Water Wonders

Day 1: Arrival at hotel: unpack. In the afternoon, we’ll meet for an afternoon passeggiata starting at the hotel, then a prosecco reception followed by dinner at special place, with D.O.C wine, and local liqueurs.

Day 2: After breakfast at the hotel, we visit the first garden of the Renaissance, the so-called “Monster Park” (Parco dei Mostri) at Bomarzo. We’ll see an ancient mill on a waterfall near Soriano where water carves rock. We visit the fountains at Villa Lante at Bagnaia where modern water hydraulics were pioneered. We’ll have dinner in Civitella.

Day 3: In the morning we visit Viterbo, twice the center of world power, which is also known as “Fountain City of the Middle Ages.” After lunch in Viterbo, we’ll spend the afternoon in natural therapeutic hot waters, in a pool created for Renaissance Popes. Spa treatments are also available.

Day 4: Lago di Bolsena is the region’s largest and deepest volcanic lake. We’ll see the town of Bolsena and, contingencies willing, take the ferry to Marta for the traditional lake-fish feast. On the way back to Civitella, wonderful sunsets are visible from the area’s hilltop roads.

Day 5: We visit Caprarola, where architecture clearly shows the social order of the late Renaissance. We visit the Farnese palace and world-class gardens, then to lunch near Lago di Vico. After lunch, we visit the nearby fiefdom near Lago di Bracciano, famous for many important nuptials of history. We have tea in Trevignano, across the lake, before a ride through typical Lazio farmland to check into our hotel in Civita Castellana. We meet for an early dinner in the hotel.

Day 6: This morning we’ll explore Nepi and see the modern water bottling facility of the mineral water drawn from the Terme dei Gracchi as well as ancient walls, aqueducts, and a public wash house by the Via Amerina. We follow a path to the town’s stream and waterfall. We visit a Roman three-bridge crossing of the Via Amerina and the ruins of an important Roman port town along the mighty Tiber River. We’ll have a wonderful farewell dinner.

Day 7: After breakfast we’ll leave the hotel at 9 a.m. for return travel to your airport or train station.

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From shore to mountain, Lazio is a water paradise. The native Etruscans drained, diverted and directed the area’s abundant water resources long before Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome, landed on its beach. Its centuries-old aqueducts carry water, harnessed from the hot springs, crater lakes and spring-fed rivers throughout this volcanic region, and are as crucial today as ever before.

On this seven-day tour, we see the natural and harnessed water elements that make Tuscia so special. We travel through the stunning landscape to see how water abundance can inspire people who, then as now, live and vacation here.

We will stay in charming Civitella d’Agliano in the far north of the province, and in Civita Castellana, which connects two ancient Roman roads, the Cassia and the Flaminia, at the Tiber River.

Once we meet, specific outings will suggest themselves, but we will always take you to visit the following towns: Bomarzo, Bagnaia, Soriano, Viterbo, Civitella d’Agliano, Bolsena, Marta, Montefiascone, Caprarola, Lago di Vico, Ronciglione, Bracciano, Trevignano, Civita Castellana, Nepi and Otricoli.