ROME, Aug 20 \u2014 Forget the long lines at Roman ruins and overpriced gelato \u2014 sweating tourists are enjoying a break from the scorching heat by rafting on the Eternal City\u2019s Tiber River.<\/p>\n
A welcome change from the beaten tourist track, river rafting on the Tiber \u2014 long the lifeblood of the ancient city \u2014 is a unique, and relatively new option for tourists seeking to discover Italy\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
Starting at the water\u2019s edge near the historic Piazza del Popolo, the inflatable rafts float by some of the city\u2019s most photographed landmarks, from the Castel Sant\u2019Angelo \u2014 the burial place of Emperor Hadrian \u2014 to St Peter\u2019s Basilica, the dome of which can be seen from the water.<\/p>\n
After approximately two hours, tours end at an ancient Roman port in the neighbourhood of Trastevere, whose name literally means \u201cAcross the Tiber\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to get a different view of Rome. It\u2019s something special compared with what you can see on foot,\u201d said Manuel Frank, 19, a visitor from Germany on a recent \u201cRoma Rafting\u201d tour.<\/p>\n
His guide, Giuseppe Battaglia, said the 40-euro tour allows tourists a different perspective on the city, one that follows \u201cmuch the same route that the Romans used to take before setting off on their conquests\u201d.<\/p>\n
In Ancient Rome and centuries beyond, Italy\u2019s third-longest river provided water and food, while acting as a key trade route for the city\u2019s inhabitants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always used to thinking about roads, cars and motorbikes, but Rome also gives us the chance to take a tour along the river,\u201d said the 37-year-old guide.<\/p>\n
As the rafts reach the picturesque Tiber Island, the current picks up and creates light rapids, splashing the rafters as they pass beneath some of Rome\u2019s oldest stone bridges.<\/p>\n
Belgian tourist Sabine Maisano, 50, said she had sought out something different for her visit to Rome with her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a day of walking for kilometres, being able to sit down in a boat… even though you have to paddle a little, that allows us to relax, stay cool and discover the city at a more relaxed pace.\u201d \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROME, Aug 20 \u2014 Forget the long lines at Roman ruins and overpriced gelato \u2014 sweating tourists are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[27110,27109,27112,27,27111,26340,22088],"class_list":["post-41253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rome","tag-castel-sant039angelo","tag-piazza-del-popolo","tag-roma-rafting","tag-rome","tag-st-peter039s-basilica","tag-tiber-river","tag-trastevere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}