Necropolis of Tarquinia (Monterozzi)

Tickets and tours: which to book

Nothing is sold online for the necropolis on its own on the big tour platforms. Entry is a standard ticket from the state archaeological park of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, sold at the gate on the ridge. A combined ticket also covers the National Archaeological Museum in the Palazzo Vitelleschi in the old town, which is the better choice for most visitors, and a wider pass adds the Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri. Young people under 18 enter free, and entry is free on the first Sunday of each month, as at other Italian state sites.

Most people visit independently, by car or by train from Rome or the cruise port of Civitavecchia. Private guides and small local agencies offer guided visits, and some day trips from Rome cover Tarquinia and Cerveteri together with transport; check whether entry tickets are included. Cruise excursions from Civitavecchia sometimes come here too.

A guide helps more at the museum than at the tombs, where panels by each stairway explain the paintings. The sensible plan is to buy the combined ticket, visit the necropolis in the morning, have lunch in the old town and spend the afternoon in the museum.

A short history

Tarquinia was one of the leading cities of Etruria, and its people buried their dead on the Monterozzi ridge facing the town from the Iron Age, around the 9th century BC, until Roman times. From the late 8th century BC aristocratic families cut chamber tombs into the rock under earth mounds, and from the 6th century BC many were painted with scenes of banquets, games and later the underworld. Around 600 mounds were still visible in the 19th century, when systematic digging and looting began; many were levelled after excavation. Most finds and some detached paintings are in the Tarquinia museum. UNESCO listed the necropolis in 2004 with Cerveteri.

Getting there

The necropolis lies on the ridge just east of the old town of Tarquinia, about 90 km north-west of Rome. Regional trains on the coastal line from Roma Termini and Roma Ostiense take about one and a half hours, and from Civitavecchia only 15 minutes. Tarquinia station is down near the coast, about 3 km below the town: local buses connect it with the Barriera San Giusto, the main gate of the old town, and taxis are sometimes waiting. From the gate the necropolis entrance is a walk of about 15 minutes along the road east. Fiumicino airport is about an hour by car. Drivers can leave the A12 or the Via Aurelia and park by the entrance.

Rules and what to bring

Each tomb is protected by a glass screen at the bottom of the stairway: do not open doors that are closed or lean on the glass. Flash photography is not allowed, as light damages the paintings. Drones need a permit. Wear sturdy shoes for the steep and sometimes slippery tomb steps, and bring a hat and water, since the ridge has no shade. There are toilets at the entrance; cafes and restaurants are in the old town.

When to go

Morning and late afternoon are the most pleasant times on the ridge, which is open to the sun and wind with no shade between the tomb huts. In July and August midday heat makes the walk tiring, while the tombs themselves stay cool. April to June and September to October are the best months; winter is quiet but short opening hours mean you should start early, and rain makes the steps slippery.

The necropolis is rarely crowded, with fewer than 60,000 visitors a year. Coach groups and cruise excursions from Civitavecchia arrive in the late morning in high season, and school groups are common in spring. The first Sunday of the month is free and busier, especially with families from Rome. Allow up to two hours to see a dozen tombs, and add an hour or two for the National Museum in town.