The Eternal City is the starting point for various art, nature and well-being itineraries. In fact, it is only about fifty kilometers to Sabina, a place that has always been considered the land of olives.
Visitors can take a drive along the Strada dell’Olio (the Oil Road) and stop to do tastings and shop at oil mills and farmhouses, while enjoying the local cuisine, a triumph of fettucine and maltagliati, the traditional homemade pasta from the area (stradadelloliodellasabina.com). It is worth going to Rieti, the ancient capital of the Sabines, to take a stroll through the alleyways of the old town and look up at the thirteenth-century Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop’s Palace) with its magnificent portico with two naves. And then there is the cathedral where, according to legend, Saint Francis stopped to pray.
On sunny days, you can go to the Castelli Romani, which have always been a destination for fun picnics, chock-full of good food and wine. In fact, it is the home of Frascati DOC, the beloved wine of popes, celebrated by poets like Gioacchino Belli, who dedicated many a verse to Frascati and life in the fraschette, small taverns that took their name from the tradition of displaying a branch on the sign (frasca means branch): there were more than a thousand in 1450. Today, many have become wineries, wine bars and restaurants that dotting along the Wine Road in the Castelli Romani area (stradadeivinideicastelliromani.it). Traveling this road also gives visitors the chance to visit Frascati and historic residences like the Villa Tuscolana, designed by Vanvitelli, and the Villa Torlonia and its Water Theatre created by Carlo Maderno, one of the most important architects of the late Renaissance.
For those who love losing themselves in lush labyrinths, parks and gardens, it is worth spending a day at Bomarzo, famous for the Park of Monsters, one of the most extraordinary gardens in Italy. Created by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini in 1552 as he grieved over the death of his wife Giulia Farnese, it is home to gigantic sculptures of monsters, and imaginary and fantastical beings in volcanic rock, created on site and inspired by nature (parcodeimostri.com).
Fiuggi is also charming. The medieval hamlet is full of alleyways, churches, stone stairways and healing waters that filter through a layer of volcanic rock and are enriched with precious, healthy substances on the way (visitfiuggi.eu). The best way to take advantage of these properties is to drink water from the fountain. You can do this at the thermal springs or in the privacy of your own room at the Grand Hotel Palazzo della Fonte. Built in 1913 in a flawless Art Nouveau style, it has frescoes, large halls, a majestic park, and a spa with swimming pools and whirlpools.
