42.13° N · 11.93° E
A day trip from Rome to the World Heritage Etruscan necropolises: Cerveteri's house-like tombs and Tarquinia's painted tombs.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
An Etruscan city of the dead: streets between tuff tumuli and tombs dug like houses, with the Tomb of the Reliefs; World Heritage site, closed on Mondays.
The painted Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia, with banquets, dances, games and animals on the walls, seen from staircases beneath small huts; closed on Mondays.
The Ruspoli castle in Cerveteri holds what came out of the tombs of the Banditaccia: Greek and Etruscan pottery, grave goods and the exhibition of the hydriai of Caere.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
All year, Tuesday to Sunday. Spring and autumn are ideal: in summer the necropolises have little shade and it's best to go first thing. In winter the necropolises close at 17:00. On the first Sunday of the month entry is free and there are more people.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
By car you can do Cerveteri and Tarquinia on the same day: 45 minutes from Rome to Cerveteri on the A12 and another 45 to Tarquinia. Both necropolises are a couple of kilometres from their towns, with parking at the entrance, and in Tarquinia the museum is inside the old town.
Cerveteri and Tarquinia are north of Rome, by the coast, and Fiumicino airport (FCO) is on the way: it has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Alicante, Palma and the Canary Islands, among others. From Fiumicino, Cerveteri is about half an hour by car on the A12 motorway and Tarquinia a little over an hour. Ciampino (CIA) is on the other side of Rome.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
With children, the Banditaccia of Cerveteri works like a park: streets between grass-covered tumuli and tombs you can walk into. Tarquinia, with its staircases down to the painted tombs, suits ages 8 or 10 and up better. Under-18s do not pay.
The Etruscan necropolises grip teenagers more than many museums: you go into the tombs, down stairs into dark chambers, and see paintings of banquets and games that are 2,500 years old. And under-18s get in free.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: The only hotel inside the historic centre of Tarquinia, a few steps from the museum: 52 rooms, many with a balcony and sea view, panoramic terrace and restaurant.
Why we like it: Country hotel with a pool and wellness centre among olive trees, 800 metres from the centre of Tarquinia, with country-style rooms and dinner served in the room.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the seasonal dishes with produce of the Viterbese; ask about the menu of the day
What to order: classic and modern Italian cooking with products of the Tuscia; ask about the dishes of the day
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
42.12° N · 12.23° E
By planeBy car
42.42° N · 12.11° E
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42.21° N · 12.40° E
42.41° N · 12.24° E
By planeBy car
Tips
If you're going to both towns, €21 for the four sites instead of €26.
You reach the tombs knowing what to look at.
Both necropolises and both museums are closed.
The Etruscans dominated central Italy before Rome, and what survives best of them is their tombs. Two of their great cities, Caere and Tarquinia, north of Rome beside the coast, left enormous necropolises that have been World Heritage Sites since 2004. They are two different and complementary visits: at Cerveteri, architecture, with tombs cut into the tuff like houses; at Tarquinia, painting, with chambers decorated with banquets, dances and games. You can do both in a day from Rome, by car.
The Banditaccia necropolis is a city of the dead with streets, about 2 km from the village. Large round grass-covered mounds and rows of house-shaped tombs, with rooms, doors and ceilings with beams carved in the stone. The most famous is the Tomb of the Reliefs, with painted stucco walls reproducing household objects. Afterwards, in the castle at the top of the village, the Cerite National Museum shows what was inside the tombs.
Start with the National Museum, in the Palazzo Vitelleschi: the winged terracotta horses, the sarcophagi and several painted tombs reassembled on the top floor. Then go up to the Monterozzi necropolis, where you go down to the tombs by stairs under little huts and see the paintings behind glass. End with a stroll through the medieval old town, with its stone towers, as far as Santa Maria in Castello and its view over the sea.
By car is the most practical. Along the A12 motorway towards Civitavecchia, Cerveteri is about 45 minutes from the centre of Rome and Tarquinia about an hour and a quarter; between the two, another 45 minutes. Both necropolises have parking at the entrance. From Fiumicino airport, Cerveteri is about half an hour away.
Without a car, regional coast trains stop at Ladispoli-Cerveteri and Tarquinia, but the stations are several kilometres from the villages and the necropolises: you need a local bus or taxi. If you go without a car, choose just one of the two towns.
The archaeological park sells one ticket per town, covering necropolis and museum, at €13, valid for 30 days, and a circuit of the four sites at €21, valid for four months. Under-18s enter free, and EU citizens aged 18 to 25 pay €2. Everything closes on Mondays. The museums open from 9:00 to 19:30 all year; the necropolises, until 17:00 from late October to late March and until 19:30 the rest of the year. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; in summer, start first thing because there is almost no shade.
In Tarquinia, Namo Ristobottega cooks Tuscia produce and opens on Sunday lunchtime in winter, and Arcadia is next to the museum. For sleeping, the Hotel Tarconte, inside the old town with a sea view, or Valle del Marta, with a pool, below the village.
Questions
Yes, by car: Cerveteri in the morning and Tarquinia in the afternoon, or the other way round.
€13 per town (necropolis and museum), €21 for both; free for under-18s.
Mondays.
Tarquinia if you're interested in painting; Cerveteri if you're going with children or are drawn to the architecture of the tombs.
Yes, on the coast regional trains, but the stations are far from the necropolises: you need a bus or taxi.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/lazio/cerveteri-tarquinia
