Rated Day Trips from Rome

The UNESCO World Heritage city of Assisi lies in central Umbria, about two hours north of Rome. A pilgrimage site since St. Francis built his hermitage here, Assisi holds a treasury of art, as well as a special place in the hearts of the faithful. The basilica is filled with priceless works by masters including Giotto and Cimabue.

The magnificent 1,200-room royal residence of the Bourbon dynasty that ruled here from 1734 to 1860 is often compared to Versailles for its size and grandeur. The palace, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been the set for several movies, is well preserved and includes its original decorative arts and furnishings.

High above the Paglia valley, 100 kilometers north of Rome, Orvieto stands atop a limestone outcrop, whose steep sides protected it from centuries of attacks. So strong was it that several popes fled here for refuge from anti-papal forces. The stone on which Orvieto stands is soft tufa, and it has been carved into caves and passages since Etruscan times.

Some of Europe's most charming towns are the medieval stone villages that crown the hilltops of Tuscany. Their beginnings go back to the Etruscans, and their hilltop positions, castles, and towers were necessary as protection. But at the same time as they fought off marauders, they developed a rich culture of art and architecture that you can see today in the palaces, churches, and public spaces.

The city that gave birth to the Renaissance, Florence is still filled with its greatest achievements, crowned by Brunelleschi's magnificent dome on the Duomo, the great Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The palaces and museums of Florence are legendary, especially the vast art collections of the Uffizi Gallery.

In the Tyrrhenian Sea, within sight of Sorrento and only 43 kilometers from Naples, the island of Capri can be reached from either city by ferry. One of the world's most beautiful islands, it was a favorite escape for the Emperor Tiberius, who built his grand Villa di Tiberio here. You can explore its ruins, take a boat to the famed Blue Grotto, or swim at the charming Marina Piccola.

Carved into steep cliffs, the Amalfi Drive hangs high above the Tyrrhenian Sea, curving in and out of the deep ravines that cut the ragged coast. Each curve in the road reveals a new vista more beautiful than the last, of villages clinging to the steep cliffs in terraced layers.

In the middle of an otherwise normal day in AD 79, the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius stopped life almost instantly in the town below, leading today's visitor feeling as though they had stepped back through the centuries.

During the Roman Empire, the Emperor Augustus and his nobility escaped the city's summer heat at their villas in Tivoli, in the nearby Sabine Hills.

Founded about the fourth century BC, Ostia was Ancient Rome's port and the main naval base of the Roman Empire. Next to Pompeii, Ostia is the largest excavated Roman city, and gives a good picture of urban life in Imperial Rome.