Historic monuments and legendary works of art are all well and good, but sometimes you just want to goof off for a day or two, maybe longer. Plenty of students book at least one trip to Malta or Amalfi or Mykonos to soak up the sun and live the easy life for a weekend. Unfortunately, these places are far away, expensive, and mobbed with visitors during the warmer months. But what if I told you Rome has a beach of its own, where you can swim in crystal clear water and work on your tan (or sunburn) before the summer begins?
You’d probably say I’m lying, and I am, sort of. Rome doesn’t border the sea, but nearby Lido di Ostia is a great spot to visit for a day or afternoon trip. You can get there for a subway fare. And it’s nicer than your average city beach in America, in my opinion.
You can take the Metromare from Piramide Station on the B-Line for 1.80 to Lido Centro, which takes about a half hour. For some reason, Google Maps doesn’t show Metromare, and instead suggests you take a series of busses for an hour and half. Don’t be fooled. Metromare runs every twenty minutes or so, and it will be packed with young Italian beach-goers on every warm day.
Ostia is much cheaper than Rome, despite being a vacation town. There are numerous good restaurants and bars. My friends and I usually opted to purchase a few Peronis at the mini market near the subway stop for 2 Euro and bring them in our bags down to the beach. There is also a street kiosk that sells delicious roast pork sandwiches for 2.50 (cash only).
Italians are really sensitive to the water temperature, so if you visit Ostia in the late spring you may be one of the only people swimming, but the water will still be much warmer than on the hottest days in California or New England.
If you feel like balancing your day of goofing around with some serious learning, the archeological park of Ostia Antica is a great attraction. It’s a startlingly well preserved Roman city of over hundred thousand people. It’s only a few stops on Metromare from the sea, so you can visit in the morning when it’s cool and then hit the beach when it starts to get hot. The admission is 18 Euros, but once you pay you can walk around the enormous complex of ruins as you please and investigate just about anything you find interesting. It’s a much less structured alternative to Pompeii or the Roman Forum, and nearly as impressive.
Chris Maffucci-Fitanides
I am a student from Philadelphia, USA, studying History and Classics. I love to write, draw, cook, eat, play guitar and make films. I hold the record for fastest time to eat a fried alligator po-boy in a small restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana.
