Off the tarmac
Dirt tracks through country you cannot drive a hire car down, an hour from the city, with somebody in front who knows where they go.
26 things to book4 placesthe nearest is in Rome itself
The hills around Rome are threaded with farm tracks and old mule paths, and most of them lead somewhere worth arriving at — a waterfall in a wood behind Cerveteri, a village on a rock in the Monti Ruffi, an empty ridge above the Bracciano crater.
You cannot take a rental car down any of them, which is exactly why these days exist. A guided quad ride is two to four hours of dust, noise and hillside, usually finishing somewhere with food.
No experience is needed for most of them: quads are automatic and the guide sets the pace. Bring clothes you do not mind ruining, because you will.
The two areas that do most of this are the hills behind Cerveteri, north-west, where the tracks run through Etruscan farmland to a waterfall in a wood, and the Monti Ruffi and Monte Flavio, east, which is steeper and rougher and where the long days are. Sunset runs are a thing in both: three hours, and pizza in a village square afterwards.
A quad is automatic and easier to ride than a bicycle, which is why the operators can take complete beginners out in convoy. What varies between them is not the machine but what they let you do on it: some rides are a gentle loop, some are five hours of hard off-road, and one goes two hours on the quad and two on foot to reach a crashed aircraft still lying on the mountain. The card carries the operator's own description of which.
The rule that catches people out is licences and passengers. It changes from operator to operator and from vehicle to vehicle, and it is the one thing not to leave to the morning. Where they publish it, it is on the card; otherwise the phone number is, and a two-minute call settles it.
Guided, always, in convoy. Two hours for the short version and most of a day for the long ones, with lunch, pizza or an aperitivo at the end of several. Cerveteri for the waterfall runs and the Etruscan farmland, the Sabina and the Monti Ruffi for the hard ones.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
Off roadThe longer of the operator's two daytime routes: three hours from Anticoli Corrado through rock spurs, small mountain villages, grazing animals and views across the Lazio Apenni…
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Off roadA two-hour guided quad ride from Anticoli Corrado along the old railway line, through olive groves and out onto the broom slopes of the Monti Ruffi, with views over the Aniene v…
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Off roadAn evening quad ride on unmade tracks up to a natural terrace for the sunset over the mountains, then down to the square of Anticoli Corrado for pizza by the slice and a soft dr…
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Off roadA four-hour guided off-road ride across farmland and Mediterranean scrub to the Cerveteri waterfalls, where the operator says there is a swim stop.
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Off roadA three-hour guided ride on dirt tracks between olive groves and vineyards through the Etruscan territory of Cerveteri, with a stop at the Cascatella di Sant'Antonio where the o…
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Off roadFive hours in total: three on a quad or dune buggy across the Cerveteri countryside to the Banditaccia Etruscan necropolis, then two hours visiting the tombs of the UNESCO site.
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Off roadThe operator's longest and roughest guided ride: five hours, eighty per cent on unsurfaced tracks, with the Cerveteri waterfalls as the turning point.
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Off roadA two-hour guided ride on a quad or dune buggy through the Etruscan countryside around Cerveteri, half of it on unsurfaced tracks.
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Off roadA guided hour on a quad or a dune buggy through the countryside of Cerveteri, along farm roads between olive groves and vineyards as far as the hilltop hamlet of Ceri, then back…
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Off roadA two-hour guided quad ride for people who have never ridden one, starting at Palombara Sabina: a quarter on the tarmac road out to Stazzano, then three quarters on dirt.
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Off roadFour hours of extreme off-road for people who have ridden a quad before and are fit enough for it.
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Off roadA guided three-hour quad ride starting at Palombara Sabina, in the Monti Lucretili north-east of Rome.
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Off roadAn afternoon quad ride of three or four hours from Palombara Sabina, timed to reach the viewpoints of the Roman Sabina at sunset - the departure time shifts with the season.
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Off roadTwo hours on a quad and two hours on foot from Palombara Sabina.
See the dayIf an engine is not the point, the same country works on a horse, on two wheels or on foot — and the tracks are the same tracks. The Appia Antica and the aqueduct park are the version of this you can reach without leaving Rome at all.
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 horsebackA riding centre on Via della Macchiarella in Rome that lists horseback rides among the services it sells alongside its riding school for children.
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On horsebackA one-hour riding lesson at the Cavalieri Appia Antica school, inside the Appia Antica Regional Park.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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On horsebackGuided horseback rides and excursions inside the Appia Antica Regional Park, led by Sandro, an equestrian guide with thirty years of experience.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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On horsebackA trial session of Natural Horsemanship with the instructors of Ciampacavallo, a social association based inside the Appia Antica Regional Park since 2000.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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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.
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 PickupsRequirements vary by operator and by vehicle, and several will take you out with no licence at all as a passenger or on a smaller machine. It is stated on the card where the operator publishes it; otherwise ring them, because it is not a thing to discover on the morning.
Two, three or four hours in most cases, plus the briefing. The card gives the length as the operator publishes it.
As passengers with an adult, often yes, with a minimum age set by the operator. Riding solo is generally adults only.
Mud, mostly, and many operators go anyway — it is that sort of day. Heavy weather cancels; the card says where we know the operator's rule.
Two main areas: around Cerveteri to the north-west, where the routes run through Etruscan farmland and out to waterfalls, and the Monti Ruffi and Palombara Sabina to the east, which is higher and harder. Both are about fifty minutes from the city.
No. They are automatic, the guide sets the pace and the ride is in convoy, which is why the shorter runs are sold as a first time on the handlebars. Experience changes which ride you should book, not whether you can.
Clothes you do not mind ruining, closed shoes, and sunglasses or the helmet visor the operator gives you. Bring a change for afterwards. On a dry day the issue is dust; on a wet one it is mud, and neither comes out of anything pale.
Broadly yes — this is not a summer-only activity, and autumn and spring are the best of it because the ground has some give and the woods are worth being in. Where an operator publishes a season, it is on the card.
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