We spent about a week in Rome last month and booked three guided tours: one for Vatican City, one…read morefor the Forum and Colosseum, and this one with Top Bike Rental and Tours, built around the ancient Appian Way. Of the three, the bike tour was the longest and the least mandatory, for lack of a better word. It was also one of the best things we did on our entire vacation.
I picked this tour because it was highly rated on various travel sites and my husband Matt B. is an avid cyclist. It was a six-hour, 17-mile tour of Appian Way, the Catacombs of Saint Calixtus, and the Park of the Aqueducts, 9AM to 3PM with a stop for a casual lunch. I booked it for our one Sunday in Rome, when Appian Way would be closed to car traffic.
We went to Top Bike on Sunday morning, which looked like a comprehensive bike rental joint in addition to a tour company. It was a big place, and there were a few small groups gathering, all us tourists getting assigned bikes and guides. We had the great luck of landing in Nima's group, with three other couples. He gave us a brief, informative orientation and we were on our way.
I didn't really know what to expect from this tour (my fault/laziness, not theirs) and had been a bit apprehensive about the amount of biking involved. I'd never ridden an e-bike before, and if I had, I would not have been worried. I wouldn't even say we got exercise on that 17-mile ride. The only challenging part was the uneven terrain of Appian Way. I could see that being an issue for small children or frail seniors, but otherwise anyone who can pedal and balance can go on this tour.
And they absolutely should. The tour was incredible. Nima was a wonderful guide, so warm and knowledgeable and conscientious. It can't be easy leading a bunch of bumbling tourists on e-bikes, many of them retirees, on a route that takes them through city streets. But he was great, responsible and watchful while we rode. He was equally impressive as a tour guide, imparting a wealth of knowledge at every stop.
We stopped frequently, seeing, among other jaw-dropping sights we pedaled right past, the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the Mausoleo di Cecilia, and the Chiesa di San Nicola a Capo di Bove. Nima told us about the gates and walls leading into Rome, and the Baths of Caracalla, which we waved at as we crossed the street a quarter-mile away.
The three main attractions were as advertised, and we started with the catacombs tour, an optional add-on that I would definitely recommend. (You can book a four-hour version of the same tour that skips the catacombs, but hey, when in Rome.) Nima and Top Bike weren't involved in this leg, other than buying the tickets and getting us there, but it was fantastic, very worth our while.
The catacombs were on Appian Way, which was apparently the place to be buried if you had money and status in ancient Rome. The heart of our tour took us along this road, over 2,000 years old and still in remarkable condition. We biked over stones marked with grooves from chariot wheels.
We stopped for a casual lunch that was much better and less haphazard than I'd expected, at a pay-by-weight pizzeria called Pizza Gege. Then we went to the Park of the Aqueducts.
I didn't know anything about Roman aqueducts, and when I booked this tour, I was only mildly curious why we'd be visiting a park devoted to them. Turns out aqueducts are a quintessential part of ancient Roman city planning and architecture. They're astonishing and beautiful, and I'll remember biking among them for the rest of my life.
I know there's a lot to see in Rome, and a six-hour tour outside the city center might seem like a big commitment. But the Top Bike Rentals Appian Way tour is an A+++ excursion. I'd recommend it to anyone, visiting for any amount of time.
