Lido di Ostia
As soon as the weather gets warmer, Romans flock to the beach in Ostia to get their suntan for the summer. Then the traffic moves from the inner city to viale Cristoforo Colombo, the main artery going from Rome to the sea. Ostia is about 20 kilometres from central Rome and is better known for the antique ruins at Ostia Antica. It is however considered as being part of the city of Rome. Just like the traffic, in the height of summer the night life moves from the city to the beach. The place becomes extremely busy, it is impossible to find a parking space, people are packed on the beach, they are queuing up for restaurants and bars, it is chaotic…
- the olympic-size swimming pool at Ostia Lido
The best time to go however is in mid-season: autumn or spring, when Ostia is slowly waking up from a lethargic winter. The beach is still empty and clean, there is space around, it is a true escape from the city. There’s nothing more to the place. Lido di Ostia is not beautiful, not even charming, it is just a long stretch of beach lined with eclectic and rather style-less buildings, but it is timeless. The word Lido originally means beach, or stretch of land by the water, but it now refers to a beach resort. The first of its kind was the famous Venice Lido which was developed in the mid-19th century and which gave its name to many other beaches relating to a city in Italy. The story is always the same: generation after generation of city dwellers need a place to momentarily escape and breathe before returning to the crowd. In mid-season, even Ostia feels like that kind of place, and that’s why we like going there!
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