Appia Antica

Sometime in 2020, a friend of mine had the crazy idea of walking 50 km to raise money for cancer research in memory of a friend of hers that had passed away from Leukemia the previous year. I decided to join her in honor of all those who had been affected by it. The list is too long to name but starting with my dear mom, a cancer survivor, and one of my aunts who had lost her battle three years before. We collected donations, mostly from friends and family. The walk of course didn’t cost anything, so all the money was just to add to my annual donation before the end of the year.

After months of delay due to rainy weekends, then Covid red and orange zone restrictions, and short winter days, one day in May we finally did this beautiful walk down Via Appia Antica to Castel Gandolfo and back. We headed out early in the morning, about 7 am, on about four hours of sleep. We were still under Covid restrictions so there was a 10 pm curfew.

The first half was absolutely amazing and not difficult at all. The walk starts from the ancient Porta San Sebastiano at the Aurelian Wall in the San Giovanni neighborhood. From there starts Via Appia Antica, one of the oldest and most important ancient Roman roads that connects Rome to southern Italy. Parts of the road are still of the original cobble stones and you can even see the marks from the horse carriages in the past. What is now a pedestrian road in some sections used to be for traffic, and you can see on the sides the original sidewalks, which are narrow raised paths.

Down this road, you pass so many historical monuments: grand villas, the various Catacombs of the area, as well as tombs and mausoleums. Walking this road feels like stepping back in time and walking in the past, and early in the morning when people haven’t come out yet gives it an even more special atmosphere.

After some time, the cobblestone road turns into a dirt road and the surrounding area feels like countryside that you forget you are still in the city of Rome. You can look ahead and to the sides and all you see is fields and trees, and there’s such silence and peace.

Eventually, you reach the ring road, the highway that circles Rome, signalling that you are leaving the core of the city and going into the suburbs and neighboring town of Ciampino. You walk by the airport of Ciampino and see the planes coming and going to and from other European cities. When we finally reached Frattochie, the point where we knew we had to turn off and find the small road that takes you up the hill to the town of Castel Gandolfo, we weren’t sure where to go. By this time, lots of cyclists had joined us down Appia Antica, many of them also continuing to Lake Albano like us. Some of them noticed we were lost, imagined where we were going, and were very friendly to offer us help by giving us directions. 

It turned out the road we had to take is a local road and not easy to find if you don’t know where you’re going. This road also takes you to Via Francigena, another important ancient road, a pilgrimage route from England through France and Switzerland to Rome and finally southern Italy. I’ve ended up on this road in different places in Italy and even in Switzerland. It makes you feel part of history thinking about all the people that have travelled it in pilgrimages in order to reach Rome.

As you head from Appia Antica to the modern Appia Nuova and the road that takes you uphill to Castelli Romani, there is a McDonald’s on the left. A few months after doing the walk, I decided to take the same path on bike and discovered that this American fast-food chain is an unexpected and surprisingly historical must-stop with a real treat inside. It turns out that while they were building this McDonald’s, an old piece of the original Appian Way was discovered, perfectly preserved from being buried for so many years. When you walk into the familiar restaurant, a symbol of American life, and go to the counter where you would order, you can look down and see through the glass floor the old Roman road. When you follow the road, it leads to signs explaining the discovery of it and then the path that takes you down and lets you walk on this piece of history. The road looks untouched and you can even see the old raised sidewalks. Amazing stop that I’d missed the first time around.

Back to the walk, the moment finally came when we’d reached the lake and saw it below us. This is Lake Albano, one of the volcanic lakes of Lazio, in the town of Castel Gandolfo, named after the Pope’s summer residence. We had reached the halfway point and were full of energy and satisfaction. My feet had been starting to get tired, but I hadn’t even felt it until we sat down for lunch and realized I had to take off my shoes. We had a lovely lunch on the lake, a little bit of wine, and rested to prepare for the second half.

With renewed energy after that break, we started back and debated whether to take the scenic Appia Antica again on our return or the more developed Appia Nuova, seeing that it would turn night as we headed back and there is no lighting on the old road. We opted for the old Roman road again since we’d enjoyed it so much and imagined it would be even more scenic at sunset but had to make sure to get off it before it got dark. There are limited accesses on and off Via Appia Antica, so we had to plan it right. We let it get just a tad late by the time we got off it to maximize the time we spent there.

The next challenge was to find the road that took us from the old road to the new civilized one, which turned out to be longer than we’d expected. We were in a car-ridden road with no proper sidewalk walking on the shoulder at night by now. By the time we reached Appia Nuova, we were tired and this part of the walk is the least interesting one, as there isn’t much around except just a wide road with cars rushing past.

We reached 40 km somewhere along this road, and I started to think we wouldn’t make it to the end. The subway line was now near as it runs parallel to Appia Nuova, so I kept thinking worst case scenario, we’ll just get on the subway back home. But we were determined not to give up and we kept motivating each other. Sometimes, my friend had to encourage me, other times vice versa. We were almost there, we kept telling each other.

We finally realized there was nothing stopping us from taking a bit of a break so we decided to find a bar near and get something to drink. I took off my shoes, as I had started to realize the problem wasn’t physical – my legs were fine – it was my feet that were killing me. The sneakers I’d worn weren’t meant to be walked on for this long. Then again, I don’t think any pair of shoes are. People that do the walk of Santiago, I later found out, walk about 30-40 km a day. I wondered what the record for most km walked in a day were.

When we hit Appia Nuova again, we were under the time restriction of the 10 pm curfew. My feet couldn’t take it anymore, so at one point I took off my shoes and walked barefoot for a while, until I started to find broken beer bottles on the sidewalk that is. Every time we’d pass a subway stop, I’d think I could take it if I wanted to but no way, not now, almost there. A few subway stops away from home, we saw our step counter was getting closer to 50 km. We started asking each other if we’d reached our target distance before getting home, would we just get on the subway. Probably.

Fortunately we were approaching 50 km just as we were passing my subway stop of Re di Roma. I kept obsessively looking at my step counter and was worried I would be short of the distance by the time I got home. I got home just after 10 pm at 50.3 km. I didn’t even have to go for a few walks around the block to get to it. It was perfect.

As soon as I got home, I put my feet in a bath of warm water and chilled on my couch. I had such bad blisters that I was limping and having to wear sandals for a few days. Sure, my feet hurt and the last bit was a struggle but it was worth it. I’ve done a lot of walks near Rome, but this is one of my favorite ones ever. Besides the beauty, physical challenges teach you about perseverance and the importance of motivating others. 

I would do it again and I’d recommend it but obviously only one-way, then take the train back.  Round trip is too much. Another option is biking it, which is doable round-trip, and can even be made into a perfect day or weekend in Castelli Romani.