In the old stones
Some of the best days out of Rome cost nothing and cannot be booked, because there is nobody to book them with.
60 places you just turn up at33 placesthe nearest is a 33 min drive from Rome
Hill towns you park below and walk up into, castles on the ridge above them, abbeys, sanctuaries cut into the rock, aqueducts and bridges still standing in open fields, and walls built of blocks so big that nobody is sure how they were moved. Nobody sells any of it and nobody takes a reservation for it: you drive up, and you are there.
Which makes them the easiest thing on this site to build a day around. Two or three in the same valley, lunch in the middle, and the whole plan turns on one decision — how you are getting out of Rome.
Close enough that the drive is not the day.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the old stonesA triumphal arch at Fiumicino, from the first century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA square in Fiumicino, from the nineteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA bridge at Fiumicino.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Baroque cathedral at Frascati, from the seventeenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Baroque collegiate church at Castel Gandolfo, built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Baroque sanctuary at Frascati, from the seventeenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Baroque monastery at Castel Gandolfo, from the fourteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Renaissance cathedral at Lido di Ostia, from the fifteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA fountain at Lido di Ostia, from the twentieth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Baroque cathedral at Albano Laziale, from the eighteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Romanesque sanctuary at Albano Laziale.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Baroque church at Ariccia, built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the dayOut after breakfast, back with the evening still yours.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the old stonesA Baroque sanctuary at Nemi, from the seventeenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Nemi.
Free — nothing to pay
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In the old stonesA Neoclassical collegiate church at Genzano di Roma, built by Giuseppe Camporese.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Baroque collegiate church at Anguillara Sabazia, from the eighteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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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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In the old stonesA sanctuary at Cerveteri.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Romanesque basilica at Palestrina.
Free — nothing to pay
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In the old stonesA city gate in Palestrina.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA town gate in Palestrina.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Palestrina, from the second century BC.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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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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In the old stonesA Neoclassical church at Bracciano, from the twelfth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the dayCommit to one of these rather than two.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the old stonesAn old village in Nettuno.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Gothic church at Tarquinia, from the thirteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA monument at Nettuno.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA bridge at Gallese.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Renaissance basilica at Nettuno.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA church at Cori.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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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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In the old stonesA monument at Anzio.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Narni.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Romanesque church at Narni, from the eleventh century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA fountain at Narni.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA Roman bridge in the woods above Narni, part of the Formina aqueduct that still feeds the town.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the dayA full day, out and back, and worth the drive.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the old stonesA Renaissance basilica at Montefiascone, built by Michele Sanmicheli.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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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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In the old stonesA sanctuary at Vallepietra.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Romanesque cathedral at Sulmona, from the twelfth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesAn old village in Sulmona.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Romanesque church at Terracina.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Sulmona.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA Romanesque basilica at Bolsena, from the eleventh century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesAn aqueduct at Spoleto.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA triumphal arch at Spoleto.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Romanesque basilica at Spoleto, from the twelfth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA Gothic cathedral at Spoleto, from the eleventh century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the dayThe islands, and the few places whose position we have not pinned down yet.
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 old stonesA square in Ariccia.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA bridge at Ariccia.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA sanctuary at Rocca di Papa, from the twentieth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA Baroque sanctuary at Ariccia, from the seventeenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA Baroque cathedral at Tivoli, from the seventeenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesA bridge at Tivoli.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA monument at Nepi.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the day
In the old stonesA church at Nepi.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA Renaissance cathedral at Velletri.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
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In the old stonesA city gate in Velletri.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the old stonesA Romanesque cathedral at Anagni, from the eleventh century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the day
In the old stonesAn archaeological site at Anagni.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
See the dayEverything in this family that is not pictured above, nearest first. Same catalogue, same operators — only without the photograph.
Driving 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 PickupsLinks marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank