Ostia Antica, Rome

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Ostia was the ancient port city of Rome. Unlike Pompeii and Herculaneum, it wasn't devastated by a natural disaster like a volcanoe. It was however, eventually abandoned after continuous attacks by pirates. The harbor thus silted up as a result to a drop in sea level. Today, the city is a couple of miles from the sea and is quite well preserved. There are superb remnants of mosaics and wall paintings as well as the buildings themselves.

Take Metro to Piramide and then local train to Ostia Antica.

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Budget enough time for this trip. I had originally planned to do Ostia Antica in the morning and a portion of the Appian Way in the afternoon. However, we spent the best part of the day in Ostia Antica by itself and we didn't even get to see everything.

I though that these were the best ruins in the Rome area. We decided to do this over Pompei due to the shorter travel time from Rome and the quality of the ruins. Ostia Antica was a port town that was abandoned when Rome fell and was silted in and remarkably well preserved.
Bring water and snacks because once you are in Ostia, it is no fun to backtrack out. There is a museum, restroom and snackbar outside of the Ostia ruins about half way through it (it is about where the theatre and Square of the Guilds are). The restrooms are good, but the snackbar expensive. We brought a liter of water and a few snacks in a backpack and were grateful we did.

Try to avoid the tour groups and get off of the main road/path throug Ostia. Back amongst the ruins it is like you are in a different world and you have it all to yourselves.

Highlights: Cemetery (right at the entrance/ticket booth area), Baths of Neptune (climb the steps to the top and look around - breathtaking), Theatre (breathtaking - good place for a short rest), Square of the Guilds (the tile murals are beautiful - ancient billboards), Kitchen (a picture from the area has been placed on the wall), Forum Baths (a picture of the ancient toilets are below).

This site has 1 extraordinary feature after another. Pick a nice day and have fun. There is little to no cover here if it rains.

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I visited Ostia also at my first Rome-trip,but i had to come back-I love this place.It´s so fun to walk at the streets of the town,and wonder how it would have been to live here.I would have stayed forever,if my husband wouldn´t had enough..he likes these places also,but I´m worse of us..There a snack-bar.Quite simple selection,but not overpiced.
We had little troubles finding the right train here.There wasnt so good signs at trainstaion,and it took a while to understand,that it´s like a metro,even if it´s at trainstaion.
After walking around the ruins we went to Ostia centre by train and walked to beach.It took us an hour to find a public beach!!It´s unbeliveable,that if you want to swim quicly and then leave,you should pay allmost ten euros for that!We walked the wrong direction in the beach,if we would have went to left when came to beachstreet,we would have found the public beach quicly.When we found it,I swam for fifteen minutes,my husband hold our things(we didn´t dare to leave them)and then we left.It would have been expensive fifteen minutes at other beaches.

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Time spent at Ostia Antica, ancient Rome's harvour town, is both fascinating and a lovely way to relax a little away from the pavements and crowds of the city. It's a huge site, you could easily spend a whole day here but even just a few hours will give you a good idea of the extent of the town, its importance to Rome and the workaday lives of its citizens.

Once a busy port at the mouth of the Tiber, siltage, disease, time and neglect saw the harbour abandoned and the town disappear under several metres of river sand and rubbish. The shoreline changed and today the town, although still lying on the Tiber, is 3 kilometres from the sea. Very much a working port, there are no great temples, public arenas or grand villas here, rather there are the functional buildings of commerce and workshops, housing for working folk and middle class officials and managers, communal baths and latrines and the usual mix of warehouses, shops, hotels, bars and brothels that you'll find in ports all over the world to this day. Mosaics floors lie open to the sky and fragments of sculpture are everywhere.

Excavations began in 1801, mostly for private gain and use - an marble statue for a garden here, a pillar and an inscribed tablet for a folly there, though some pieces did make their way to the museums of the Vatican and the Lateran. Controlled and serious excavation began in 1907 and continues to this day.

Ostia's an easy 45 minute's train ride from the centre of Rome. Take the metro to Piramide and then the follow the signs to the Roma-Lido station. A 1 euro ticket does for the whole journey. The entrance to the excavations is no more than a 5 minute walk from the Ostia Antica station.

There is a cafe within the site but , as I said, it's a huge place so you might well want to carry some water at least with you. Pick up a panini and some fruit along the way and you'll easily find yourself a quiet, shady spot for a picnic.

Wear a hat!

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If you are at all interested in Roman remains, I can't recommend a trip to Ostia highly enough! It's easily accessible, huge and wonderfully atmospheric. Imagine a mini-Pompeii without the hordes, but with shops, houses (some with second floors), a theatre, warehouses, baths, market hall, wall-paintings, temples, streets, mosaics, gardens, a palace...the list is vast. Ostia is a brilliant introduction to what a Roman town was really like, and its museum contains some truly beautiful sculptures

There are cafes and restaurants around, but I like to take a picnic, settle down in a shady place somewhere quiet and just dream myself back 2000 years.

My Ostia pages are on http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/73696/23dd5/

I loved my visit to Ostia Antica, Rome's ancient port city. (The Latin "ostium" means "mouth" and Ostia was at the mouth of the Tevere - the Tiber River, which flows through Rome.) After the fall of Rome, it was deserted, and the river flooded again and again, burying the city in layers of mud (just as happened to the Roman Forum.) The mud protected the site, much like the layers of ash protected Pompeii. Now, it is uncovered - the amphitheater, statues, mosaics, apartments, temples, roads, frescoes.

Still, I don't think I would recommend a visit here to someone who had only 3 or 4 days in Rome - unless this is exactly the kind of thing that excites you.

People often ask me whether they should go to Ostia Antica or Pompeii. As usual, when asked a question like this, I have to say, it depends.

In general, I would encourage you to go to Pompeii - but it will be an exhausting day - because I'll insist that you go early so you can also see the fabulous National Archeological Musuem in Naples, where they brought all the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Count on 12 hours, 6 of them traveling!

Ostia can be done in a half day, which makes it easier to do (though a visit could easily occupy a full day if this is your kind of thing.) It's an easy Metro ride (with a change of trains) taking less than an hour.

There are an amazing number of beautiful mosaics still in situ. Still, perhaps just because of the history and the plaster casts of people who died in Pompeii, you don't come away from Ostia with the same intense experience of Pompeii. At least, I didn't.

Closed Monday, Museum closes early (1:30 p.m.) on Sunday. Decent cafeteria on site.

Ostia Antica used to be a Thriving Roman's Port just few miles from the Capital and is also a superbe archeological site, that gives us an interesting view of how the Ancient Romans lived.

To get there, take the metro line B, direction Laurentina. Descend at the Piramid( Porta San Paolo) then take the train for Ostia.

If history and ruins are your thing, Ostia is a great alternative to seeing the ruins of Pompeii. It's just 20 miles from Rome and it's better preserved than Pompeii. The town of Ostia Lido is also a good option if you are looking to stay near Rome, but not in the city center. It can be cheaper and it's near the water (so could be nicer in the heat of the summertime). A lot of Romans live here and commute to Rome for work.

The ruins are open seven days a week, from 9am (admission 5 Euro).

Metro Line B to Piramide or Magliana, then take the "Ostia Lido" local train to Ostia Antica. (TIP: Buy a daily ticket EU 4.00 to cover your metro and train rides.)

In high season, a boat goes from city center to the ruins along the Tiber. For information, call 011-39-6-446-3481 or 445-0284.