The Lepini
A wall of limestone rising out of a flat plain, with medieval towns along the top of it and a garden growing through a ruined city at the bottom.
60 days out16 placesthe nearest is a 53 min drive from Rome
Drive an hour south of Rome across the reclaimed plain and the Lepini come at you like a rampart: a wall of grey rock, with towns balanced along the edge of it looking out over everything as far as the sea.
The towns are the point. Norma sits directly above the drop, which is why the paragliders launch from it. Sermoneta has an intact Caetani castle and a medieval street plan around it. Bassiano is a knot of alleys, walls and one very serious ham. Cori has a Roman temple standing at the top of it.
Underneath, the limestone is full of holes — the karst caves and sinkholes at Collepardo and Pastena on the far side, and the abyss at Collepardo that people have been climbing into since the eighteenth century.
And at the foot of the mountain, Ninfa: a medieval town abandoned to malaria in the middle ages and planted, six hundred years later, as a garden through its own ruins. It opens on set days only, and it is worth arranging a day around.
This is a page with three altitudes and it is worth choosing which one you want. Along the top are the ridge towns — Cori with its Roman temple, Carpineto, Segni, Norma on the edge of the drop — which are walking, looking and eating. Inside the rock are the caves and sinkholes. And at the bottom is the plain: buffalo dairies, the reclaimed marsh, and Ninfa's garden at the foot of the mountain.
Getting between those three is the thing to plan. They are close together in a straight line and much further apart on the road, because the road has to go round the escarpment. An hour of driving inside the day is realistic, which makes this a direction that rewards picking two things rather than four.
The Lepini are also the least-visited hour from Rome, and that is the actual argument for coming. A ridge town on a weekday here has nobody in it, the ham at Bassiano is taken as seriously as anything in Italy, and the paragliding off Norma is one of the few places within reach of the city where the landscape does the work.
Norma, Bassiano, Sermoneta, Cori, Sezze, Carpineto, Segni: hill towns an hour from Rome that almost no visitor reaches. Roman temples, intact medieval streets, walls, and food that has stayed local because nobody came to change it. Cori has more to do in it than any of the others on this page.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On the trailMunicipal museum in the thirteenth-century Palazzo della Comunita, with material from ancient Signia.
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In the airA 2,225-metre steel cable strung between two pylons above Rocca Massima, up to 310 metres off the ground, with a 350-metre drop.
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In the airA two-kilometre zipline descent from Rocca Massima at over 110 km/h, over olive groves and karst country down towards Monte Sant'Angelo, packaged with a guided cellar visit and …
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With your handsTasting of three wines from the native Nero Buono and Bellone grapes, served with bruschetta, cheeses and cured meats, at the cooperative founded in Cori in 1947.
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With your handsA cooperative founded in 1947 on the slopes below the town of Cori, working the native grapes of the area, Bellone and Nero Buono.
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With your handsGuided tour through the vineyard and the barrel cellar, then a tasting of the sparkling wine and the two DOC wines of the house, served with local food products.
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On the trailGuided walk through Cori, taking in the church built over a Roman temple and the birthplace of Saint Thomas of Cori.
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On the trailGuided hike through one of the finest beech forests of the Lepini to the 1,378 m summit of Monte Lupone, with a view over the whole range, the Pontine plain, Circeo and the Pont…
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On the trailA guided walk through the garden built inside the ruins of the medieval town of Ninfa, among watercourses, bridges and plants from several continents.
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With your handsA walk through the vineyards and a guided visit of the cellar of an organic estate at Cori, followed by a tasting of three wines paired with local products.
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With your handsA three-hour terracotta workshop in the studio of the artist Martino Antocchi: mixing clay, learning basic modelling, making natural engobe colours and burnishing with olive oil…
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On horsebackA horse ride through the woods above Cori or among the estate vineyards, with the Fontana del Prato riding school, followed by a guided cellar visit and tasting.
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On the trailMuseum housed in the monumental Augustinian convent of Sant'Oliva, telling thirty-five centuries of history of the Lepini mountains over three floors and about five hundred orig…
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On the trailGuided group walk in the hundred-hectare re-naturalised wetland next to the Garden of Ninfa, led by naturalist guides of LIPU, the Italian bird protection league.
