Sabina
The quietest direction out of Rome: olive terraces, a mediaeval abbey with its own territory, and a valley the Romans called the navel of Italy.
49 days out13 placesthe nearest is in Rome itself
North-east of Rome the Tiber valley opens out and the hills on the far side are covered in olives — some of them very old, in terraces that have been worked continuously for longer than anyone can document. This is the Sabina, and its oil is the region's best-known agricultural product.
The villages up on the ridges — Casperia, Roccantica, Montasola, Cottanello, Fara in Sabina — are small, stone, and largely undiscovered. Farfa, at the bottom, was an imperial abbey with land and privileges of its own, and is still a working monastery with a bookshop that has been there rather a long time.
Further up the valley, Rieti calls itself the centre of Italy and has a Roman viaduct underneath its main square. Around it, the four Franciscan sanctuaries — Greccio, where Francis staged a living nativity, is the famous one — and behind them the Terminillo, with snow on it half the year.
It is the best direction for a quiet day: olive mills, walks, ballooning at dawn over the valley, and lunch somewhere with nobody else in it.
This is the direction to take when what you want is for nothing much to happen. There is no famous sight in the Sabina and that is the whole proposition: terraces of olives, stone villages on ridges with a bar and a church, an abbey at the bottom of the valley, and roads with nobody on them. It is an hour from Rome and it feels considerably further.
What is actually bookable here is food and movement. Oil is the main event — groves, mills, tastings, and in late autumn the harvest itself. Around it there are quad routes over Monte Flavio, riding out of farm stays, sulphur pools in the hills at Cretone, and balloons going up over the Tiber valley at first light, which is the gentlest thing on this entire site.
Further up, the Rieti valley is a different landscape again: a wide flat basin that was drained centuries ago and is farmland now, with two reservoirs in the hills above that flooded their valleys and left castles standing over inlets. There is rafting and canyoning on the Velino, kayaking on Lake Turano, and the Terminillo behind it with snow on it for a good part of the year.
Practically: this is car country, the villages are ten to twenty minutes apart on small roads, and lunch needs booking because the places that do it well only cook what has been asked for. None of that is a hardship. It is why the direction has stayed quiet.
Groves, mills and tastings in the Sabina, plus the harvest days in late autumn when you can pick and press on the same afternoon.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On the trailA monk-run guided tour of one of the great Benedictine abbeys of medieval Europe.
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With your handsA Sabina DOP oil producer that opens its mill and its centuries-old groves to visitors with a tasting.
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In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Fara in Sabina.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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With your handsThe estate's advanced olive-oil experience, for people who want to go past the introductory tasting.
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With your handsA guided olive-oil experience in the Sabina hills north of Rome, on an estate whose 17th-century farmhouse stands among monumental olive trees.
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In the old stonesA castle in Palombara Sabina.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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With your handsA walk through the olive groves, a visit to the olive mill and a tasting session, run by a Sabina oil producer.
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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.
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Off roadThree or four hours from Palombara Sabina split in two: two or three hours of guided quad riding, then about an hour in a clearing in the woods with a holistic coach.
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On the waterA boat trip on the Tiber inside the Nazzano Tevere-Farfa nature reserve, on two 23-seat electric boats named Airone and Martin Pescatore.
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On the trailThe reserve keeps observation hides and towers along the river.
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With your handsA walk among DOP Sabina and IGP Olio di Roma olive trees where a technician explains the native cultivars, then the mill where the extraction is shown step by step, and finally …
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In the hot waterSulphur pools open till 18:30, and the operator publishes the train to get there.
€12 per person
Books on Terme Sabine di Cretone
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In the hot waterThree large sulphur-water pools, one of them for children, continuously fed with fresh water, in the countryside of Palombara Sabina about 30 km from Rome.
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On horsebackThe farm runs teaching days for children, families and school groups built around its horses and its farm animals.
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With your handsA workshop making soap by the traditional cold process, or natural ointments of calendula or St John's wort, at an organic farm in Cantalupo in Sabina.
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With your handsA guided walk through the fields of an organic farm at Cantalupo in Sabina, among ancient grain varieties and aromatic herbs, ending with a snack of local products.
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On horsebackA farm stay in the lower Sabina, between Rieti and the northern edge of Rome, that runs rides with the A.S.D.
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With your handsA truffle hunt in the woods with an experienced hunter and his trained dogs, on a farm in Torri in Sabina that also breeds truffle dogs.
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With your handsA hands-on class making the fregnaccia, the local hand-rolled pasta, at a farm in Torri in Sabina, ending with lunch.
