A journey through Lazio

a short day, because it is the day of arrival. The village is reached on foot only, over a bridge of some three hundred metres that climbs steeply in its last stretch, and the bridge has a ticket. You sleep at the municipal area of Lubriano, on the other side of the valley: from there a shuttle goes to the belvedere, and from Lubriano start the points from which Civita is photographed whole. As the crow flies the village is a little over a kilometre away, but in between is the valley of the calanchi, and by road the way round is five kilometres.

from Bagnoregio it is 66 km and a little over an hour, so there is no need to set off early. In the morning Falerii Novi, which is the second half of the story of Civita Castellana: the abbey inside the walls opens only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10 to 13, and Sunday is when we are there. In the afternoon the fort and the Museum of the Agro Falisco, which open 8:30-19:00 Tuesday to Sunday with last entry at 18 and close on Mondays: Sunday is the right day, and Monday would have been the wrong one. The Clementino bridge towards evening, which is the point from which the village is seen whole. If the day goes well there is the Sacred Wood of Bomarzo, which opens every day from 9 to 19 with last entry at 18 and wants two hours: coming down from Bagnoregio the detour costs nine kilometres and a quarter of an hour, but the place has to be fitted around the one rigid time of the day, which is the abbey from 10 to 13. Either you go into Bomarzo at opening and reach Falerii around midday, or you go in the afternoon and then the fort is dropped. They are three things in one day and probably two are enough: you decide on the spot, as for Tarquinia and Vulci on the last day.

you come down the Flaminia and the vehicle stays put for three nights at the Village Flaminio area, from which the train at Due Ponti takes you to piazza del Popolo. Monday is the right day for the city: the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine are open on the single ticket, while it is the day the necropolises and the museums round about close. The ticket needs its time slot booked and sales open thirty days ahead: it is the first thing to do. The Circus Maximus towards evening, when the light is low.

the day without monuments shut inside a fence: the Pantheon, Navona, Trevi, Campo de' Fiori, all on foot and all close together. The Pantheon now charges and needs booking, seven euros since 1 July 2026, and it is the only thing to fix beforehand. You can eat while you queue for the Pantheon: the takeaway counter of Appetito Pizza Gourmet, in piazza della Rotonda, is twenty metres from the queue, and the queue for the Pantheon is long at any hour

the basilica early in the morning, which is the hour when the queue is short. The Vatican Museums need booking and are half a day of their own: if you do them, Trastevere slips. Otherwise Castel Sant'Angelo in the afternoon, then Trastevere and the climb to the Janiculum for sunset, which looks at the city from above.

you go back up from Rome towards the sea. Cerveteri in the morning: the Banditaccia closes on Mondays and until 12 October opens 9:00-19:30 with last entry at 18:30, so on Thursday there is all the time you need. At the first ticket office you ask for the PACT circuit: it holds together the two necropolises and the two museums of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, costs 21 euros and is valid four months, while two site tickets alone come to 26. This journey takes in Cerveteri today and Tarquinia tomorrow, so the sum works itself out. In the afternoon the castle of Santa Severa, on the beach: the Antiquarium and the Pyrgi excavations are closed to the public, so what remains is the castle with its museum, the Museum of the Sea and the hamlet, which are half a day and not a whole one.

it is the fullest day of the journey, and probably it does not all fit. Tarquinia is on the road and until 12 October opens 9:00-19:30, with last entry at 18:30; Vulci in September closes at 18:00. Which tombs can be visited at Tarquinia changes, and the PACT writes it on its website: it is worth looking before you set off. They are two half days lined up, neither of them a detour, but at the slow pace this journey sets one of the two is dropped, and you decide on the spot by looking at what time it is in Tarquinia.