Practical information for visiting Nemi

Nemi is deep inside the Castelli Romani and connected through them.

Rome is about 30 kilometres north-west.

Velletri is 6 kilometres south-east, the nearest larger town, and the comune's southern boundary with it was revised twice in the sixteenth century after a disputed grant of the fief.

Castel Gandolfo and the other Castelli towns lie around the Alban Hills, each on or above its own lake or slope.

Rome again, for the archaeology: the surviving remnants of Caligula's ships and the replicas are displayed in the Museo Nazionale Romano at Palazzo Massimo, so seeing this town's story through properly means a trip back into the capital.

Nemi is a very small, safe village and ordinary Italian precautions are enough.

The hazards are topographic. The historic centre stands on a lava mass on the crater rim, with a steep drop to the water, and the descent to the lake shore is substantial.

The rim roads through the Castelli Romani are narrow and busy at weekends and on the day of the strawberry festival.

Lake Nemi is a deep volcanic crater lake; it is not a casual swimming spot, and its waters are managed at provincial level.

At 521 metres the village is colder than Rome in winter, with the usual consequences for steep village streets.

No unusual health risks apply in Nemi.

The gradient is the practical issue: the village sits on the crater rim at 521 metres and the lake shore, with the temple site and the ship museum, lies well below it. That descent and return is the physically demanding part of a visit.

Altitude works in a summer visitor's favour — it is cooler here than on the Roman plain 30 kilometres away.

Winter is cold for Lazio at this height.

Medical facilities are those of a village of under two thousand; Velletri, 6 kilometres away, and Rome are the referral directions. EU visitors should carry an EHIC or its replacement; others should have travel insurance.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, reaching police, ambulance and fire.

On the crater rim and the slopes down to the lake, give your position by landmark — the village, the museum or the shore — rather than by street.

On or in Lake Nemi, call 112; this is a deep volcanic crater lake with limited shoreline access.

Hospital care means Velletri, 6 kilometres away, or Rome.

On the day of the strawberry sagra, expect a village of 1,829 people to be holding many times that number, with the access roads correspondingly slow.