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With your handsA small Cori estate of vineyards and olive groves run by three generations, working the native Bellone, Malvasia Puntinata and Nero Buono grapes.
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In the old stonesA church at Cori.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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On the trailGuided ring walk on Monte Semprevisa taking in the karst features of the massif, including the Pozzo Comune and the Abisso Consolini shafts seen from the surface, and the ridge …
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On the trailGuided hike through the beech forest of Acqua di Mezzavalle to the 1,421 m summit crowned by the cross raised in 1901 in honour of Pope Leo XIII, a native of Carpineto Romano, w…
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On horsebackA social and teaching farm and equestrian tourism centre at about 500 metres in the Lepini mountains, three kilometres out of Carpineto Romano, reached by a mile-and-a-half turn…
A sports club — you join them for the day
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On the trailCivic museum inside Palazzo Aldobrandini, at the highest point of the old town, with nine sections on the history of Carpineto Romano from the medieval fief to the Aldobrandini …
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On the trailYou book an evening at the astronomical observatory of Gorga, 620 m up in the Lepini mountains south-east of Rome.
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With your handsAn organic and biodynamic olive farm on the hills above Roccasecca dei Volsci, in the Colline Pontine DOP area between the Lepini mountains and the sea.
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On the trailThe Cistercian abbey where Thomas Aquinas died in 1274, with its Gothic church and cloister.
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In the airThe higher-energy version of the tandem flight from Norma, sold as a separate product by the same school.
A sports club — you join them for the day
See the dayThe escarpment is why the paragliders and the zipline are here; the limestone is why the caves are. Both are the same geology. Norma is the launch site for the tandem flights, and the cave systems at Pastena, Falvaterra and Collepardo are on the far side of the same rock — two of them wading routes through an underground river.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
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
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In the airTandem paragliding flight from the take-off site at Norma, on the edge of the Lepini mountains, over the Pontine plain and towards the sea.
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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
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On the trailA set of walking routes that all start from the visitor centre at the Falvaterra caves.
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Under the groundA caving trip on foot through the active branch of the Falvaterra system, walking in water at about 14-15 degrees.
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Under the groundThe longer caving route through the active Falvaterra system.
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Under the groundA short guided walk along an underground river inside the Falvaterra and Rio Obaco natural monument.
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In the airA tandem paragliding product for two people sold by ASD Aero Club Union at Norma.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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In the airA tandem paragliding flight from the Norma take-off with an instructor of ASD Aero Club Union, a flight school active since 1983 and recognised by the Aero Club d'Italia.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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In the airA tandem flight under a powered paraglider, listed by ASD Aero Club Union alongside its free-flight tandems.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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In the airThe longer tandem flight from the Norma take-off.
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In the airA tandem paragliding flight from the Norma take-off, flown by an instructor.
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In the airTwo tandem paragliders take off at the same time so that two people fly side by side, each with their own instructor.
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In the airTandem paragliding flight with experienced pilots from the take-off site inside the archaeological park of ancient Norba, one of the best known launch points in Lazio, over the …
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Under the groundA guided walk through a through-cave that water still runs into, inside the Monti Ausoni regional park.
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On the trailGuided hike along the old paths between the Lepini villages, to the Santuario del Crocifisso built around the Selvascura cave and on to Valvisciolo Abbey, reading the symbols ca…
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On the trailA natural history museum on the upper floors of the town hall at Collepardo, given over to herbal medicine, karst geology, caving and biodiversity, with a specialist reference l…
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In the airTandem paragliding flights run by a single instructor who flies from several Lazio sites rather than one: the site lists Norma, Serrone, Tivoli, Boville Ernica, Cassino and Anagni.
See the dayReclaimed marshland, buffalo dairies, the Circeo standing out of it, and Ninfa's garden at the foot of the mountains. Flat, warm, and a completely different landscape from the one twenty minutes above it — this is where the mozzarella and the cycling are.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On horsebackA riding club on Via Tufello at Aprilia, between Rome and the Pontine coast.
