necropoli of the banditaccia

Just like the Etruscans, this place is engulfed in a sense of mystery. Beautiful to explore and in a great location, I loved spending an afternoon walking around, discovering the 'tumuli' and walking inside. The staff are very helpful and will give you a free map which you will return when you leave. The bar or site also sells snack and very nice local wine at competitive prices. If you can, get a cumulative ticket which gives you access to the Etruscan museum in Cerveteri, it's worth the price and it would complement your visit of the tombs.

First of all I would like to say: the place could be worth 5 stars but I hate the idea that in the parking lot right at the entrance of the site there is litter. Not much and I know it is not inside but the staff should keep an eye on it because it's their first business card. Despite this, I have to see that the staff at the ticket counter is professional and competent.The site is amazing, a great experience for kids or more grown up students: I am sure they will be excited to climb some of the tombs and even if they are not painted like the famous ones in Tarquinia, they still can take you back to the golden age of the Etruscan civilization. It could also be a different excursion for people getting to Civitavecchia on a cruise ship, avoiding the crazy crowds in Rome. Absolutely not to miss!!!

This is a very remarkable site. An easy 2k walk from the town of Cerveteri, you gradually come on the large curving - structures... the wrong word. They are not structures, they are carved out of the living rock. A whole town, carved out of tufa, by hand, from around the eighth century BC. Inside the hut shaped mounds, the tombs are carved out, with beds &pillows, some are easily accessible by the reasonably fit, & are lit.The treasures they contained have been removed to museums, we visited the Villa Giulia in Rome next day to see some. Wonderful.There is a very pleasant little cafe next to the video display room (several languages) with very nice staff & cake eating cats.The only drawback is what seemed a long bus journey to get there, no trains.

1 h from Rome you will find this Indiana Jones experience. diving into the Etruscan culture and spending a couple of hours wandering around the necropolis is a must to do experience for those who enjoy culture, history, outdoors and a bit of mystery:)

This World Heritage Site is immaculately maintained. It is free of billboards and hawkers. Instead, there is the peaceful countryside of Etruria that nourished the Etruscans, a long walkway under umbrella pines through fields that are still worked. Here the tombs of the Etruscans extend in a unique orderly plan that resembles a city of houses. The site is well marked and the staff are very helpful.

This was an ubelievable discovery for us . The organisation is great. Piero Angela particularly known for his TV presentations (Quark) has made films of the various tombs. There is an initial presentation in a hall when you arrive explaining the area in various languages - Italian, English, Spanish, French etc.A guide then takes you to various tombs in the area where there is a further video which highlites on the walls how the tombs originally were. Difficult to get to but well worth the visit at €8 x person.Excellent bar for a light lunch inside the area with resonable prices,

We didn't know the area was closed on Mondays like museums in Rome, but we walked around anyway and could see quite a bit through the fence. We met a man walking his dog who told us to go farther down the road and check out the other tombs. If you go, walk down the narrow road that has the fence along your left until you get to the corner where the fence turns to the left. If you look ahead to your right, you will see a path through the rock. As you walk through the rock sides, you can see tombs-these were the less wealthy burial sites. It reminds one of the catacombs, like as more spaces were needed, they dug down deeper, so some tombs are very high up from the road surface. The museum in the town was also closed, but we had visited the Etruscan Museum in Rome and the museum at Paestum, which have lots of info on the Etruscans. Other comments indicate this was not worth seeing, but if you like ruins and enjoyed the catacombs, you will find it worthwhile.

I know that Italy currently has economic problems, but this ancient necropolis and World Heritage sight deserves better treament. Information in English is scant and although we have enough Italian to read the signboards and understand the introductory video, we found it depressing that more effort was not made to accommodate international visitors. AV equipment has been installed in the more prominent tombs, but was not working. All artefacts have been removed to the Etruscan Museum in Rome, or Cerveteri Museum a couple of miles away in the town where parking is a problem. The necropolis site needed a good clean up. Tarquinia, with its frecoes in situ, is more rewarding.

Luckily, the necropolis was near our b+b. I would have been disappointed if I had made a special trip. It was very interesting to see history and the guides are very experienced. The tombs are amazing, but once you have seen the big ones, the others are just tombs really. Great if you like history, but can be a bit same old same old by the time you get to the end. Shop is well stocked with information and there are toilets on site. It was free to get in when we went (on a Sunday)

This is not worth a day trip from Rome. If it is on your pre arranged route, it can be interesting if it isn't hot outside. On recommendation from a friend we took the train here from Rome just to see the ruins. It was July and the weather was warm. Between the cost for the train and the long taxi ride to and from the ruins from the train station, this was an expensive adventure without much payoff. A few of the ruins are very well preserved and interesting, but most are the same thing over and over. I guess if you are super fascinated with Etruscan history this might be more entertaining, but for the normal traveler this ended up being an expensive waste of time. You can not walk to the ruins from the train station, so you must take a taxi. Basically you are going a few steps down into dirt mounds with shelves where they put their dead...over and over. I think our two teenagers (18 & 15) liked it better than the adults because they took Latin in school and had just learned about the Etruscans.The best part about our time was a big fluffy white dog that led us around the place. He was really sweet and was a tour guide of sorts, keeping us going in the correct direction. We actually joked about him being a ghost and not showing up in our pictures once we got home, but he did.

This is one of my favourite places for a trip outside Rome, alongside Ostia Antica and Hadrian's Villa. It's amazing to think that it's all pre-Roman and offers a wonderful insight into Etruscan civilisation. I also love it because it is so unexploited in that typical way the Italians have of half-neglecting their cultural heritage. It's a Unesco world heritage site but it is almost never crowded and is often deserted. It's cheap to get in and it's also good for kids because it's all outdoors and there is acres of space for them to run around. You can go right inside many of the old burial chambers and it takes several hours to visit it all properly. It's about 40 km outside Rome. If you don;t have a car you should get a train from Termini station to Marina di Cerveteri, which run about every half hour through most of the day and takes an hour. Then you can either get a taxi for the remaining 7 km, or else a couple of buses. Having visited the necropolis, the town of Cerveteri is also worth a visit, with its medieval centre and castle.

Steeped in history but very few tourists! Well worth a visit. Took a few hours to follow the trail around (which was a bit vague at times), but thanks to the map provided we made it out alive!

Get their early (opens at 0830) and remember that most museums in Italy are closed on Mondays. Simply put, the Etruscans are fascinating and the architecture of their tumuli is like that of no other civilization. Ask at the main desk about the audio/visual option, it makes it an even richer experience. Do some reading about the Etruscan civilization before you arrive.

I had been here ten years ago and wandered aimlessly about the Necropolis. Now there is a room with a video that explains the site and a tour guide (if you can find him). That will take you around and show you the displays inside the tombs.Great place to visit if you get the guide and see the video.People working there still have the Italian mentality that they must close on Monday and go home at the designated hour. We had arrived an hour before closing and were told that we could not go in and walk around because they would close on time and we might be locked inside.Not handicapped friendly area.

I love exploring and had a great time exploring this place. I became interested in the Etruscans after visiting the Etruscan museum in Rome ( I highly recommend the Etruscan museum!!). This place is large and many opportunities abound for exploration. It's really cool to be able to go into the different burial mounds and experience history. When I went it was not very busy at all. Keep in mind it is 40 kilometers from Rome. If you are interested in Etruscans you can't miss this place.