On two wheels
The Appian Way starts inside Rome and turns into a Roman road with nothing on it after a few kilometres. That is the shortest ride, and it is not the best one.
38 things to book14 placesthe nearest is in Rome itself
Cycling around Rome divides in two. Inside and just outside the city there is the Appian Way and the aqueduct park, both closed to traffic in long stretches, both flat, and both rideable on a rented bike with a guide who knows which gate is open. Further out the ground rises: the crater lakes to the south and north, the Sabina hills up the Tiber, the flat reclaimed plain south of Latina, and the Maremma coast, which is the best cycling country in central Italy.
Almost everything on this page can be done on an e-bike, and on the volcanic hills that is not laziness — the climbs out of the crater lakes are short and steep. What each operator rents and where you pick it up is on the activity page.
The four grids are four different rides and they are not interchangeable. The city ones are flat, car-free for long stretches, and short enough to be a morning with a coffee at the end. The crater lakes are the opposite: everything worth reaching is at the bottom of a hole, which is delightful going down and honest work coming back. The Sabina is the middle ground, and the Maremma coast is where you go if the point is to be in the saddle all day.
What you actually book divides in two as well. A guided ride comes with somebody who knows which gate on the Appia is open and which stretch of basalt will shake your fillings out. A rental is a bike and a map and your own morning. Both are on the cards, and the rentals are the ones where a day rate, where the shop publishes one, is printed.
Two things worth deciding before you book. Whether you want an e-bike, which on the volcanic hills is not laziness but the difference between a ride and a hill session. And whether you are riding in July, because the useful hours here are early morning and the last two before dark, and every local rider already knows it.
Pick up a bike in the city and ride out. The Appian Way, the aqueduct park and the Tiber path all start where you are staying and end in open country, and several of the rentals are within walking distance of Termini or the Circus Maximus. It is the one ride on this page that needs no car at either end.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On two wheelsBike rental at a cafe that sits directly on the basalt paving of the Via Appia Antica, at number 175.
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On two wheelsThe cafe organises guided tours inside the Appia Antica park, by bicycle or on foot, with guides in several languages.
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On two wheelsA four-hour small-group e-bike tour, 30 km, starting from Via dei Cerchi 59 in front of the Circus Maximus, the closest departure point to the Appian Way by bike lane.
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On two wheelsNon-electric trekking and city bike rental from the shop at Via dei Cerchi 59, in front of the Circus Maximus.
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On two wheelsE-bike rental from a shop at Via dei Cerchi 59, in front of the Circus Maximus.
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On two wheelsThree hours on an e-bike, out through the aqueducts and along the Appia Antica.
€8 per person
Books on Ecobike Roma
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On two wheelsA four-hour guided ride on the Via Appia Antica, which the operator notes is almost entirely closed to traffic on Sundays, past the Baths of Caracalla, Porta San Sebastiano, the…
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On two wheelsBike and e-bike rental from a family-run shop in Via dei Mille 8, near Roma Termini.
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On two wheelsA four-hour guided e-bike tour that leaves the city centre through the Aurelian Walls and rides the 2300-year-old basalt paving of the Appian Way past the Circus of Maxentius, t…
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On two wheelsThe six-hour version of the same 27 km Appian Way route, with a guided visit inside the Catacombs of St Callixtus (St Sebastian on Wednesdays) and a final stop at the Baths of C…
See the dayShort steep climbs and long descents, with water at the bottom. This is where an e-bike changes the day. Frascati and the Castelli are the closest of it, Bracciano and Lake Vico the quieter, and several of the Frascati rides end at a cellar, which is a sound structural principle for a bicycle ride.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On two wheelsThirty minutes from Termini by train, then six hours through Frascati vineyards.
€89 per person
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On two wheelsThe train tickets are in the price. You ride the Castelli, Castel Gandolfo to Nemi.
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On two wheelsA 25 km e-bike route from Frascati climbing to the archaeological park of Tusculum through woods, ridges and hairpins, with views over Rome and the hill towns, and returning to …
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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…
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On two wheelsAn eight-hour private e-bike day out of Rome: Caffarella park, the Park of the Aqueducts, then a 30-minute train ride from Capannelle station up to the Castelli Romani.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride that leaves central Rome on the Appian Way past Cecilia Metella, Villa dei Quintili and Santa Maria Nova, climbs to Albano Laziale, Ariccia — where there is…
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On two wheelsElectric bikes to ride the old Via Sacra, the Loggetta, Fontana Tempesta, the Grotticelle and the Rotte Cave up to the top of Monte Cavo, where there is a food stop.
