If you have a few extra days in Rome, or if a coin toss in Trevi Fountain has brought you back to the Eternal City, consider yourself fortunate. This means you’ll have time to check out the surrounding areas of the lively capital city with an exciting day trip or 2!
1. Pompeii
If you only have one option for day-tripping, choose Pompeii, Italy’s most celebrated ancient site located a quick 2-hour train hop from Rome to Naples and from Naples to Pompeii. In this ruined metropolis you’ll find the remnants of shops, restaurants, residential homes, baths, brothels, political buildings, temples, and commercial centers dating back 2,000 years before the tragic volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The site is also strewn with the plastered body casts of actual victims of the catastrophe, which is somewhat macabre, but pretty darn cool.
2. Assisi
Another 2-hour train trip will whisk you away to the medieval, religious site of Assisi. Perched majestically upon the Umbria hills, you can walk the cobblestone paths to bask in the holiness of the
, the everlasting burial place of Italy’s patron saint. But don’t let piety rob you of admiring this beautiful cathedral, ripe with stunning architecture, and awe-inspired wall and ceilings frescoes, nor a scenic peak at the valley below the hills.
3. Capri
You won’t regret taking a full day to escape to the lovely paradise of Capri. This Roman Island sits across the lively port of Marina Grande, and you’ll have to take a train ride plus a ferry to reach its shores. However, once you arrive, there will be no shortage of shopping, great seafood, people watching, or Cliffside views. Don’t miss the Blue Grotto cave tour, which houses a brilliant reflection pool of blue that can, again, only be accessed by a boat tour.
4. Positano
If the hustle and bustle of Rome has you eager for a languid stay in a seaside village, then a trip to Positano is in order. Lying just off the Amalfi Coast, Positano is a sleep, seaside village accessed by ferry ride. The village is literally out of a postcard with its multi-colored houses, pebbled beaches of Fornillo or Spiaggia Grande, mountain ranges, and hikes to stunning waterfalls.
