Everything in Lazio orbits Rome, and yet the region is far larger than its capital.
Go in April to June and September to October.
- Fly into
- Rome Fiumicino (FCO), Rome Ciampino (CIA)
- Capital
- Rome
- Size
- 17,232 km² (6,653 sq mi), about the size of Connecticut
- People
- 5.7 million
North of the city, the Etruscans left their dead in painted tombs at Tarquinia and Cerveteri, cities of the living carved into soft volcanic tufa. To the south and along the coast, the empire built its harbour at Ostia Antica and its emperors raised pleasure palaces, none grander than Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, where the fountains of the Renaissance Villa d'Este still play.
This is volcanic country, its old craters now filled by the blue lakes of Bracciano, Bolsena, and Nemi. In the Alban Hills above Rome, the wine towns of the Castelli Romani pour crisp Frascati and roast their famous porchetta, while the Roman table runs on cucina povera made noble: bucatini, rigatoni, and the sharp bite of Pecorino Romano.
Come in spring or early autumn, when the city's stone holds its warmth and the hill towns shake off the summer crowds.
What to see in Lazio
Save the ones you want and we'll find which of our routes reaches the most in the fewest nights.
Appian Way
Rome The Roman stretch of the Appian Way, where ancient paving leads past tombs, imperial villas and medieval fortifications.
Hadrian's Villa
Tivoli Emperor Hadrian's sprawling villa at Tivoli, a memory of his travels in marble and brick, with the Canopus and Maritime Theatre.
Villa d'Este
Tivoli's Renaissance villa and terraced garden, its fountains, water organ and Rometta all working by gravity alone.
Necropolis of Monterozzi
Tarquinia's painted Etruscan tombs, antiquity's most vivid gallery of daily life.
Necropolis of the Banditaccia
Cerveteri The Etruscan city of the dead outside Cerveteri, its tombs cut street by street into the tufa and furnished like real houses.
Colosseum
Rome’s Flavian Amphitheatre reveals how imperial spectacle worked, from the ordered seating to the machinery beneath the arena.
St. Peter's Basilica
Rome The Vatican’s great basilica, built from 1506 to 1626 and shaped by Michelangelo, Bernini and generations of artists.
Pantheon
Rome A Roman portico opens into the Pantheon’s circular interior, where the open oculus lights an ancient dome and a living basilica.
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How many nights in Lazio?
Choose your nights and the route redraws: where to sleep, what to see, and the towns an easy day out from each base.
3 nights in Lazio: Rome for 3.5 nights in Lazio: Viterbo for 2 and Rome for 3.7 nights in Lazio: Viterbo for 3 and Rome for 4.10 nights in Lazio: Viterbo for 3, Rome for 5 and Sperlonga for 2.
Add your first day and each link opens on that stop's dates.
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Where to stay in Lazio
Each stop with what to see and, where we have them, a day out and the hotel we'd book.
- Day out
- Bomarzo · Montalto di Castro · Tarquinia
70 km from Viterbo as the crow flies
- See
- Appian Way · Colosseum
The former Roman headquarters of the Singer sewing-machine company, now a hotel between the Pantheon and Trevi, with rooftop drinks and dinner at sunset.
Check dates: Singer Palace Hotel RomaMore in Rome
A classically styled boutique hotel on Via Nazionale, minutes from Termini, with a rooftop restaurant and bar over the city and an intimate spa.
Check dates: Hotel ArtemideA grand hotel at the top of the Spanish Steps, with a top-floor restaurant and views over the Roman skyline.
Check dates: Hotel Hassler Roma
105 km from Rome as the crow flies
A whitewashed village spilling down a headland between two bays, Sperlonga is one of Lazio's prettiest seaside towns.
Below it, the seafront grotto of the emperor Tiberius once held a dramatic sculpture group, now in its archaeological museum.
Other places to stay
Gente di Notte
Modern air-conditioned rooms with a restaurant on site for starters, steak and pinsa, a short walk from Frascati station.
Check dates in FrascatiDomus De Cinti
A three-suite B&B on Tivoli's main square, steps from Villa d'Este, with spa-bath suites for a small romantic stay.
Check dates: Domus De CintiB&B Al Catillo 1600 Tivoli
A simple B&B in Tivoli with breakfast and rooms a short walk from the train station, handy if you arrive from Rome by rail.
Check dates: B&B Al Catillo 1600 TivoliAntica Villa di Bruto
A very small guesthouse in Tivoli with a rooftop terrace and views across the Roman plain, near Villa d'Este.
Check dates: Antica Villa di BrutoDomus Park Hotel
A spa hotel with a garden and terrace on Via Tuscolana, a comfortable base for touring Frascati and the Castelli Romani wine country.
Check dates in FrascatiErba Regina
A herb farm and country house on the edge of Frascati, with a quiet setting, an on-site restaurant and wild-herb courses from the owner.
Check dates in Frascati
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A traditional dinner from Lazio
Every course is one the region actually serves. Change any of them and the wine, the timing and the shopping list follow.
Antipasto
Supplì al telefono with meat ragù
Oval Roman rice croquettes with tomato and beef ragù, a mozzarella centre and a crisp breadcrumb coating.
First course
Spaghetti cacio e pepe alla romana
Spaghetti coated in Pecorino Romano and black pepper, with a glossy sauce made from cheese and starchy pasta water.
Main course
Saltimbocca alla Romana
Rome’s ten-minute main course: veal scaloppine pinned with prosciutto and sage, flashed in butter and white wine until they jump in the mouth.
Side
Carciofi alla romana
Whole Romanesco artichokes with garlic and mentuccia, cooked head-down in a covered casserole until tender.
Dessert
Ricotta and visciole tart
A lattice-topped Roman tart with visciole jam beneath a sambuca-scented ricotta filling.
What to pour
A Frascati Superiore from the Alban Hills just outside Rome, the same wine that goes in the pan: fresh and lightly floral, it lifts the butter and sage.
Frascati Superiore
Start the Ricotta and visciole tart first: 5 hr 35 min.
Taste it there
Make pizza and tiramisù in Rome
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What Lazio is known for
You will find these here and nowhere else.
Every April Rome throws itself a birthday only legend can vouch for: costumed legionaries and senators march out of the Circus Maximus and past the Colosseum.
In the 16th century Vicino Orsini filled this wood with monsters; climb the steps into the Ogre's open mouth, its lip carved with the words Ogni pensiero vola.
The hills beyond Rome
The Castelli Romani give Lazio a wine-country chapter among volcanic hills, crater lakes and historic towns south of Rome. Vineyards belong to that wider landscape alongside woodland, villas and abbeys. Choose the hills as a destination in their own right; Tivoli lies east of Rome and is a separate geographical story.
The year in Lazio
The rituals, races, and processions the region still keeps.
At Christmas
A Christmas journey in Lazio can connect Rome’s festive season with Greccio’s Nativity tradition, keeping each visit’s programme separate. For a meal at home, Roman-style artichokes offer a vegetable course, and the wider Christmas recipe collection supplies pasta, fish and sweets. Confirm museum entries and the holiday meal before filling the same day with another reservation; national holidays do not give every venue the same timetable.
Where next
Abruzzo
Italy's wild green heart, where wolves and bears still roam national parks beneath the Apennines' highest peaks.
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Umbria
Umbria is the green heart of Italy, a landlocked country of hilltop towns, Franciscan silence, and black truffles.
In your trip
Molise
Italy's quietest region, where Samnite ruins and Roman towns sleep among wheat fields.
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