Over the border
Everybody drives three hours to Florence. The Tuscany that starts two hours from Rome is emptier, wilder and considerably stranger.
38 days out10 placesthe nearest is a 1 h 24 drive from Rome
The Maremma is the south-western corner of Tuscany, and until it was drained it was malarial marsh that nobody wanted. That history is why it is still half empty: long beaches with pine forest behind them, a park with wild cattle and horses in it, and hill towns that see a fraction of the traffic of the ones further north.
Its three great sights are all within twenty minutes of each other. Pitigliano stands on a tufo cliff as if it grew out of it, with a Jewish quarter cut into the rock beneath. Sovana is a single medieval street with Etruscan tombs in the woods below. And running between them are the vie cave — Etruscan roads sunk deep into the rock, walled in green, for reasons that are still argued about.
Two hours from Rome. Leave early and make it the whole day, or take the weekend.
Sorano is the third of them and the one nobody names: stacked, half-abandoned, and the quietest of the three. All three sit close enough together to do properly in a day, which is unusual for hill towns and is most of the reason this corner works as a single trip.
The vie cave between them are the thing people remember. They are Etruscan roads cut down into the rock, in places deeper than the buildings above them and no wider than a cart, green with moss and cool in any weather. Nobody is certain why they were dug so deep. Walking one takes an hour and is unlike walking anything else in Italy.
Saturnia is the other reason. Hot sulphur water falls down a staircase of white travertine basins that the water itself built, and the pools at the old mill are open, free and busy — go at dawn or in winter and you may have them nearly to yourself. There is a built spa alongside for anybody who would rather have a changing room.
The coast is the fourth part and the quietest: Orbetello on its lagoon with flamingos in it, the Argentario across the water, and the Maremma park at Alberese with long-horned cattle and pine forest running down to a beach with nothing on it. That is a whole separate day, and the argument for staying the night.
Pitigliano, Sovana, Sorano, Manciano, Capalbio and the coast at Orbetello and Talamone.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
With your handsA tasting held in the mill itself, on a 500-hectare organic estate on the Maremma coast of northern Lazio that runs from Mediterranean scrub through wetlands to four kilometres …
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On horsebackAn afternoon ride across a private 500-hectare estate on the Maremma coast of northern Lazio: from the Sassone down through Mediterranean scrub and wetland to four kilometres of…
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With your handsFrom late September to early November the estate opens the harvest to visitors: a morning of picking olives by hand for its own extra virgin oil, from eight until noon, ending w…
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On horsebackA family-run riding club in Montalto di Castro, in the Tuscia and the Maremma of northern Lazio, a short drive from the coast.
A sports club — you join them for the day
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With your handsThe longer Cerrosughero format: time in the olive grove with a picnic, plus a tour of the mill.
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With your handsA visit to a Canino mill producing organic Canino DOP extra virgin olive oil, with a guided tasting of four oils served on bruschetta.
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On the trailA sculpture garden of monumental tarot figures covered in mirror and ceramic, built by Niki de Saint Phalle on a hillside near the Tuscan coast.
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In the old stonesTown walls at Capalbio.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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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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In the old stonesA Gothic church at Orbetello.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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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.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride of 32 km declared, lasting 3 to 4 hours, starting from Orbetello.
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On two wheelsA guided e-bike ride of 43 km declared, lasting 5 to 6 hours, from Orbetello.
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In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Orbetello, from the third century BC.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesTown walls round Orbetello, out on the sand bar between the two halves of its lagoon.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesTown walls above the harbour at Talamone, on the coast at the north end of Orbetello.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the airA tandem parachute jump from 4,200 metres over Monte Argentario, its lagoon and the Maremma beaches, harnessed to an instructor who flies the whole descent.
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On two wheelsVillage Bike runs a network of bike rental points inside partner holiday properties in Italy; the site lists 14 points and names Orbetello Family Collection, Via della Giannella…
See the daySaturnia is the famous one, and the whole area is volcanic. Free open-air pools and built spas, and better in the cold half of the year.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterTwo open-air thermal pools at different temperatures, fed by the Suio springs: the panoramic Relax pool at a natural 25 degrees from the Bagno Fresco source, and the Smart pool …
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In the hot waterA one-day pass to the two thermal pools at Terme Vescine, in the Garigliano valley an hour and a quarter from Rome.
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In the hot waterTerme Vescine opens the Relax pool in the evening, three nights a week, for people who would rather swim under the stars than in the sun.
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In the hot waterNatural limestone basins carved by the Gorello, the thermal stream that leaves the spa, where the sulphurous water pools around an old mill.
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In the hot waterThe spa's own park, with outdoor thermal pools fed by the spring, whirlpool jets, vascular walks, sauna and an argillarium.
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In the hot waterA thermal park in the tufo country between Sorano and Pitigliano, six kilometres from Pitigliano and ten from Sovana - a real alternative to the crowds at Saturnia.
See the dayThe sunken roads, the cliff tombs and the necropoleis. This was the Etruscan heartland before it was anything else.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On the trailA ten-kilometre ring around the town of Pitigliano, walking the vie cave - corridors cut metres deep into the tufa by the Etruscans - and the valleys and medieval paths that lin…
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On the trailOne archaeological park spread over several sites in the tufa country: the two sectors of the Sovana necropolis with the Ildebranda tomb, the rock-cut settlement of Vitozza, the…
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On the trailThe park itself provides guides for three separate routes: the excavations of the Etruscan and Roman city with the Great Temple and the Cryptoporticus House, the eastern necropo…
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On the trailGuided visit to the Etruscan and Roman city: the necropolises, the paved roads, the temple, the domus with its underground rooms and the river port, followed by the museum insid…
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On the trailGuided visit to the Etruscan city, the Ponte del Diavolo over the Fiora gorge, the tombs scattered along the paths and the museum collection of pottery, jewellery and statues re…
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On the trailThe diocesan museum inside the Orsini fortress that dominates Pitigliano, spread over twenty-one rooms: Renaissance frescoes, painted wooden ceilings, sculpture including work a…
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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 the trailA guided route of about seven hours over volcanic rock along the Fiora river inside the park, described by the park as low difficulty.
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.
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See prices on LocalrentThere is wine at the end of this one. Somebody else driving is not a luxury here.
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 PickupsThe Maremma, yes — it starts about two hours north-west and it is the emptiest and most dramatic part of the region. Florence and Siena are a different proposition and a much longer day.
Etruscan roads cut down into the tufo, in places deeper than they are wide, walled in green, running between Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. Nobody is certain why they were dug so deep. Walking one is an experience quite unlike walking anything else.
One day works if you leave early and pick two things. Two days is better, because the towns are at their best in the evening and the coast deserves a morning.
About two hours by road to the first of it and a little more to Pitigliano and Saturnia, with the drive times on each card calculated on the road network without traffic. It is the closest part of Tuscany to Rome by some way.
Yes — they are about half an hour apart and it is the standard shape of the day: towns in the morning, hot water in the afternoon. Adding Sovana and Sorano makes it a long day but a good one, since all three towns are close together.
The open-air cascades at the old mill are public and free; the thermal park beside them is not. Both are on this page, and the cards link to whoever publishes the current arrangements rather than to a price of ours.
For a day trip, yes, on distance alone — Florence is a long day mostly spent travelling, and it is a city you already know how to visit. The Maremma is closer, emptier, and shows you something you cannot see anywhere else.
An Etruscan and Roman city in open country near Montalto di Castro, with a bridge over a gorge, a castle above it and a necropolis around it. It is an archaeological park you walk or cycle through rather than a site you queue for, and it is on the way down the coast.
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