2026 Province of Viterbo Travel Guide: must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transport & travel experiences (updated in January)

#falladventures What is this place? The Parco dei Mostri (Park of the Monsters), also known as Sacro Bosco, is a 16th-century Mannerist garden in Bomarzo, Italy. Unlike any other Renaissance garden, it's a surreal and unsettling open-air museum filled with colossal, grotesque sculptures carved directly from the bedrock—a sleeping giant, a screaming ogre, a tilting house, and mythical beasts. Why This Place for a Solo Traveler? This is the ultimate destination for the solo traveler with a taste for the strange and poetic. There is no prescribed path, allowing you to wander completely freely and discover its bizarre wonders at your own pace. It’s a deeply personal and almost theatrical experience; you become the protagonist in a mysterious, dream-like story, interpreting the monstrous sculptures and cryptic inscriptions through your own unique lens. Your Solo Itinerary: · Embrace the Maze: Enter and immediately abandon the map. Let intuition guide you through the wooded paths, allowing each monstrous encounter—like the Orco (Ogre's Mouth) or the Fighting Giants—to be a surprise. · Pause and Reflect: Find a quiet bench near one of the less-frequented sculptures. Sit and simply absorb the strange, melancholic, and powerful atmosphere. · Capture the Mood: Use your camera to tell a story. Focus on the dramatic scale and the emotional pull of the sculptures, creating a personal photo essay of your journey. Essential Tips: · Go on a Weekday: You'll have more of the monsters to yourself, enhancing the surreal and isolated feel. · Wear Sturdy Shoes: The paths are uneven and natural. · Read the Inscriptions: The cryptic phrases carved near the sculptures, like "All Reason Must Fail," are key to unlocking the park's mysterious soul. #SoloInTheSacredWood

Walking through the mystical woods of Bomarzo’s Monster Park feels like wandering into a real-life fantasy story! Hidden in northern Lazio, this garden is filled with enormous stone creatures, surreal statues, and a gravity-defying tilted house 🏠. Every corner reveals a bizarre mythological legend — from the giant open-mouthed ogre (perfect for quirky photos! 😮) to dragons, bears, and mysterious nymphs. The ancient trees and mysterious monuments create a truly unique, magical vibe. You’ll be amazed at how nature and art blend in such an unexpected way. Absolutely a must-see if you love curious places, history, or unforgettable photo opportunities! 📸✨ Would you like some tips to make your visit even more special? Just ask!

Nice little natural spot with some little cascades and small river. You can walk around, immerge your feet in cold, refreshing water and discover some Etruscan ruins. 400 meters away from the cascades, there is also a medieval tower. The way to reach the cascades and tower is easy. If the gate is closed, you can simply walk on its side. If you like blackberries, you can pick some on the way in August and September. Top secret escape from the metropolitan area of Rome. Only 50 minutes far from the city you can find a gem in the wild nature with beautiful waterfalls and lovely wildlife around. An easy walk to dip your feet in a stream with small waterfalls near the Chia village, near Viterbo. There's a picnic area and a couple of portable restrooms🚻. Worth the visit if you're in the area. #travel #thingstodo #naturalwonders

We really enjoyed our visit. Amazing sculpture work. To see the handmade works and chisel marks. The restaurant was nice, we got the steak. Very nice and very reasonable prices. There is also a cafe. Definitely worth a visit. I really liked this exhibition, the statues were huge and mesmerizing! The tilted building was also fun! The price (13€) was a bit overpriced for the size of the park, but still I would recommend it! Absolutely loved every inch of this place, and well worth the admission price. A wonderful place to bring kids, and the restaurant served us the most beautiful Fillet Steak we have had in a long time. Definitely worth a trip. #travel #thingstodo

Stop: Parco dei Mostri (Sacred Grove / Gardens of Bomarzo), Bomarzo, Lazio Parco dei Mostri, also known as the Sacro Bosco or Garden of Monsters, is an extraordinary and surreal landscape garden created in the mid-16th century by Prince Vicino Orsini. Located in a wooded valley beneath the Orsini castle, the park was designed by architect Pirro Ligorio, with sculptures attributed to Simone Moschino. Unlike the symmetrical precision of other Renaissance gardens, Bomarzo breaks rules—paths veer unexpectedly, sculptures emerge from the undergrowth, and architectural follies toy with scale, perception, and myth. Walking through the park feels like exploring a dreamscape. Grotesque sculptures—dragons, elephants, monstrous faces, giants, mythical beasts—rise startlingly from the trees. One of the most famous is the Orcus mouth, a cavernous stone face with a bench inside its gaping maw. The so-called Casa Pendente (Leaning House) tilts on an angle that unsettles your balance, and the temple dedicated to Orsini’s late wife offers a calm counterpoint to the fantastical chaos elsewhere. The inscriptions in Italian peppered throughout encourage reflection, inviting visitors to experience wonder, fear, poetry, even absurdity. What makes Bomarzo so architecturally and culturally special is its bold defiance of expectations. Where Renaissance gardens usually embody control, symmetry, and order, Parco dei Mostri embraces irregularity, mystery, and emotional resonance. Overgrown, neglected, rediscovered, and restored, its very survival feels part of its message. For travelers, it’s a place where art, nature, myth, and emotion converge—where the architecture isn’t just what’s built, but how built, and why.

