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Tuscia Day Trip: Bomarzo Monster Park and Nearby Villages

A Tuscia day trip from Rome can start at Bomarzo Monster Park with one or two nearby stops added. In a single day it is best to pick one theme: a village, water, or the lake. This guide covers 17 places in the province of Viterbo, with the practical details from our listings. For more destinations close to the capital, see our page on day trips near Rome.

Tuscia Day Trip from Rome: Where to Start

Tuscia is the northern part of Lazio, around Viterbo. Almost all of the stops can be reached by car in an hour or a little more. Public transport exists, but in many cases service is infrequent, especially on holidays. Check schedules on the operator’s website before you leave.

Most of the places below are free. The exceptions are Bomarzo park and some guided visits, which require a reservation or follow a set calendar.

Bomarzo Monster Park

Bomarzo Monster Park is in Località Giardino, at the foot of the village, about fifteen kilometers from Viterbo. From the A1 you exit at Attigliano-Bomarzo, and a few minutes later you reach the parking lot in front of the entrance.

A full-price ticket costs 15 euros, and the reduced ticket for children ages 4 to 13 costs 9 euros. Admission is free for people with a certified 100 percent disability and for those accompanying them. Groups, schools and universities have dedicated rates. For opening hours, check the listing or the official website.

Free Hot Springs, Waterfalls and Nature Reserves

Piscine Carletti Free Thermal Baths

They are in Viterbo, along Strada Tuscanese, in the Bagni di Viterbo area. There is no ticket office, gate, set hours or supervision. The water is sulfurous and reaches about 58 degrees at the spring. Parking is free and unattended.

Park and Baths of Mola di Oriolo Romano

This is not a spa resort. It is a wooded valley floor about five kilometers from the center of Oriolo Romano, with a waterfall, a small pond, the ruins of a sixteenth-century mill and two shallow pools fed by a lukewarm sulfurous spring.

Acquarossa Waterfalls

They are in the municipality of Viterbo, in the Pian del Cerro area. Admission is free, but there is no kiosk, no restroom and no marked parking lot. You leave the car in a dirt pull-off and walk about fifty meters on an uneven path. Wear closed shoes with treaded soles. There is no useful public transport.

Lake Vico Nature Reserve

The reserve covers 4,109 hectares between Caprarola and Ronciglione, a little under an hour and a half from Rome. Entry is open and free. Cassia Cimina runs high along the rim of the caldera and links the two sides, with the best viewpoints over the lake.

Villages of the Cimini Mountains

Soriano nel Cimino

The town sits at about 510 meters on the northern flank of Monte Cimino, a little over seventy kilometers from Rome. You can walk around the center on foot, and it costs nothing. Cars are left in the lots downhill, below Rocca.

Chia, the Abandoned Village

Chia is a hamlet of Soriano, seven kilometers from the municipal seat. Chia Vecchia has been largely abandoned since the 1950s and can be seen from the outside, without a ticket, taking care around unstable walls. Torre di Chia can only be visited on scheduled openings and by guided tour with a reservation: ask the municipal tourist office for dates.

San Martino al Cimino

The village is at 561 meters, about five kilometers from Viterbo, and has no train station. The Cistercian abbey and Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj require no ticket for an exterior visit. On October weekends, during the chestnut festival, the parking lots fill up: it is best to arrive before ten.

Vallerano

Vallerano has about 2,400 residents and sits at 390 meters on the southern slope of Monte Cimino. It takes between an hour and twenty minutes and an hour and a half to drive from Rome. From Viterbo, about twenty minutes away, it makes an easy half day.

Villages of the Tiber Valley and the Faliscan Countryside

Calcata

Calcata Vecchia is reached from Via degli Americani. From the public parking lot on the plateau, you walk down for five minutes to the arch in the walls. There is no ticket, and you can walk around freely at any hour. From Rome it is a little under fifty kilometers, about an hour by car. Public transport connections are inconvenient.

Nepi

Nepi rises on a tuff spur about fifty kilometers from Rome. Museo Civico, at Via Falisca 31, has free admission. Visits to Rocca dei Borgia and the catacomb of Santa Savinilla start from there: they are paid and follow a fixed weekend schedule.

Orte

Orte stands on a tuff cliff above the Tiber valley, about 70 kilometers from Rome. The train station is at Orte Scalo, while the center is three kilometers uphill. The tourist office at Via Matteotti 45 runs guided visits and underground routes (phone 0761 267870).

Lake Bolsena

Montefiascone

Rocca dei Papi reaches 633 meters: Montefiascone is the highest municipality in the province, and from there the view takes in Lake Bolsena. You get there on the Cassia, about a hundred kilometers from Rome. If you don’t drive, you can take Cotral buses from Viterbo.

Marta

Marta is on the southern shore of the lake, at 315 meters, where the lake empties into the river of the same name. From Rome it is about a hundred kilometers, an hour and three quarters without traffic. From Viterbo it takes a good half hour.

Capodimonte

The village is on a promontory of volcanic rock, at 334 meters, about 110 kilometers from Rome. Entry to the village, the lakefront, the beach and the harbor is open and free.

Valentano

Valentano is at 538 meters, on the ridge between Lake Bolsena and little Lake Mezzano. From Rome it takes a little under two hours by car. There is no train station, and Cotral service is geared to students and commuters.

Toward the Coast: Montalto di Castro

Montalto di Castro is the farthest stop: about an hour and a half by car from Rome along the Aurelia. The territory includes the village, the seaside hamlet of Montalto Marina and the archaeological area of Vulci. The station is on the Roma Termini-Grosseto line. If you only have one day, give it the whole day.

How to Choose Your Tuscia Day Trip from Rome

For a balanced Tuscia day trip from Rome, pair Bomarzo park with one village and save the rest for another outing. Always check the distance between stops on a road map: the listings don’t give it. More ideas are in our guide to hill towns in Lazio and how to get there from Rome. For swimming, see the page on lakes near Rome for swimming. If you want to change area, read Tivoli Day Trip from Rome: Hot Springs, Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa or Mountains Near Rome.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Bomarzo Monster Park cost?

A full-price ticket costs 15 euros, and the reduced ticket for children ages 4 to 13 costs 9 euros. Admission is free for people with a certified 100 percent disability and for those accompanying them.

How do you get to Bomarzo from Rome?

By car, you exit the A1 at Attigliano-Bomarzo. By train, you get off at Orte or Attigliano-Bomarzo, then need a local connection or a taxi: check schedules before you go.

Are there free hot springs in Tuscia?

Yes. Piscine Carletti in Viterbo is free and has no set hours, with sulfurous water at about 58 degrees at the spring. Mola di Oriolo Romano has two pools fed by a lukewarm sulfurous spring, but it is not a spa resort.

Which villages can you visit for free?

Calcata, Soriano nel Cimino and Capodimonte have free access to the historic center. At Chia Vecchia you can walk around without a ticket, but Torre di Chia can only be visited by reservation.

Can you visit Tuscia without a car?

Only in part. Orte has a train station, but the center is three kilometers uphill. For Valentano and Bomarzo, local connections are infrequent. In many cases a car is the most practical choice.

All the places in this guide (17)

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