Nero was born here, and the remains of his imperial villa still step down to the sea: Anzio was the beach of Rome's aristocracy, and from its Neronian harbour came the Apollo Belvedere. History returned with a roar on 22 January 1944: the Allied landing at Anzio and Nettuno opened the road to Rome, and the war museums and cemeteries keep that memory with composure.
Today it is a town of fishermen and holidaymakers: trawlers unload at the port, restaurants bake their anchovy teglia, ferries sail for Ponza. Rome is an hour away; the sea is immediate.
Near Anzio
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
