Cascata delle Marmore: how to get there, tickets, routes and more
Cascata delle Marmore is the highest man-made waterfall in Europe. It's notable for three things:
1) It is huge: the largest cascade is 80 m ~ 9 floors high, all three are 165 m ~ 55 floors in total.
2) It is artificial and built by the Romans! 😱 The Velino River swamped the city of Rieti, which led to the spread of malaria. Therefore, in 271 BC, a 4-kilometer-long canal was dug, which led Velino river to a natural cliff and it joined Nera River after.
Obviously, since Nera became fuller, it began to flood another city - Terni. People of Terni and Rieti even had a hearing in the Roman Senate about what is worse - malaria or a flood 🙈 However, the debate was not solved and everything was left as is. And only in the 18th century the waterfall was rebuilt in order to intelligently direct the flow of water and reduce the area of flooding.
3) The waterfall is turned on and off! 😱😱😱 At the beginning of the 20th century, a hydroelectric power station was built and now the river mainly goes through it. The waterfall is turned on according to the schedule for the entertainment of the public and irrigation of the local flora.
Useful tips
- Marmore is located near the city of Terni (which is ~1 hour by train from Rome). The park has two entrances. To the lower one it is more convenient to get from Terni by bus (on the Trenitalia website choose the stop Cascata delle Marmore), and to the upper one - by train (get off at Marmore stop). If you are that rare traveler from the Sulmona or L'Aquila, go straight to Marmore.
- A train ticket gives a discount on a ticket to the park - 8€ instead of 10. However, we bought tickets online and at the entrance no one checked whether we were actually entitled to this discount.
- The park and waterfall schedule changes every month! Do not believe the reviews that say to arrive at 11, or at 15, or at 20 - check the schedule yourself on the official website!
- The Lovers Balcony (the balcony behind the waterfall) is accessible only with a guided tour. There are only 30 places, so be sure to buy tickets in advance on the official website. The cost is 3€. You will meet near the lower viewpoint, and first the guide will tell you about the waterfall itself. If you do not speak Italian, you can either try your luck and ask to speak English (it helped us!), or go to Wiki (all the info is there). Then you'll go to the balcony itself. You get wet in a second!! You can buy a raincoat in the park for 1€, but I recommend bringing your own reusable one so you don't have to worry about the think flimsy plastic one. If you also have shoe covers, it's perfect :)) The tour lasts an hour and ends somewhere halfway between the upper and lower viewpoints. Being inside the waterfall is a very unusual experience, I liked it :)
- From the lower viewpoint you can see the entire waterfall, from the upper one you can see only one cascade, but closer. So both are spectacular, but in different ways. The path from the upper viewpoint to the lower one takes, by park estimates, 20 minutes, back it's 35.
- The guide said that from route 4 (sentiero 4) there is a very good view, but we did not have time to check.He also recommended sentiero 2.
- There is rafting in the park!
Have a good trip!