The medieval hill town of Calcata, Italy, located just 25 miles (or 40 about kilometers) north of the Eternal City, makes for a fantastic day trip from Rome.

Whether you get to Calcata, Italy via a bus from Rome’s Saxa Rubra bus station or you have a car of your own, when you come around the bend in the road that snakes its way through the hills towards the silhouette of this medieval hill town, prepare to feel a sense of awe. The village, sitting atop a large mound of volcanic tufo stone 450 feet up and surrounded by a verdant valley, is one of the most bewitching in Italy.