Italy Trip Sept 2025 - Part 3 Civita di Bagnoregio and Bolsena, Lazio

We drove south past Tuscany and into the region called Lazio, which is where Rome is located. We stopped for two nights at a campsite beside Bolsena Lake, which is an old volcanic lake and is the largest one in Europe. 

The following day we visited Civita di Bagnoregio, in an area known as the Badlands, where the rock is subject to erosion. The village, perched high up on an eroding rock, is known as the 'Dying Town', and has from 10 to 16 inhabitants, depending on what you read. However, tourism has brought this village back to life and the entry fee charged to visit goes to the villagers to help with maintaining the buildings and staving off the effects of erosion. I also read that Harry Styles had bought a house there, but for once, we found somewhere old that wasn't filmed in Game of Thrones! 😀

The village was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago and originally had five city gates to enter, but only one remains now. An earthquake in 1695 caused the village to separate from the area which is now the neighbouring town of Bagnoregio, and many townsfolk moved out.

The only way to get to the village is by a pedestrian footbridge from the town of Bagnoregio, which was built in the 1960s. The only vehicles allowed are bicycles and motorbikes for the locals and a golf cart which they use when necessary. I do wonder how they move their furniture and possessions when they move in/out of the village!

It's quite a steep walk in places!

San Donato church, built in the Romaneque style, was remodelled in 1511 in the Renaissance style and a central portal added in 1524.

Inside the church - it is quite plain compared to many Italian churches we have visited.

There isn't a lot to this village but just wandering around looking at the medieval architecture is a delight, and there are a number of restaurants to cater to the tourists. We had a really good pizza for lunch - though not all pizzas in Italy are good, they are as hit and miss as in any other country!

You can really see the bare rocks here and why they call this area the 'Badlands'!

Bolsena

On our way back to the campsite we stopped at the top of the medieval town to have a look around the old section. The night before we had a meal out in the lower part of the town and the whole upper town is lit up and the castle looked amazing in the dark.

Monaldeschi Castle was built between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Looking down over the old roofs with the more modern part of the town further away towards the lake.

It's a shame the weather changed and the following day it rained! It would have been nice if the sun had been shining when we took our photos here, but overall we had only the one day with bad weather out of three weeks.

Having come from France where we had a really dry summer we were quite amazed by how green it was in Italy - it seemed like they had had no drought at all. Even after a normal summer I would have expected brownish grass still in September, but everywhere was really lush.