See the dayThe valley at the centre of the peninsula, the Franciscan sites around it, and the Terminillo above — snowshoes in winter, walking the rest of the year.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
On the waterA guided outing in six-seat Canadian canoes to reach the hidden corners of Lake Turano.
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On the waterA tour of Lake Turano aboard the electric boat Thiora, which carries up to fourteen people.
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On the trailA guided visit to Borgo Antuni, the abandoned medieval hamlet on the promontory in Lake Turano, run by the local operator that also manages the lake activities.
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On the waterSingle and double kayaks on Lake Turano at Castel di Tora, supplied with paddles and buoyancy aids.
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On the trailGuided walks in the Monte Navegna e Monte Cervia regional nature reserve, the mountains that enclose Lake Turano and Lake Salto, offered by the same operator that runs the lake …
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On two wheelsGuided e-bike rides on gravel roads and trails around Rieti province.
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Down the riverA single-seat inflatable packraft paddled with a double-bladed kayak paddle, guided on the Velino river.
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Down the riverA guided descent of the Velino river on an inflatable raft, starting inside the town of Rieti.
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Down the riverCanyoning descents with an AIGC-certified guide, with wetsuit, helmet, harness and rope supplied.
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On the trailGuided walks in the central Apennines around Rieti, from short easy outings to demanding multi-day treks.
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In the airAbout twenty minutes in a two-seat ASK-21 glider flown by an instructor of the club's gliding school, either along the flanks of Monte Terminillo or circling in thermals over th…
A sports club — you join them for the day
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In the old stonesA monument at Rieti.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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On the waterCanoe and stand-up paddle sessions run from the Avventuristicando centre at Colle San Mauro in Rieti, with instruction in the basic technique.
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On the trailAn acrobatic course between trees at Colle San Mauro, the wooded hill inside Rieti at 400 m.
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Down the riverA raft descent of the Velino river that ends at the Roman bridge on the via Salaria in the centre of Rieti.
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In the old stonesA Gothic basilica at Rieti, built by Elias Of Cortona.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Romanesque basilica at Rieti.
Free — nothing to pay
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In the old stonesA Romanesque cathedral at Rieti, from the twelfth century.
Free — nothing to pay
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See the dayThe Tiber valley is where the balloons go up, at first light, when the air is still. It is the gentlest thing on this whole site.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
In the airLift off at first light over the Tiber valley. The transfer from Rome is included.
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In the airA shared-seat helicopter tour that flies over the city of Rome on standard routes and out to Lake Bracciano and its castle.
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In the airThe private version of the same helicopter route: the operator describes it as an overflight of Rome with a view of the monuments, from standard routes, out to Lake Bracciano an…
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In the airA tandem flight under a powered paraglider from the airfield at Fiano Romano, thirty-six kilometres north of Rome, over the hills and the wide farmland of the Tiber valley.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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In the airA shared hot-air balloon flight sold by an operator that flies from three Italian bases, one of which is served as the Rome departure.
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In the airThe private version of the balloon flight from the Rome base, sold as a whole-basket booking rather than per seat.
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In the airA gift box sold by a travel company: the buyer chooses either a helicopter or a two-seat light aircraft flight over the villas south of Rome.
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 PickupsOlive oil, principally — it has one of the oldest denominations in Italy — and for being the country of the Sabines, whose women feature in the founding legend of Rome. It is quiet, agricultural and about an hour north-east of the city.
Yes, and it is an easy stop: a working monastery with a medieval village around it, an hour from Rome, on the way up the valley to everything else on this page.
A handsome, largely unvisited provincial town with a Roman viaduct under its piazza and the Franciscan sanctuaries in the hills around it. The Terminillo above it is the nearest real mountain to Rome.
Over the Tiber valley, at first light, when the air is calm. Flights are weather-dependent and get moved rather than cancelled, so book early in your trip.
Olive groves, mills and oil tastings; Farfa abbey and the medieval village around it; walking and riding in the hills; quad routes over Monte Flavio; the sulphur pools at Cretone; and a hot-air balloon over the Tiber valley at dawn. It is an hour north-east of Rome.
It is a handsome and largely unvisited provincial town with a Roman viaduct running under its main square, and it is the base for the Franciscan sanctuaries, the Velino river and the Terminillo. It is nearer two hours than one, so treat it as a full day.
Turano and Salto, two reservoirs that flooded valleys in the Sabine hills, which is why their shorelines are inlets and headlands with villages and castles above them. There is kayaking and an electric boat on Turano, and an abandoned village on a promontory you can visit with a guide.
Late October into December, and it moves each year with the weather. The Sabina harvest is the closest to Rome and the easiest to join for a day. Each card carries the operator's own window and their phone number, which in that season is the thing that matters.
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