#mytraveldiary Monte Soratte, rising in isolation above the Tiber Valley north of Rome, is a mountain shrouded in myth, history, and natural beauty. Its solitary ridge, visible from miles away, has long inspired awe—ancient Romans dedicated it to Apollo, hermits carved chapels into its slopes, and later centuries left behind fortifications and wartime bunkers. Today, it offers a captivating mix of archaeology, legend, and rugged landscapes. Admission & Practical Info Located about 40 km from Rome, Monte Soratte is easily reachable by car or regional train to nearby towns like Sant’Oreste. Entry to the mountain itself is free, though guided tours are available for the extensive wartime bunkers and the hermit caves. The hiking trails vary from gentle paths to more demanding ascents, with clear signposting and resting points. The best times to visit are spring and autumn, when the views and climate are most favorable. Why It’s Worth Visiting Monte Soratte is more than just a scenic hike—it’s a journey through layers of history and myth. From the summit, sweeping vistas span the Tiber Valley and Apennines, while caves and chapels whisper of ancient worship and medieval solitude. The Soratte Bunkers, a vast underground complex later used by the Germans during World War II, add a fascinating modern historical dimension. Its unique limestone ecosystem also shelters rare flora and fauna, making it a haven for nature enthusiasts. Final Thoughts Monte Soratte blends mythology, spirituality, history, and nature in one striking destination. Whether you come to hike its trails, explore its mysterious caves and bunkers, or simply admire the panoramic views, this “sacred mountain” stands as a timeless landmark just beyond Rome’s horizon.

#mytraveldiary Sacro Bosco, also known as the Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri), is a 16th-century garden located in Bomarzo, Italy. Commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini and designed by Pirro Ligorio, it was created not as a place of classical harmony, but as a surreal landscape filled with giant stone sculptures, grotesque figures, mythological beasts, and puzzling architecture that defies convention. Admission & Practical Info The park is open year-round, with longer hours in spring and summer. Entrance requires a ticket, and guided tours are available to help visitors unravel the layered symbolism of the sculptures. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended, as the paths weave through uneven terrain shaded by ancient trees. Why It’s Worth Visiting Unlike the manicured elegance of typical Renaissance gardens, Sacro Bosco feels wild and dreamlike. Here, sphinxes, dragons, ogres, and leaning houses seem to have sprung from a fevered imagination, each inviting interpretation and speculation. The garden challenges the ideals of perfection and instead embraces the mysterious, making it a fascinating counterpoint to Italy’s classical heritage. Final Thoughts Sacro Bosco is not just a garden but a living riddle carved in stone. Its strange atmosphere and fantastical sculptures continue to intrigue visitors centuries after its creation, offering an unforgettable experience for lovers of art, history, and the surreal.

About an hour north of Italy’s capital city of Rome lives a village that has been described as one of he most beautiful in the country. Over 800 years old the tiny citadel of Civita di Bagnoregio sits atop a limestone outcrop overlooking the valley below. Crossing the bridge into the village you will gain dramatic views across the surrounding countryside as you approach the imposing site of the Civita itself. #springwander #history #italia #bridge #medieval

Parco Valle de Treja is about an hour from Rome, but is an incredible hike that starts in the quaint artistic town of Calcata and ends at these waterfalls, but you pass through Etruscan ruins on the way. It’s like being in a dream that takes you back in time, before there was an Italy, and even before there was the Roman Empire. The hike is pretty easy to do, although some spots may be slippery or steep. If you’re looking for a thrilling hike while visiting Rome, don’t miss this one! #rome #hiking #waterfall #thingstodo #naturalwonders

#sightseeing We head to Civita di Bagnoregio, which quietly lives amidst the dazzling greenery, like Laputa, the castle in the sky. Civita di Bagnoregio, located on the border between Umbria and Lazio, is still weathering, so much so that the guide signs refer to it as "the dying town (il paese che muore)". If you look at the calanchi (wasteland that has been severely eroded by wind and rain and has become a canyon-like dry valley) that surrounds the town, it is clear that the entire area is not safe to live in. Even in the process of weathering, the population is less than 10 people. The isolated island on land, with the entire town as a fortress, is breathtakingly beautiful. And the townscape made of yellow-brown bricks gives you a sense of the Middle Ages. It takes just 20 minutes to go around the island, so once you cross the narrow, steep 300m bridge into the town, there is almost nothing to do. Still, just seeing the smiles of people passing by, the many cats, the lovely flowers blooming like a storm, the delicious food and smells, and the scenes where time seems to stand still make me feel happy. Civita di Bagnoregio, where you can experience a variety of scenery depending on the season, is a place you'll want to visit again and again. 　　 ☆Civita di Bagnoregio