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In the airA flying club founded in 1952 at Latina Scalo airfield that says it offers experience flights alongside its pilot training.
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With your handsAn organic farm at Borgo Grappa near Latina with a dedicated visits and tastings page.
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With your handsFamily winery of the Pontine plain, with vineyards between the Circeo national park and the hills of Ninfa.
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With your handsGuided visit of the cellar at Le Ferriere with a tasting of the vintages available, in Italian or, on request, in English, French or German.
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With your handsAbout an hour and a half: a tour of the estate, then a sommelier leads a tasting of five of the winery's labels paired with local food, a hand-made tarallo, sheep's milk caciott…
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In the old stonesA cathedral at Latina, built by Oriolo Frezzotti.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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Off roadRental of small automatic 110cc racing motorcycles on the Latina circuit, sold by the minute or by the day.
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Off roadRental karting on a circuit on the Via Pontina at Latina.
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With your handsOrganic winery near Le Ferriere with an indoor and outdoor tasting space, offering guided tastings, picnics and dinners in the vineyard, matching the wines with local cooking.
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On the waterA small water park on the edge of Latina, built around children: slides, a spray park, a shallow lagoon and shaded lawns for the adults.
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On the trailCivic museum in the former Casa Balilla in Latina, dedicated to the artist Duilio Cambellotti: water and fountains, the rural schools of the Roman countryside and the Pontine pl…
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On the trailA park-museum on the reclaimed Pontine plain with around fifty thousand objects across several pavilions: farm life before the drainage, the drainage works themselves, and the S…
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On the trailRegional museum in the former Opera Nazionale Combattenti building in Latina, with thousands of objects across five sections: life before the drainage, malaria, the agrarian tra…
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With your handsThe farm visit plus a tasting of what the dairy makes that day: ricotta, burrata, smoked and plain ovolina, stracciatella and smoked scamorza, all from buffalo milk.
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With your handsVisit to a working buffalo farm and dairy at Pontinia: the stalls where the animals are milked, the energy systems, and the dairy where the cheese-making steps can be watched.
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With your handsThe same farm and dairy visit, extended with a tasting of what the dairy makes that day: buffalo ricotta, burrata, smoked ovolina, stracciatella and scamorza.
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On the trailA waymarked long-distance route through the Volscian hill towns - Fossanova, Priverno, Roccagorga, Maenza, Prossedi, Giuliano di Roma, Villa Santo Stefano, Castro dei Volsci, Va…
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 PickupsWalk the ridge towns, go underground into the karst caves, fly off the escarpment at Norma, visit Sermoneta's castle, and see Ninfa's garden at the bottom. All of it is an hour to an hour and a half from Rome and almost none of it has a queue.
Yes, on set open days, and it is the reason many people come to this side of the mountains. The days are published by the foundation that runs it — each card links there rather than to an opening calendar of ours.
Norma, mostly. The Lepini escarpment drops straight to the plain, which makes it the natural launch site within an hour and a half of the city, and there are tandem flights for people with no experience at all.
It works as a day, and it is better as a night — the ridge towns are at their best in the evening, and the drive back at midnight is the least good part of the day.
About an hour to the first of the ridge towns and an hour and a half to the far ones, with the caves on the eastern side further again. Each card carries the drive time calculated on the road network without traffic.
A medieval town abandoned in the middle ages and planted, centuries later, as a garden growing through its own ruins, at the foot of the Lepini. It opens on set days published by the foundation that runs it — the card links there rather than to an opening calendar of ours, because that is the kind of thing that changes.
It has an intact Caetani castle and a street plan that has not changed in centuries, and it is ten minutes from Ninfa, which is why most people do the two together. It is a morning rather than a day.
Go up or go under. The ridge towns are several degrees cooler than the plain and the caves are cooler again — the two wading routes through the underground river at Falvaterra are the best answer to August anywhere on this site.
Yes, on a tandem flight, which is what most of the flying on this page is. You are attached to a pilot and the only thing asked of you is that you run a few steps at the launch. Weight limits and minimum ages are the operator's and are on the card.
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