Appian Way
Rome's first great highway, opened in 312 BC — and you walk on the actual stones.
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Past the trafficked first 5 km, about 16 km of the original road opens to walkers, running straight past tombs, catacombs, and ruins. The Romans called it Regina Viarum, the queen of roads; UNESCO listed it in July 2024.
What to look for
- Interlocking volcanic paving blocks, fitted so tightly the historian Procopius wrote they seemed to have 'grown together rather than been set by hand.'
- The Tomb of Caecilia Metella and the Circus of Maxentius, both on the road's 1st-to-4th-mile stretch.
- The Domine Quo Vadis church at the 2nd mile, near the catacombs of San Callisto and San Sebastiano.
Free to walk; begin at the Baths of Caracalla and follow about 16 km of the ancient route, with a tunnel carrying the GRA ring road beneath the Appia to keep the walk continuous.
Appian Way is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.