Appian Way and Catacombs Tour with the Roman Aqueducts
A 3.5-hour half-day from Piramide metro station that puts the old paving of the Via Appia Antica, the aqueduct park and one of the Appia catacombs into a single run, with private air-conditioned transport between the stops.
Updated 24 October 2026
In shortA 3.5-hour small-group half-day with a guide working in English: a walking stretch of the Via Appia Antica, the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella from outside, 45 minutes among the aqueducts and 80 minutes inside the Catacombs of San Sebastiano, or Domitilla depending on the day. Groups run at 18 people or fewer and private air-conditioned transport covers the distances, so you are not waiting for buses on Via Appia Antica. It suits visitors who want the landscape above ground as well as the galleries below, and who can manage around 70 steps underground.
3.5 htour length
from €55per adult
★ 4.81691 reviews
What this Appian Way and catacombs tour covers
Three and a half hours, from €55, rated 4.8 (1691 reviews). The tour below collects the three things people usually try to fit into a whole day on their own: a walking stretch of the Via Appia Antica, the aqueduct arches in the Parco Archeologico dell'Appia Antica, and a guided visit inside one of the Appia catacombs. Private air-conditioned transport links the stops, groups are capped at 18 people, and entry to San Sebastiano or Domitilla is included depending on the day.
The underground part is timed late, so the group goes in as the last visitors of the day and the galleries are quiet. Which catacomb you get is not a choice made at the meeting point: it follows the sites' own closing days, San Sebastiano shutting every Monday and Domitilla every Tuesday. Both are run by their own religious communities, San Sebastiano with 200 years of Franciscan presence and Domitilla cared for by the Missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, and inside you follow their staff.
Two practical points decide whether this works for you. San Sebastiano means about 70 steps down and back up with no lift, and wheelchairs cannot go in; photography and video are not allowed in the galleries. It is cold and damp down there in every month, around the low to mid teens Celsius, so bring a layer even in August and plan on closed shoes for the paving stones above ground.
There is also a Catacombs with Colosseum option at the time of booking. That version drops the Roman aqueducts and adds a guided visit of the Colosseum instead, which is worth knowing before you choose, because the aqueducts are the part you cannot easily see on any other half-day from the centre.
Rome Underground: Catacombs Tour, Aqueducts and Appian Way
Meet at Piramide metro station, walk the basolato, spend 45 minutes under the aqueduct arches and go underground at San Sebastiano or Domitilla as the last visitors of the day. Groups of 18 people or fewer.
Appian Way (Via Appia Antica)25 min The walk is on the preserved basolato, the old paving still rutted by cart wheels, with tombs and ruins on both sides. The road is about 2,300 years old and ran from Porta Capena down to Capua and Brindisi.
Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella25 min The round tomb at the third mile was built between 30 and 10 BC and still carries its frieze of ox skulls, with the 14th-century Castrum Caetani grafted onto it. The guide covers the family behind the monument and what happened to it later. You see it from the outside.
Parco Archeologico dell'Appia Antica45 min Forty-five minutes on unpaved, traffic-free ground under the aqueduct arches, which reach up to 28 metres in tufa. The Aqua Marcia of 144 to 140 BC is the longest of Rome's eleven aqueducts at 91 km; the Aqua Claudia was begun by Caligula in 38 AD and finished by Claudius in 52 AD, about 68 km long. The Catacombs with Colosseum option does not include this stop.
Catacombe San Sebastiano80 min San Sebastiano holds about 12 km of galleries on three levels, down to 18 metres, and gave the word catacomb to every language from the pozzolana quarry known as ad catacumbas. The visit takes in the triclia and the Memoria Apostolorum, where pilgrim graffiti such as "Paule et Petre petite pro Victore" is still legible. Depending on the day you visit Domitilla instead, begun around 120 AD, 17 km of tunnels on four levels and the only semi-underground basilica site in Rome.
Rome20 min Return to the centre by private, air-conditioned transport. If you booked the Catacombs with Colosseum option, the day continues with a guided visit inside the amphitheatre and how it was used for gladiator fights and large-scale spectacles.
Photos: ours and the tour operator's
What is included
Included
Expert Catacombs tour guide
Small groups of 18 people or fewer
Ancient Roman Aqueducts
Private, air-conditioned transport
Expertly guided walking tour
Appian Way (Via Appia Antica)
Entry to the catacombs of San Sebastiano or Domitilla (depending on the day)
Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella (exterior)
Not included
Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting point, pickup and cancellation
Meeting point: Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a yellow WalksDevour sign. This tour meets in front of the Piramide metro station, located across from Piazzale Ostiense.
Cancellation and payment terms are shown on the booking page before you confirm.
Ages: infant 0–1, child 2–14, adult 15+
Other Appian Way and catacombs tours compared
The alternatives below cover the same strip of road by different means. Take the bike or e-bike days if you want five or six hours of movement and the countryside between the stops, the golf cart tour if walking distance is the problem, and the deluxe bike tour if a sit-down lunch matters as much as the galleries. This page's tour stays the shortest of the set and the only one here with the aqueduct park and the catacomb inside 3.5 hours.
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Rome Underground: Catacombs Tour, Aqueducts and Appian Way (this page)
This Appian Way and catacombs tour runs 3.5 hours from Piramide metro station, with groups of 18 people or fewer and entry to San Sebastiano or Domitilla included. The operator's page shows the days it departs and whether the Colosseum option is open.
