Photo Diary: Lazio, Italy

In July 2020 I went on a 3 week trip to the Lazio region of Italy. Lazio is a region in the centre of Italy and I visited many cities/towns such as Bracciano, Anguillara, Trevignano Romano, Ceri, Cerveteri, and Bagnoregio. These areas seem to have a lot of domestic tourists compared to overseas tourists. I find this surprising because it’s in the same region as Rome and only a 1-hour drive from there. It was very peaceful and I enjoyed getting to connect with nature.

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Anguillara Sabazia is a town with lakes and beaches. My highlight of this town was the aperitivo on the beach. I have always dreamed of having a picnic on the beach…and finally got to do it! We enjoyed a meat/cheese platter, which was washed down with some Aperol Spritz.

The above trio of photos are from Trevignano Romano. You can find many Catholic statues of Mary located in the streets of Italy.  In one of the photos, you can see a breakfast coffee accompanied by a maritozzo bun. It’s usually filled with whipped cream, pistachio, or Nutella. I tried different variations during my 3-week trip. The best one for me was with whipped cream. It’s amazing how cheap breakfast in Italy can be in comparison to London. This sit down breakfast was roughly €5 for the two of us. In Italy, many places also charge you a fee to sit in cafes. You will notice that most Italians drink their coffee standing by the till for this reason.

Ceri is a very small town full of beautiful flowers. To be honest there wasn’t much to do there so we spent like an hour just walking around. There is a museum but it was closed due to Covid-19. But it was okay because this region is more focused on nature, so the main attractions revolve around beaches and lakes. In one of the above photos, you can see one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten in my entire life. This is an egg pasta with fish and tomatoes. So simple but so full of flavour! The fish was caught fresh out of the lake.

Viterbo was very empty and we were the only people in this spot. One of the pictures shows me posing beside the entrance to a tomb. There were many holes full of tombs from the ancient Etruscan civilisation. The Etruscans were a very ancient clan of people in Italy who existed before the Romans. In another photo, you can see Italian limoncello.

One of the highlights of this trip was the visit to Civita di Bagnoregio which is a hilltop town. Once you reach the top, it’s full of houses, shops, and restaurants. It was beautiful! I do wonder how the locals who live here get around…and whether they can take cars up there. We had to pay a toll to enter this walking bridge to reach the village, but I assume the local residents would be exempt from this fee.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some photos of my trip. The Lazio region is more than just Rome…but if you want some ideas on what to do in Rome, then check out my 3 day Rome itinerary.