Walking Tours on the Appian Way are the perfect sustainable activity to discover the main attractions spread around the Appian Way. Lined with cypress trees and family tombs just as in the ancient Roman times, the Appian way still maintains its charm after more than two thousand years. It was the first “super highway” in Europe and is still one of Rome’s top attractions. In Roman times, it was Rome’s main military and economic artery and is substantially still intact. It may be the oldest road currently in use!
Following 3 different walking tours on the Appian Way (but you can opt for a Bike Experience as well), you will discover in the most eco-friendly way (on foot, of course!) the main attractions spread around the Appian Way through its naturalistic and archaeological beauties.
The Appia Antica 1 Route will lead you along the “Queen of all roads”, a unique path in the world a stone’s throw from the center of Rome. From the Basilica of San Sebastiano, which preserves the footprints of Jesus Christ impressed on a marble slab linked to the famous legend of the “Domine Quo Vadis?”, you will proceed to the most impressive and famous monuments of the street. You will see the Circus and the Private Villa of the Emperor Maxentius, the Mausoleum of Romulus and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella. Then, you will walk on the first stretch of original Roman basolato, the road with large basalt slabs marked by the rails of the carts that have walked through it over the centuries.
Appia Antica 2 Route will allow you to discover one of the most important sepulchers of the area: “i Tumuli dei Curiazi e degli Orazi”. In the second part of the tour you can see the Quintili Nymphaeum. The majestic residence that the Quintili brothers had built in the countryside adjacent to imperial Rome. After the killing of Quintilis brothers thanks to the Emperor Commodo, the residence became an imperial villa.
Finally, the Aqueducts Area Route will allow you to appreciate the ruins of the famous pattern of the ancient Roman aqueducts. The green area of 15 hectares contains the remains of six of 11 aqueducts that Roman used once. Dozen of thermal baths, thousands of fountains and private houses, amphitheatres where took place the famous naval battles were powered by this stunning arches.