41.24° N · 13.50° E
Tiberius's villa and grotto at Sperlonga, sandy beaches, a boat along the Riviera di Ulisse and Gaeta's Montagna Spaccata, two hours from Rome.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Visit · 1 h 30 · €5 · The Odyssey sculptures found in the emperor's grotto and the ruins of his villa by the sea
Visit · 1 h 30 · The cleft in the rock with a chapel above the sea and the staircase down to the Turk's cave
Walk · 1 h · Free · The white village on the promontory, with stairways, viewpoints over the two beaches and the Truglia tower below
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
May, June and September: good water for swimming, boats running and beaches without the July and August crush, when half of Rome comes down to this coast at the weekend. In winter the museum and the Montagna Spaccata can be visited just the same, with many hotels and lidos closed.
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.
Sperlonga and Gaeta are reached by flying to Rome: there are direct flights to Fiumicino from Madrid, Barcelona and many other Spanish cities, and to Ciampino from several. From Rome it is about 125 km to Sperlonga and 140 to Gaeta: about two hours by car along the Pontina and the coast, or a regional train to Fondi-Sperlonga or Formia-Gaeta. For a day trip, the train is the most comfortable; for two or three days of beach, hire a car at the airport.
The coast works without a car if you choose well: Sperlonga can be walked entirely on foot, and so can Gaeta, from Serapo to Monte Orlando and the medieval quarter. The train drops you at Fondi or Formia and the last stretch is by bus or taxi. What does not work well without a car is hopping from one village to another in the day, except by boat in summer.
By car you see the whole coast in a day: the Via Flacca links Sperlonga and Gaeta hugging the sea, with tunnels, viewpoints and descents to coves. The hard part is parking in summer: the centres are pedestrianised and the car parks beside the beaches charge and fill up at weekends.
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.
Sperlonga and Gaeta work very well with children: sandy beaches that deepen gradually, a boat trip through the caves and two visits that impress them, the giant sculptures of Polyphemus and the cleft of the Montagna Spaccata.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Four-star hotel next to the old town of Sperlonga, with a pool, spa, a lido with free shuttle and parking.
Why we like it: Four-star villa on the Lungomare Caboto in Gaeta, with 47 rooms, a 60,000 m² park, pools and a private beach.
Why we like it: Beachfront hotel on Serapo beach, at the foot of Monte Orlando, with a garden, pool, restaurant and rooms with sea views.
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.
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.
41.57° N · 12.97° E
By carBy plane
40.84° N · 14.25° E
By planeCar-free
41.93° N · 13.09° E
By carBy plane
41.75° N · 12.66° E
Car-freeBy carBy plane
Tips
Sperlonga's archaeological area opens onto the Levante beach: go with your swimsuit on.
On July and August weekends half of Rome comes down to this coast.
The city's savoury pie, filled with octopus, vegetables or salt cod, is bought at the bakeries in the centre.
Plan your day for Tuesday to Sunday.
The centre is pedestrian and the drive up ends in a full car park. Leave the car below.
Sperlonga and Gaeta are the coast Romans go for: two villages about twenty kilometres apart, in the south of Lazio, linked by the Via Flacca, a road hugging the sea between tunnels and coves. Sperlonga is a white village on a spur of rock, with sandy beaches on both sides and Emperor Tiberius's villa at the exit. Gaeta is a city with a port, a medieval quarter and a promontory, Monte Orlando, which ends in the Montagna Spaccata, a mountain split in two with a chapel at the bottom of the crevice.
It's the day trip from Rome for anyone who wants the sea and something more than the sea. In the morning, the Sperlonga museum, with the giant sculptures of the Odyssey; at midday, beach or boat; in the afternoon, the Montagna Spaccata and sunset in Gaeta. With two or three days, you add Monte Orlando, the medieval quarter and a fish dinner from the gulf.
By train, it's the quietest way to do it in a day. Regional trains from Roma Termini towards Naples along the coast stop at Fondi-Sperlonga, in about an hour and a quarter, and at Formia-Gaeta, in about an hour and a half. Neither station is in the village: from Fondi it's about 13 km to Sperlonga, by bus or taxi; from Formia, about 8 to Gaeta. Check timetables at trenitalia.com and don't cut it fine for the last train back.
By car, around two hours: the Pontina to Latina and Terracina, and the coast. The Via Flacca then links Sperlonga and Gaeta in half an hour. The problem is parking in summer: Sperlonga's centre is pedestrian and the car parks by the beaches are paid and fill up at weekends. Park below and walk up.
By boat, in summer, you can go from one village to the other with Sperlonga Escursioni, which leaves from the ports of Sperlonga and Gaeta along the Riviera di Ulisse.
The Archaeological Museum and Tiberius's Villa are the reason to come even if you don't swim. In 1957, when the road was being opened, the grotto where the emperor dined with his guests appeared, and inside, fragments of the sculptural groups of the Odyssey: the blinding of Polyphemus, Scylla attacking Odysseus's ship. Today they are reassembled in the museum, and the villa is toured on foot at beach level. The grotto is temporarily closed for works: it can be seen from outside.
Afterwards, the old town, an hour of steps and white alleys, and the Levante and Ponente beaches, long and of fine sand.
The Montagna Spaccata: next to the sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità, a staircase goes down a vertical crack in the rock to a chapel above the sea, and another, on the outside, to the Grotta del Turco. Above, the Monte Orlando park, with trails above the cliffs, Bourbon batteries and the Roman mausoleum of Munatius Plancus. On one side, the Serapo beach; on the other, the medieval quarter and the port.
Between the two villages, the coast is best seen from the water: the boat trip along the Riviera di Ulisse passes coves and grottoes as far as the Montagna Spaccata.
One day covers Sperlonga and the Montagna Spaccata, by car, or one of the two villages, by train. With two or three days, you sleep in Gaeta or Sperlonga and do the beach, boat and Monte Orlando unhurried.
The best time is May, June and September: the water is already good, boats are running and beaches aren't full. In July and August there are lots of people at weekends and it pays to arrive early. In winter the museum and the sanctuary can be visited just the same, but many lidos, beach hotels and boats close.
Questions
By regional train from Termini to Fondi-Sperlonga, about an hour and a quarter, and then a bus or taxi for about 13 km.
By car, yes: the museum and village of Sperlonga in the morning and the Montagna Spaccata in the afternoon. By train, better one of the two.
Not at the moment: it's temporarily closed for maintenance works. The museum and villa can be visited.
€5, and €2 reduced. There's a joint ticket with the Formia museum for €10.
A vertical crack in the rock of Monte Orlando, next to the sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità, with a staircase down to a chapel above the sea.
In summer, Sperlonga Escursioni runs the Riviera di Ulisse from both ports.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/lazio/sperlonga-gaeta
