The best beaches in Rome for 2025

Best for: Quick and easy access from Rome – you can use the local Rome bus ticket (€1.50) to reach Ostia Lido.

This beach certainly isn’t the most beautiful of them all, but it is on Rome’s doorstep. We’re talking one direct 30-minute train from Rome’s Porta San Paolo train station, right next to the Piramide metro stop (direction Cristoforo Colombo). You do have to pay for the many, many stabilimenti which dominate the beach, but hey, it’s an Italian beach, it’ll do the job, and you can be back well in time for your late-afternoon aperitivo. 

Get there: A train for one hour 26 minutes or a 30-minute drive

Best for: clear waters and proximity to Rome

Beaches near Rome get a bad rap given the usual crowds and sub-par water quality, but Santa Marinella defies all the naysayers. A 45-minute train ride from Rome drops you three minutes away from a crescent-shaped beach with fine sand and clear waters. It’s lined wall-to-wall with fee-based stabilimenti, so plan to fork out some Euros for a lounger and umbrella or fight for a few square metres of limited free beach (spiaggia libera) space.

Get there: A 54-minute train from Roma Termini to S. Marinella

Best for: a foodie weekend by the sea

A fortified town with medieval streets and a great beach, Gaeta is seriously charming. Just past Sperlonga, it’s also better suited for a weekend escape, but you can still visit on a long day trip. Spiaggia di Serapo is the main beach with clear, calm waters and a wide stretch of sand. Between swims, wander the historic town or grab a slice of tiella, a savory pie filled with octopus, or escarole and olives. Gaeta is the perfect beach day with a side of culture and great food.

Get there: A one-hour train from Roma Termini to Formia-Gaeta

Best for: scenic beauty and clear waters

This beach town ticks all the boxes: a picturesque whitewashed city footed by long stretches of sandy beach flanking a small harbour. Sperlonga is a blue flag (Bandiera Blu) beach: designated for its cleanliness and water quality. It’s a little far, so it stretches the limits for a day trip, but for clear, shallow waters in a stunning setting – especially at the far southern end near the Grotto of Tiberius – it ticks the boxes.

Get there: A two-hour-30-minute train from Rome to Sperlonga

Best for: families and history buffs (there’s even a hotel tucked within the castle!)

There’s a lot to love about family-friendly Santa Severa, including the seafront 14th-century castle (worthy of a Game of Thrones cameo), the wide free beach, and the fact that it’s a 40-minute train ride from Rome’s San Pietro station – though be prepared to cross a highway to reach it. We also adore this quirky trait: north of the castle, the sand is brown; south of the castle, it’s black.

Get there: One-hour train from Roma Termini to Santa Severa, or a 50-minute drive

Best for: natural surroundings and tranquility; you’ll need a car to arrive

On a long stretch of coastline, the wide soft-sand beaches of Sabaudia fly the Bandiera Blu (blue flag) to attest to their cleanliness and flaunt another major asset: a football fields-worth of free beach, a real rarity in these parts. The beach is backed by dunes and wealthy villas – both of which have limited commercial development and kept the beach more natural than its counterparts and a bit harder to reach.

Get there: Best to drive – it’s one hour 30 minutes from the city

Best for: Combining beach time with a scenic nature escape (you’ll need a car for this one) 

Located near Sabaudia, San Felice Circeo is a chic coastal town at the foot of Monte Circeo, with a charming old town perched on a hill. The beach is long and sandy with clear, swimmable waters so it’s good for families. It draws a fashionable Roman crowd in summer but still feels relaxed and local. The nearby Circeo National Park adds hiking and natural beauty to the mix.

Get there: A one-hour train and a 40-minute Cotral bus to San Felice Circeo

Best for: Trendy beach clubs and local nightlife 

East of Rome (and sometimes spelt Fregenae), Fregene boasts the sexiest beach scene around, attracting stylish young Romans who favour its chic stabilimenti over the more plebeian bars in nearby Ostia. Water quality here ranges from okay to good, depending on the weather. Go later in the day and stay past sundown for Fregene’s hopping party scene: you may end up sipping on Campari and Aperol spritzes with pro soccer players, minor celebrities and the city’s chic crowd.

Time Out tip: You’ll need a car to visit this one. Or book a taxi with an arranged pick up

Best for: Combining beach time with cultural exploration

The Romans built a temple to Jupiter at Terracina, so it’s probably worth you building a sandcastle or two here. This popular getaway south of Rome offers a busy beachfront lined with stabilimenti, a lovely centro storico (historical centre) and gobsmacking views for those who choose to hike up to the temple ruins. Stick around until sunset, when the fiery orb drops behind Monte Circeo, said to be the home of the goddess Circe, known for turning Odysseus’s sailors into swine.

Get there: One hour 10 minute train from Roma Termini to Monte San Biagio, then an 18-minute bus to Terracina

Best for: A quick beach trip before catching a ferry, or heading up to Tuscany

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Though the Roman port city of Civitavecchia is best known as the place to catch a ferry to anywhere else, it actually has a decent sandy beach that offers good swimming, plenty of free sand on which to park a towel and the convenience of a busy lungomare, or boardwalk, lined with pizzerias, gelato stands, street vendors and kiddie rides. The beach is a five-minute walk from the train station.

Get there: A 55-minute train from Roma Termini to Civitavecchia