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On two wheelsA guided 7 km ride on the Ciclovia dei Laghi, inside the Bracciano-Martignano regional park, with panoramic points over the two lakes, the Monti Sabatini, the Monti della Tolfa …
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On two wheelsMountain bike rental in the old town of Anguillara Sabazia, on Lake Bracciano, run by the In Itinere cooperative.
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On two wheelsA mostly flat 10 km ride inside the Lago di Vico nature reserve with an environmental guide, with a 20-30 minute stop at an observation hide in the marsh area and an introductio…
See the dayOlive terraces, hill villages and roads with nobody on them. The gentlest good cycling within an hour of Rome, and the direction where the ride and the lunch are usually sold as one thing — a mill, a cheese producer or a farm at the far end.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On two wheelsA full private day out of Rome by train and e-bike: from the Alviano nature reserve in the Tiber valley the route climbs to Civita di Bagnoregio, the hilltop village reached onl…
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On two wheelsGuided e-bike rides on gravel roads and trails around Rieti province.
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On two wheelsThe same association runs five fixed mountain-bike rings, each a full day out: the Val d'Orcia ring (41 km, 1200 m of climb), the Monti Amerini ring (37 km, 1500 m), the Lake Bo…
A sports club — you join them for the day
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On two wheelsAn 18 km guided bike ride through the Nazzano-Tevere-Farfa Nature Reserve, north of Rome.
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On two wheelsA 45 km e-bike ride through the hills where Italy's first DOP olive oil is produced, among centuries-old olive groves and oak woods.
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On two wheelsA 20 km guided e-bike itinerary to one of the last places where Pecorino Romano DOP and Cacio Magno are made.
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On two wheelsA 24 km guided e-bike tour above the Tiber valley.
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On two wheelsA 30 km guided e-bike route between the hills of the Tiber valley, Mount Soratte and the river banks.
See the dayFlat, long, and beside water. The reclaimed plain south of Latina and the lagoon country around Orbetello are the two places in this region built for a whole day in the saddle: level ground, sea on one side, and enough distance to make the drive out worth it.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On two wheelsA guided ride of about 25 km on a semi-loop from Camping Europing in Tarquinia to Montalto di Castro, crossing the seasonal Arrone stream and taking in the old town of Montalto …
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On two wheelsThe Vulci archaeological and nature park, on the river Fiora between Montalto di Castro and Canino, rents pedal-assisted e-bikes in spring and summer so visitors can cover the E…
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On two wheelsBike Point is a bike shop in Orbetello with a workshop and Shimano and Bosch service for e-bikes.
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On two wheelsGirobike rents non-electric city bikes for men, women, teenagers and children in Orbetello.
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On two wheelsGirobike, a bike shop in Orbetello trading since 2003, rents electric city bikes on a daily scale: 30 euro for one day up to 198 euro for seven days.
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On two wheelsGirobike rents electric mountain bikes from its Orbetello shop, priced by the day: 40 euro for one day, up to 268 euro for seven days.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride of 22 km declared, lasting 3 to 4 hours, from Orbetello.
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On two wheelsLa Casa del Ciclo has been selling and renting bicycles in the centre of Orbetello since 1937.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride of 32 km declared, lasting 3 to 4 hours, from Orbetello.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride of 38 km declared, lasting 5 to 6 hours, from Orbetello.
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 PickupsNo. Most of what is on this page is either a guided ride with the bike included or a rental, and the activity page says which. Where a hire shop states its daily rate, the rate is on the card.
In stretches, yes, and the surface changes from smooth asphalt to original Roman basalt without warning. The guided rides know which stretches are which, which is most of what you are paying for.
Four directions, and they are the four grids above: the Appian Way and the aqueduct park inside the city, the crater lakes and volcanic hills to the south and north, the Sabina up the Tiber valley, and the flat coast around Orbetello and the Pontine plain.
Yes, and it is the simplest version of this page. There are rentals near Termini and at the Circus Maximus, and the Appia and the aqueduct park begin close enough to ride to. Where a shop publishes a daily rate, it is on the card.
On the volcanic hills, yes — the climbs out of the crater lakes are short and steep and an e-bike turns them into part of the ride rather than the whole of it. On the Appia and the Maremma coast it makes far less difference, because both are flat.
April to June and September to early November. High summer is rideable at either end of the day and unpleasant in the middle, and winter is fine on the coast and cold on the hills. Where an operator publishes a season, it is on the card.
Several, and where the operator has told us they run in English the card says so. The Appian Way and aqueduct rides are the best supplied for it, and the Frascati wine rides not far behind.
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