Italy Traveller Guide

From the Protestant Cemetery, you could make a long detour back into the city centre following the Aurelian Wall , built by the emperor Aurelian (and his successor Probus) in 275 AD to enclose Rome’s seven hills, One of the best-preserved stretches runs between Porta San Paolo and Porta San Sebastiano: achievement through Porta San Paolo and turn left, and follow the walls keeping them always on your left. It is around two kilometres from Porta San Paolo to Porta San Sebastiano, where there’s a Museum of the Walls (Tues, Thurs & Sat 9am-1.30pm; L8000), which has displays showing why and how the walls were constructed and a path that allows you to achievement along the top of the surround for a while before having to return. The Aurelian walls surround the city with a circumference of about 17 kilometres and if you are really an enthusiast the entire distance can be walked in an eight-hour day with a pause for lunch.

From Porta San Sebastiano you are a short achievement from either San Giovanni in Laterano, or the Baths of Caracalla, on the way to which, if you’re in no hurry, you could stop off at the Tomb of the Scipios , off Via San Sebastiano (Tues, Thurs, & Sat 9am-1.30pm; L5000). The tomb was discovered in 1780 and the Etruscan-style sarcophagus found here transported to the Vatican, where it is on display.