Appian Way Bike Tour | Private

Tour Description

Cycling down the Appian Way is among the best experiences in Rome. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city center, you have free run of the countryside. Explore the environs of this regional park, cycle down its 2,300-year-old path, and feel the breeze cool you down this summer as you journey down the Via Appia Antica.

Discover many other millennia-old monuments during the course of your intermediate-level bike ride. Accompanied by your private, English-speaking guide, you’ll be making stops at the Colosseum and Roman Forum to soak in the sights. We won’t be stopping off, however, as this tour is for discovering Rome’s wealth of outdoor treasures.

Venture outside Rome’s ancient walls and hit the ancient highway

We’ll pass several ancient churches and a number of Roman tombs and ruins as we make our way down the ancient cobblestones of the Appian Way. Here, we’ll pass tombs and monuments few travelers to Rome even know exist, but which are some of the most moving.

Pass by the Tomb of the Scipios, one of the oldest families in Rome whose descendants met Hannibal in battle. Make your way along the Via Appia Antica, approaching the best-preserved gate in Rome’s Aurelian Walls, and make your way towards the countryside.

Discover Rome’s ancient ramparts at Porta San Sebastiano

Ancient Rome was surrounded by walls – first the Servian Wall, then the Aurelian Wall. Sections of both survive, the latter obviously bears slightly more fruit. We’ll be visiting the best-preserved section of the Aurelian Wall at the Appian Gate, otherwise known as Porta San Sebastiano.

From here we’ll journey down the Appian Way – one of the first roads leading to Rome. Lined with many pagan and Christian tombs, the Appian Way is incredibly atmospheric. We’ll soak in this atmosphere as we make the scenic journey down its 2,400-year-old Roman cobblestones.

Pass by the Villa of Maxentius, the emperor killed by Constantine

Cycle in the shadow of the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, a relative of Caesar’s ally Crassus, whose wealth is evident from the proportions of her tomb. Lord Byron was overcome by its beauty and committed his feelings to verse. Follow in the Romantic poet’s footsteps as its proportions overwhelm you too.

This tour will give you perhaps the best views of Rome’s ancient hills, as well as the colossal Aurelian Walls that still surround the city. We recommend taking the Appian Way Bike Tour on Sundays and public holidays, as the park in which the Appian Way is situated is closed to traffic.

Customize your tour with a Roman catacomb or picturesque picnic

Entry into the San Callisto or Santa Domitilla Catacombs can be added at an additional cost and an additional hour. Your private tour can also be customized to include any of the sites and tombs along the Appian Way. Please note that some sites, like the Tomb of the Scipios, are open only with reservations.

Alternatively, should you work up an appetite whilst cycling the Appian Way, the fields that line its sides are the perfect picnic spot. What better stop can there be than delighting in an early Italian lunch or late mid-afternoon pick-me-up whilst gazing upon the Roman countryside teeming with ancient history?