Rock climbing around Rome

Rome, the capital of Italy, is well known for its history and culture. What is slightly less well known is that in the hills that surround Rome, there are in excess of 120 crags and nearly 6,000 sport climbing routes. These routes are spread across a wide range of grades on limestone rock.

To the north and east of Rome there are many rock climbing areas, as shown on the map. Many of these crags are located around the towns of Rieti, Terni, Spoleto, Norcia, L’Aquila, and Avezzano, and are all within a 2-hour drive of Rome.

The majority of these crags offer single pitch sport routes on limestone rock, plus there are a smaller number of multi-pitch routes. In total 71 crags and thousands of routes across all grades are described.

The crag locations shown on the map has been extracted from the North Rome rock climbing guidebook (Arrampica Roma Nord). This comprehensive guidebook describes the rock climbing to the north and east of Rome, and is available to buy from our shop.

The largest crags to the north of Rome are: Roccantica and Grotti near Rieti; San Gemini and Ferenlillo near Terni; and Pale near Foligno. There are multi-pitch routes up to 4 pitches long at Ferenlillo and San Gemini. To the east of Rome the largest crags are Pietrasecca, Guadagnolo and Subiaco.

The rock climbing to the south of Rome includes many inland sport crags and multi-pitch sea cliff climbing, as shown on the map. Scattered either side of the main A1 motorway towards Napoli are numerous crags around the towns of Cassino, Frosinone and Roccasecca. Some of the largest crags in this area are Collepardo, Supino, Capride, and Picinisco that predominantly offer single-pitch routes.

The hills behind the seaside town of Latina also offer mainly single pitch routes, with some of the largest crags being Placche Rosse, Gola dei Venti, and Bassiano (2 crags). However the more spectacular climbing is found on the sea cliffs around Circeo, Sperlonga and Geata, where there are many multi-pitch routes in stunning locations.

The crag locations shown on the map has been extracted from the South Rome rock climbing guidebook (Arrampica Roma Sud). This comprehensive guidebook describes the rock climbing to the south of Rome, and is available to buy from our shop.

Rome rock climbing guidebooks. There are 2 comprehensive rock climbing guidebooks that cover the climbing around Rome. They are North Rome rock climbing guidebook (Arrampica Roma Nord), and South Rome rock climbing guidebook (Arrampica Roma Sud). Combined these 2 guidebooks cover 128 crags, 256 multi-pitch routes and 5,558 single pitch sport routes across a wide range of grades. The Gaeta, Circeo, Leano, Sperlonga and Moneta rock climbing guidebook, describes 192 of the best multi-pitch routes between Circeo and Gaeta. Buy all of these Rome rock climbing guidebooks from our shop.

Getting to Rome. Rome has 2 International airports, which are Ciampino Airport (to the east of the city) and Leonardo da Vinci Airport (to the west of the city). A hire car is essential as the crags are spread out all around Rome.

Best time to go rock climbing around Rome. The summer months are just too hot so the ideal time to climb around Rome is from the autumn through to the spring. However the hills around Rome are cooler than the city and it is possible to find sun or shade at many of the crags.