Ostia Antica is the closest of Rome's day-trip escapes: the ancient port city, buried by silt and time, now a vast pine-fringed ruin field of baths, mosaics and a Roman theatre, just 25 minutes from the centre on the Roma-Lido train.
Last updated August 23, 2026
In a nutshell: Ostia Antica is Rome's ancient port, abandoned when the Tiber silted up and buried for centuries, then re-excavated into one of the world's best-preserved Roman towns - a 25-30 minute Roma-Lido train ride from San Paolo station. It pairs well with Tivoli and the hill towns of the Castelli Romani; the day trips overview compares all the escapes from Rome.
Only a 25-minute train ride from Rome, this is the remarkably preserved port of ancient Rome, where you can imagine daily life as you wander millennia-old streets. As the River Tiber silted up over the centuries, the town was gradually abandoned and its buildings buried - which is exactly what ensured their survival. It has echoes of Pompeii, though Ostia kept developing after the fall of the Roman Empire, until around the 9th century.
Tip: The site is huge: allow at least a few hours, and wear comfortable shoes for the uneven ground.
Official site →Ostia started life around the 4th century BCE as a fortified military camp guarding the mouth of the River Tiber, near coastal saltpans at a time when salt was wealth; the name derives from the Latin ostium, meaning mouth. The city boomed in the 1st century CE, and by the 2nd century it was a thriving, multicultural port. As the river silted up, the settlement was abandoned and buried, preserving it for posterity - but unlike Pompeii, Ostia continued to evolve after the fall of the empire, right up to around the 9th century.
From the entrance the scale of the place is immediately clear: this was once a substantial city with a population of around 50,000, a multicultural melting pot that took in Mithraic temples, churches and a synagogue. The Decumanus Maximus, the site's central drag, runs straight through the city for over 1km to Porta Marina, the original gate facing the sea. Tombs line the start of the road, because whatever your faith, burials took place outside the city walls.
On the Decumanus, the 2nd-century Terme di Nettuno is a huge baths complex of around 67 sq metres, one of 20 that originally stood in town. Climb the tower for a superb view over the dramatic black-and-white mosaics, including Neptune (hence the name) riding a seahorse chariot, surrounded by dolphins, tritons and Nereids. A room just south has mosaics depicting Amphitrite, Neptune's wife, again with seahorse transport, accompanied by Hymenaeus (Eros) holding a flaming torch, which symbolises marriage. Other panels show naked athletes boxing and sparring. In the centre of the complex are the remains of an arcaded palaestra (gym), where travertine blocks in the floor still have the holes where gymnasium equipment was once attached. On the horizon, check out the row of Mediterranean pines: planted during the fascist era, they mark the former course of the River Tiber.
Near the Terme di Nettuno you can walk around the well-preserved, much-restored Teatro, an amphitheatre built in the 1st century BCE by Agrippa and later enlarged to hold 4000 people. An inscription says the later work was by Septimius Severus and Caracalla, but brick stamps show the reworking actually began under Commodus; the stucco on the arched former entrance depicts Hercules, who was associated with Commodus. The seating would once have been covered in marble, and a later renovation upgraded the stage so it could be flooded by hidden cisterns, allowing aquatic displays. The restored theatre is in excellent shape and still hosts performances during Rome's arts festivals.
Walk beyond the amphitheatre to circuit the Piazzale delle Corporazioni (Forum of the Corporations), home to the offices of Ostia's merchant guilds. It is a unique survival: an ancient commercial district where businesses were identified by the immaculate mosaics around the perimeter. Ships and dolphins are thought to indicate shipping agencies, while elephants probably marked the ivory trade. Further down the Decumanus, the Forum, Ostia's main square, is overlooked by the towering, stripped-bare remains of the Capitolium, a temple built by Hadrian and dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; here the Decumanus crosses the Cardo, the town's other major street.
Seek out the Thermopolium on Via di Diana, an ancient café complete with its bar, its original frescoed menu and a small courtyard where customers would have relaxed around a fountain. Almost opposite are the fascinating multi-storey remains of an insulae (apartment block), which would have housed the town's poorer residents - a rare insight into the cramped lives of so much of the population of ancient Rome's cities.
Most people's first stop on reaching the medieval borgo (village) of Ostia is the ancient site, but the town itself is worth dallying in. The 15th-century Castello di Giulio II, with its crenellated towers, dominates the centre; Pope Giulio II had it built to guard the mouth of the Tiber, and it was eventually abandoned after the river's course was changed by heavy flooding in 1557. To see inside, you need a guided tour - four run daily on Saturdays and Sundays.
The crenellated 15th-century castle that dominates Ostia's medieval centre, built for Pope Giulio II to guard the Tiber mouth and abandoned after flooding changed the river's course in 1557.
Official site →The Roma-Lido railway connects Rome with Ostia Lido, the capital's closest beach - it is no beauty, but it has plenty of transport links and gets hugely crowded in summer. Several bus lines run from Rome to the sea year-round, with extra services from May to September. The Lido train stops at a few locations along the beach: get off at Stella Polare and you might find it a little less crowded, with only a short walk to the sand. Capocotta Beach is famous for its dunes, which have also made it the area's main naturist and gay beach; it is a short walk from the last stop (Litoranea/Villaggio Tognazzi) on the 07 bus route.
Pier Paolo Pasolini - controversial, gay, Marxist, Catholic - was one of the most provocative filmmakers of 1960s Italy, known for films such as Mamma Roma, their challenging content and their use of non-professional actors. In 1975 he was murdered near Ostia Lido. A 17-year-old sex worker, Pino Pelosi, confessed and served seven years of a nine-year sentence, shortened because of his age. Years later Pelosi claimed he had been bait for a right-wing plot: five men had beaten the filmmaker to death, he said, and his confession had been obtained through threats to his family. A small park commemorates the still-revered director, whose muse was the rough underbelly of post-war Roman street life.
Great pizza al taglio (by the slice) and arancini (rice balls) at this fuss-free pizzeria.