How long to visit ostia antica
The meeting point is in Rome Piramide, from where a guide will safely lead you to the train and then around the site. While transportation is not included, tickets are and this is a semi-private tour — so a great option if you want to be in an even smaller group. The easiest way to get to Ostia Antica from Rome is by commuter train. Regular trains depart from Roma Ostiense station and will take you to the site in about 30 minutes.
If you have a Roma Pass, this should normally include public transport too. The train will leave you at Ostia Antica train station, from where you need to climb up a flight of stairs and cross a bridge to get to the archeological site.
With such an efficient public transportation system, you should not really bother driving all the way to Ostia Antica — it means having to battle the terrible traffic in Rome! It will take you approximately 45 minutes. Parking is available on site. Ostia Antica tickets can be purchased directly at the ticket counter, or in advance on the official site, here. Audio-guides are no longer available. At the time of writing, the Museo Ostiense — which is a great addition to a visit to the site — is temporarily closed.
Ostia Antica Archeological Site is open for visits Tuesday to Sunday, and observes the following opening hours:.
Toilets are located by the ticket counter. Most of the site is accessible to people with limited mobility or on wheelchair; there are also services for the visually and hearing impaired. Make sure to wear comfortable clothes and good walking shoes when visiting Ostia Antica.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Table of Contents. Check opening hours for Ostia Antica here. Advance purchase attracts a surcharge of 2 Euro. Entry to Ostia Antica is free for those under the age of 18 and a number of other categories of visitors, including journalists and those with a disability. Although there is a small restaurant near the museum, the food is not cheap.
I recommend bringing a packed lunch to munch on amongst the ruins. As of April , there are no luggage storage facilities at Ostia Antica. Bring only what you can comfortably carry and leave your large bags at your hotel or use the storage facility at Rome Termini Station. Each has intact public buildings, a theatre and a bathhouse. Pompeii has many more houses to see than Ostia Antica, which has mainly public buildings.
Thanks to its dramatic backstory, Pompeii is better preserved. Embrace the slower pace and fewer crowds of Ostia Antica. Whilst you are unlikely to have the site to yourself, it is not so well established on the tourist radar. Accessibility is a key factor too. To preserve the ruins, Pompeii is thoroughly fenced or roped-off to stop you from entering some buildings. Exploration of the site is via a prescribed route.
Having said this, if you are visiting southern Italy and have the time, I would urge you to include Pompeii on your itinerary. Instead, choose Ostia Antica. I absolutely agree with you that Ostia provides the same excitement and experience without the travel exhaustion and expense. Thank you for these kind words and for taking the time to comment. Like Pompeii without the crowds. We bought picnic supplies before we left central Rome salumi, the best bufala mozzarella I've ever had, a half-bottle of wine, and pizza bianca , and had a delicious picnic lunch among the ruins.
I spent 4 hours there and still feel like I did not see everything. We spent an entire afternoon out there, including a lunch break at their cafeteria which was good. After a while we didn't even read the long descriptions of what we were seeing, because we could SEE it - the houses, the bathrooms, the amphitheater. You really just "get it". Unless you have a car or wish to book a guided tour, Ostia Antica is very close to Rome and is easy to get to by public transport.
To get there using public transportation take the metro line B and get off at Piramide. Here, take the Roma Lido commuter train to Ostia Antica. Once at the station, all you have to do is follow the crowd. It is a minute walk away. Since you are going to use quite a lot of public transport, you might want to buy a day pass. Tuesday — Sunday: am — pm and from 6 pm — 7 pm depending on the season Monday: closed 25 December, 1 January: closed.