Formello is a small medieval village about 28 km by road north of central Rome, between the Via Cassia and the Cassia bis, inside the Veio Regional Park. Its old centre gathers around Palazzo Chigi, home of the Museo dell'Agro Veientano; below the village, footpaths drop into the Valle del Sorbo to the Cascata della Mola waterfall, and the Via Francigena pilgrim route passes straight through. All of this was once the territory of Veii, the Etruscan city that rivalled Rome.
About this English section. I Love Formello is a guide to Formello written in Italian. This English section is new and covers the essentials for visitors: the pages listed below. The rest of the site, including the listings of restaurants, accommodation and local services, is in Italian. Whenever we link to an Italian page, we say so.
Closed at the moment (checked on 29 October 2026): the Veio Archaeological Park, near Isola Farnese, and the stretch of the Via Francigena between Campetti and the Mola di Isola Farnese, closed by Veio Park Authority order no. T00008 of 13 February 2026 (Park Authority notice, in Italian; for the archaeological park, Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, in Italian). The Francigena at Prato La Corte is also closed by a landslide. The Cascata della Mola waterfall at Formello, in the Valle del Sorbo, is not affected. Details on our Via Francigena and Veii pages.
Things to see
All the places, including the pages still in Italian, are on our Things to see page.
Plan your visit
Formello at a glance
- Where
- North of Rome, between the Via Cassia and the Cassia bis, in the Lazio region.
- From central Rome
- About 28 km by road from Piazza Venezia; about 14 km from Rome's ring road (GRA).
- By train
- FL3 regional line to Cesano di Roma, then bus line 20 (few runs, Monday to Saturday); or the Roma-Viterbo railway to Saxa Rubra, then Cotral buses.
- From Fiumicino airport
- About 51 km by road.
- The park
- The Veio Regional Park covers about 14,984 hectares across nine municipalities; entry to the trails is free.
- The name
- Thought to come from the Etruscan tunnels that managed water under the village, the formae in Latin.
Distances are indicative, measured on OpenStreetMap. Sources are given on each page.
More pages in Italian
These pages are not yet in English, but they may be useful for planning your day:
- Cascata della Mola a Formello: come arrivare (the Mola waterfall, how to get there)
- Palazzo Chigi and the Museo dell'Agro Veientano
- Il centro storico (the old village)
- Santuario della Madonna del Sorbo (the sanctuary in the Valle del Sorbo)
- Storia di Formello (history, from the Etruscans to today)
- Meteo del traffico (live traffic on the Cassia bis)