Ostia Antica: Rome's port, half an hour away by train.

Ostia Antica is the Roman town closest to hand from Rome: half an hour by train from the Piramide metro stop. It was the capital's port, at the mouth of the Tiber, and when the river and the sea withdrew it was left empty and covered in silt. What you see today is an entire town of streets, multi-storey houses, warehouses, baths, bars and temples, less famous than Pompeii and much quieter.

What can you see at Ostia Antica?

You enter by the Porta Romana and walk along the Decumanus Maximus, the main street, which crosses the city from end to end. On the right, near the start, the Baths of Neptune, with an enormous mosaic you look down on. Further on, the theatre and, behind it, the Square of the Corporations, where each shipping company had its office with its ship in mosaic. Then the forum and the Capitolium, the main temple, and beside it the Thermopolium, a Roman bar with its marble counter, and the brick apartment houses. At the far end, the Ostia Museum keeps the statues.

Outside the enclosure, with the same ticket, are the castle of Julius II and the borgo, opposite the ticket office, and, on the way to the airport, the Porto necropolis and the imperial harbours of Claudius and Trajan.

How do you get there from Rome?

By train, which is easiest. The Rome–Lido line leaves from Porta San Paolo station, right next to the Piramide stop on metro line B, and stops at Ostia Antica. From the station you cross a footbridge and in a few minutes you're at the ticket office. The Rome urban ticket is valid.

By car, along Via Ostiense or Via del Mare to Viale dei Romagnoli, 717: about 30 or 40 minutes from the centre depending on traffic. There is an unattended car park from 7:30 to 19:30 next to the entrance.

From the airport, Ostia is about 10 km from Fiumicino. If your return flight leaves in the afternoon, you can leave your luggage in the car, see the Porto necropolis, which is on the way, and arrive in good time.

How much does it cost and what are the opening hours?

The integrated ticket costs €18, €2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, and is valid for eight consecutive days for all the sites in the park. The castle, the necropolis and the harbours can be paid for separately at €6. On the first Sunday of every month everything is free.

The excavations open from Tuesday to Sunday at 8:30. They close at 16:30 in winter, from 25 October to the end of February, at 17:15 in March, at 19:00 from April to September and at 18:30 in the first half of October. You can enter up to an hour before. They are closed on Mondays and on 25 December.

How much time do I need?

Three or four hours for the excavations and the museum; a long half day with the castle. With the Porto necropolis and the imperial harbours, a whole day, preferably by car. It's the most convenient excavation to combine with Rome: you return in mid-afternoon and still have time for Trastevere.

Where to eat?

You can't eat or picnic inside: there is a café and vending machines. On leaving, Allo Sbarco di Enea, next to the entrance, is a fish house with dining rooms under a vine arbour; Il Frantoio, by the Castel Fusano pine wood, serves Roman cooking with a cheap set lunch.

Ostia or Pompeii?

If you have a single day and you're in Rome, Ostia: it's half an hour away, not two, and the visit is quieter. Pompeii has the frescoes and Vesuvius behind it; Ostia has the apartment houses, warehouses and the port, and you understand better what daily life was like in a merchants' town. If you have time, do both; Pompeii is better organised from Naples.