Image by Annalaura D'Errico

The city of Rome isn’t bike-friendly yet but luckily some of its parks are. One of these parks is the Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica and, every once in a while, on Sundays, when it shuts down to traffic, I like to ride my bike there.

It has some excellent bike-routes which will allow you to get some good exercise while admiring beautiful sites of historical and artistic interest. You can choose to ride along the ‘queen of all roads’ the Appian Way, or along one of the different trails in the greener and wilder sections of the park, such as the Caffarella Valley or the Tormarancia estate.

On the Appia Antica, I think the most striking part is really the actual road –the cobblestones. They are simply amazing and beautiful. I also like the milestones. Here you really appreciate –physically understand- the true meaning of a milestone. If you choose one of the other trails, you will find yourself immersed in nature just at a stone’s throw from the city. In fact, you can watch the line where the buildings of the city stop and the green protected area begins.

Unlike Villa Borghese or Villa Pamphilj which are comely due to their aristocratic origin, the Caffarella and Tormarancia sections make this one of the more ‘natural’ parks of Rome. Here, you will find meadows, bushes, hills, ditches, hamlets, caves, a fully functional farmhouse, sheep, a river and springs –all interspersed with Roman ruins. Now, this is truly a bike ride!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Parco Regionale | Art & culture, Relaxing | Bike for a day € 10.00
Via Appia Antica 42 | Appio Tuscolano | +39065135314
Park:sunrise – sunset daily | Bike rental: Sun & holidays 09:30 – 17:30