Lazio Explorer

It's that time of year again, when, if you're anything like me, heading into town becomes a nightmare as you have to squeeze past stressed shoppers (or more recently protesting students), with everyone running around like headless chickens as they go back and forth from shop to shop to find all the best bargains.

However, if you're in Rome, and you fancy a break from the city, why not head to one of the out of town shopping outlets? I've always found these more fun, after all, they are designed for shopping, rather than Roman chariots.

Here are a few near Rome:

Parco Leonardo

This centro commerciale houses over 216 shops, covering houseware, womens clothes, a few clothes shops for men and an absolutely massive Auchan, which has pretty much everything you could ever need. It's open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m, including Sundays, and even has some nice places to stop for coffee or pasta. This interactive map details all the shops and restaurants.

Parco Leonardo is so called as it is very close to Fiumicino airport, which is officially called 'Leonardo da Vinci'. This means it's really easy to get to. From Rome, you can take the train (FR1) from Roma Tiburtina, Tuscolana, Ostiense, or Trastevere (or from even further afield, such as Stimigliano, as I do!) More information can be found here.

By car, take the GRA to exit 31 (follow the signs to Fiumicino airport) and then follow the signs for Parco Leonardo (on Autostrada Roma-Fiumicino).

Porta di Roma

Like Parco Leonardo, Porta di Roma contains over 200 shops, including Ikea and a massive Auchan, along with a cinema.

Porta di Roma can be reached by bus from Stazione Termini. Bus line 38 leaves Termini every 10 minutes (direction Baseggio). There is also a free shuttle bus from Piazza Bologna to Porta di Roma every hour from 9:30am till 10pm (thanks to fellow twitterers Gillian and BuzzInRome for this info).

Porta di Roma ('door of Rome') is as you'd expect just off the ring road (GRA). Take exits 9-10 for Settebagni and follow the signs for Bufalotta, then Centro Commerciale Porta di Roma.

Castel Romano Designer Outlet

If you crave top designer brands, you'll feel right at home at the Castel Romano Designer Outlet. Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Salvatore Ferragamo, La Perla, Zegna Outlet, Etro, CK Jeans, Camper, Diesel and more, all at factory prices. They often have very good discounts (on last year's stock, if that makes a difference to you) and it's even quite a pleasant place to walk around. It's open all week 10-8pm (9pm Friday-Sunday).

Castel Romano is just 25 km south-west of Rome, at the Castel Romano exit off the Via Pontina SS 148 (exit 26 of the GRA). I'm not sure if you can get there with public transport.

and here's one a little further afield:

Soratte Outlet

This is a new outlet commercial centre found in North Lazio, near Sant'Oreste. It's smaller than the rest, with just over 50 shops, but consequently is quieter and sometimes has better offers. The shops are of the high street variety, rather than designer, but we still enjoy having a look around. They are open from 10am-6pm and there are also some restaurants on site (I say that with a pinch of salt as they are of the Burger King variety). If you are interested in better food, or fancy mixing shopping with a bit of sight-seeing, check out a previous blog post on Sant'Oreste, a nearby town.

From Rome you can take the A1 autostrada (Rome-Florence), taking exit Ponzano R. - Soratte to Sant’Oreste. On their website they claim this will take 27 minutes, although I would give it 40. Alternatively, take the SS3 (Via Flaminia) up to Sant'Oreste and then follow the signs over Monte Soratte to the outlet. See here for further directions, and a handy map of the journey from the autostrada to the outlet. The nearest train station is Stimigliano, which is served by trains from Roma Trastevere, Ostiense, Tuscolana, or Tiburtina (direction Orte) and costs less than 7EUR for a day return.

There are a few more Outlets near Rome, such as Roma Est and Valmontone, but I haven't had chance to go to these yet, so if you've been to them let me know how they compare to the ones I've listed here.

Buon Shopping!