LAZIO TOUR
If you want to see something particular, a place without tourist, we suggest you a day trip to Amatrice, a holiday resort hanged out from Roman people.
AMATRICE (1 ½ - 2 hours from Rome )
Amatrice, is a small town with a gorgeous panoramic setting. It is famous for its dish of "Spaghetti all' Amatriciana", but it is also a beautiful small town located in the Central Apennines, at 955 meters of altitude, inside the "Mounts of Laga" National Park, near the Gran Sasso Massif, within Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and the Lazio regions, it is also called "the small Switzerland".
In ancient times, it was a flourishing Roman centre, built along the important Salaria road and continued keeping a certain importance during the Middle Ages too.
Amatrice doesn't look like a village at all, but rather like a small town. After a destructive earthquake on 1529, it was rebuilt following a regular map designed by Nicola Filotesio, commonly called Cola dell'Amatrice by the local people.
Enjoy a relaxing day trip by tasting the traditional cooking, and enjoy the surrounding countryside green mountains, the woods and the sparkling blue lake.
Walk through the small town by visiting the ancient churches of the 13th century, in the Romanesque style with wonderful Gothic portals; the museum of sacred arts, the beautiful works of a local artist and the ancient walls. Conclude your stroll by going around the Scandarello Lake, a small man-made reservoir lake surrounded by mountains, and an ancient tiny hamlet which overlooks the shore.
If you are looking for a taste of the "real Italy" then do not miss this opportunity to see Amatrice, you will not regret it.
CIVITA DI BAGOREGIO AND ORVIETO
CIVITA BAGNOREGIO, a marvellous trip to an enchanted place, where time seems to have stopped.
The complete absence of cars makes the atmosphere inside Bagnoregio even more unreal. Bagnoregio appears clung to the edge of a cliff where it dominates the wide desolated valley with its uprising limestone formation that majestically stands over the valley.
Its "splendid isolation" is a result of continuous erosion that makes the tufa rock become thinner and thinner on an unstable layer of clay and sand altered by the wind and rain.
The town itself has been founded by the Etruscans at about 2.500 years ago, but very few people live there nowadays. It is a real tourist attraction! You feel as you were back to medieval age!
ORVIETO, and its magnificent views.
The city of Orvieto is perched on a plateau of tufa rock, with the outline of its world famous Duomo visible for miles around. The exceptional views commanded by the city, as well as the beautiful skyline of Orvieto itself, can be fully appreciated by looking out from the top of the 13th century Torre del Moro, the highest vantage point in town.
Our artistic itinerary starts from the heart of Orvieto, which is undoubtedly Piazza del Duomo, into which look the town's most important public buildings and the facade of the Duomo, a masterpiece of gothic architecture with its polychrome marble inlays and dazzling mosaics.
At the corner of Via del Duomo there still survives the mechanical clock tower that chimed the moments of work and rest for the workmen in the building site over the centuries.
Orvieto is so many other things as well the crafts for instance. For some, Orvieto is synonymous with a certain style of medieval pottery. A short distance north of the Torre del Moro, between the medieval buildings, is the Piazza del Capitano del Popolo, with the 11th century Palazzo del Popolo also built in volcanic tufa stone. You can enjoy a walk in the alleys crowded by the many craftsmen shops, making your tour agreeable and relaxing!
