Rome Tiber River Rafting

[LDIdeals]

Thinking of booking a 3 hr. river rafting trip on the Tiber when we go to Rome in September. We have been to Rome before and thought this might be a fun thing to do and then afterwards walk the city a bit. Anyone do the river rafting and any thoughts?

[cruisemom42]

Unlike some rivers that meander through cities, the Tiber is prone to flooding. Because of this, the embankments on each side are extremely high, making the views from the water not very good (except for your views of the various bridges).

 

You can get a bit of an idea of how high they are in the first photo here: https://www.tripoto.com/trip/tiber-fun-boat-experience-rome-rafting-urban-adventure-for-all-7457

 

I don't want to sound discouraging, but I've been to Rome many times and this isn't really something I'd consider doing. There are so many other, better options. If you need some ideas, we can provide quite a few. ;)

[dogs4fun]

Agree with cruisemom - your views will be minimal at best & rafting down the Tiber is not something I would even consider. So many other interesting options to consider in this amazing city! One such option if you are looking for physically oriented outdoor activities: I would think that biking the aqueducts park & Appia Antica would be much more scenic, historic and all-around fulfilling (choose one or both, depending on time). There is also the lovely Borghese Park (Rome's "Central Park") where you can bike/stroll or book a tour by horseback.

Edited April 22, 2016 by dogs4fun

[euro cruiser]

Try googling "tiber river pollution" to see why this is a bad idea. And those are just the articles/web sites in English, there are ten times the number in Italian.

Edited April 23, 2016 by euro cruiser

[Langoustine]

At first, I thought this question was a joke, but then I googled the subject and discovered that there really are companies in Rome that offer this. Well. I really can't imagine doing this, for all the reasons offered above. There have been recent efforts to clean the river and embankments, and the addition of artwork, but based on my experiences in Rome over many years, I really can't imagine that doing this would be fun, and I shudder to think what it would be like if you fell into the water. Here's a recent article from the NY TIMES you might find interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/europe/tiber-river-rome-cleanup.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news If you do this, I think we would all be interested in hearing how it went.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Langoustine