On the waterDives from an equipped inflatable boat leaving Porto Odescalchi at Santa Marinella.
See the day
With your handsAn organic olive mill at Velletri in the Castelli Romani.
See the day
On the waterA sailing club on the Trevignano shore of Lake Bracciano.
See the day
With your handsAn organic farm at Velletri producing wine, olive oil and fruit, which lists tasting and direct sales among what it offers on site.
See the day
Off roadA two-hour guided quad ride designed for beginners and families with children, on an easy route the operator describes as half tarmac and half country roads, with no rough secti…
See the day
Off roadThe same easy two-hour guided quad route above Lake Bracciano, with an aperitivo taken outdoors during the ride.
See the day
In the old stonesA city gate in Velletri.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the dayDriving time from the middle of Rome, on the road network and without traffic. It tells you whether the day stands up; it is not a timetable.
Getting there
The day stays yours: you leave when you want, stop where you want, and come back when the light goes.
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 LocalrentNo parking to find, no wrong turns, and you leave when the day is done.
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 PickupsRules depend on the licence you hold and change from country to country, so check with the rental company before you book rather than at the desk — it is the one document people arrive without. We deliberately do not publish a rule here that might be out of date for your passport.
Most visitors take one at Termini or at the airports rather than in the centre, because you avoid driving through the middle of the city entirely. The booking link on this page goes to the supplier, who lists their own pick-up points and prices.
Almost every historic centre in Italy, Rome included, closes its old streets to traffic during the day, and the cameras are automatic. In practice you park in the car park outside the walls and walk in; it is five minutes and it is what residents do.
Usually, for one or two people, and less clearly for four. A driver costs more per day and removes the parking, the fuel stop, the navigation and the drive home after a long lunch. Which is worth more depends on the day you want.
Yes, and they are marked as such. You pay the supplier's own price and they pay us a commission. We never take your payment ourselves, and we do not pass your name or your email to anybody.
For anything scattered — a wine region, a lake with villages round it, a stretch of coast — yes, clearly. For a single compact town like Tivoli or Orvieto, less so. The question is not whether you can get there but what your day looks like at four in the afternoon.
Driving out of Rome is straightforward if you pick the car up at the airport or at Termini and head straight out. Driving through the centre is the part to avoid, and you can avoid it entirely. Once you are past the ring road the roads are quiet.
Outside the walls, in the car park at the bottom, and you walk up. Every historic centre closes its old streets to traffic during the day and the cameras are automatic, so this is not a preference — it is how it works, and it is what residents do too.
Only if you cannot drive a manual, but book it specifically if so: automatics are less common here than in some countries and cost more, and they are the thing most likely to be unavailable at short notice. The supplier lists what they have.
A car is usually cheaper for one or two people and gives you the day entirely on your own terms. A driver costs more and takes away the parking, the navigation and the drive home after a long lunch, which for a group or a day that ends in a cellar is often the better trade.
Links marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank