Tips for Villa d'Este (Tivoli) via car? (and an overdue update from TA)
Mar 9th, 2016, 08:52 AM
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Tips for Villa d'Este (Tivoli) via car? (and an overdue update from TA)
Hi all,
We will be picking up our rental car at FCO the morning of Tuesday, 5 April. We would like to visit Villa d'Este en route to Paestum (yes, I know it isn't on the way!, but we have two sons under age 5 and need to get their energy out before the 3+ hour drive to Campania - and the royal palace at Caserta, which would be on the way, is closed on Tuesdays).
Any tips for where to park? We have visited Villa Adriana in Tivoli several years ago when our oldest was a baby, but we took a taxi and I did not pay much attention to how well signposted the town was. I'd appreciate any and all info on navigating the city, locating parking, etc.
Many Thanks,
Jill
P.S. To my many Fodorite friends of more than a decade... I know I've been quiet on these boards for quite some time. If you'd like to know what we have been up to, here is a link to an essay I published about our oldest son and our journey with him. He is my daily, living proof that miracles can happen with hard work. https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/20...m-his-birthday
We will be picking up our rental car at FCO the morning of Tuesday, 5 April. We would like to visit Villa d'Este en route to Paestum (yes, I know it isn't on the way!, but we have two sons under age 5 and need to get their energy out before the 3+ hour drive to Campania - and the royal palace at Caserta, which would be on the way, is closed on Tuesdays).
Any tips for where to park? We have visited Villa Adriana in Tivoli several years ago when our oldest was a baby, but we took a taxi and I did not pay much attention to how well signposted the town was. I'd appreciate any and all info on navigating the city, locating parking, etc.
Many Thanks,
Jill
P.S. To my many Fodorite friends of more than a decade... I know I've been quiet on these boards for quite some time. If you'd like to know what we have been up to, here is a link to an essay I published about our oldest son and our journey with him. He is my daily, living proof that miracles can happen with hard work. https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/20...m-his-birthday
Mar 9th, 2016, 03:53 PM
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I really just want to say that I am jealous, as Villa d'Este is a favorite of mine! I remember it being right in town near the train station. I think we parked about a block away but can't remember. I don't remember parking being a problem.
Mar 9th, 2016, 08:01 PM
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We had no trouble parking at Villa d'Este. We drove to there and Hadrian's Villa as a day trip from Rome. There are multi level public parking garages within a couple of blocks of the entrance to Villa d'Este. We went on a cool March day when it was not very crowded. As a break from a hectic travel schedule, it was relaxing to stroll around the gardens and enjoy the fountains from the park benches.
Mar 10th, 2016, 04:03 AM
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By the way, there was an interesting strike at the Reggia di Caserta this week. For years people have been complaining that the administration was lax, and that the grounds were going to pot, that illegal vendors were pestering visitors, with the complacency of the staff. This year, they've appointed a new director, after an international search. He's been working very hard, even on weekends, and skipping lunch breaks. Everyone says things are beginning to improve.
This week the local branch of the union called a strike, complaining that the director was working too much.
http://www.ilmattino.it/caserta/il_d...a-1587148.html
According to the article, the previous director left work early in the afternoon, and as soon as he left, the offices emptied out. Also, he's begun to make the rounds of the palace and grounds to see if everything's going well. An negative side effect (for the employees) is that the number of visitors has increased by 70% over the same period last year. Apparently nobody believes that it's a real increase; the suspicion is that a lot of the ticket receipts used to get lost between the cash box and the accounting department.
All in all, it's insupportable, so they went on strike.
This week the local branch of the union called a strike, complaining that the director was working too much.
http://www.ilmattino.it/caserta/il_d...a-1587148.html
According to the article, the previous director left work early in the afternoon, and as soon as he left, the offices emptied out. Also, he's begun to make the rounds of the palace and grounds to see if everything's going well. An negative side effect (for the employees) is that the number of visitors has increased by 70% over the same period last year. Apparently nobody believes that it's a real increase; the suspicion is that a lot of the ticket receipts used to get lost between the cash box and the accounting department.
All in all, it's insupportable, so they went on strike.
Mar 10th, 2016, 09:02 AM
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Thank you all for the information! Glad to hear that parking near Villa d'Este in Tivoli should be easy to find.
We have been to the royal palace at Caserta before, but it was in November 2008 in a downpour. Hoping for better luck in April (we will be stopping there for a rest stop as we drive north from Paestum into the Val d'Orcia region of Tuscany). Very interesting to read the update about the new director and all the ensuing drama. I recall it being pretty run down in 2008, with the gardens quite unkept. It was off-season though, so I attributed it to that. Now I wonder if it was perhaps always under-maintained.
Thank you for your kind sentiments re: our son. Through all the ups and downs over the past several years, we have kept traveling to Europe at least once yearly. We have modified our travel style greatly, but have found travel to be perhaps even more rewarding than ever. By age 3.5, Alexander was asking, "Can we go places forever, Mom?" By last year when he was 4.5, he piped up and expressed a pretty profound revelation for one so young (and especially one affected by autism where insistence on sameness is a hallmark feature). "Mom, they do everything different here. But it turns out ok. Even though it isn't the same as how we do it." So true, and also analogous to his own life although he doesn't yet realize it. He thinks differently than most, definitely problem-solves differently than most, and expresses himself differently than most... but it works.
We have been to the royal palace at Caserta before, but it was in November 2008 in a downpour. Hoping for better luck in April (we will be stopping there for a rest stop as we drive north from Paestum into the Val d'Orcia region of Tuscany). Very interesting to read the update about the new director and all the ensuing drama. I recall it being pretty run down in 2008, with the gardens quite unkept. It was off-season though, so I attributed it to that. Now I wonder if it was perhaps always under-maintained.
Thank you for your kind sentiments re: our son. Through all the ups and downs over the past several years, we have kept traveling to Europe at least once yearly. We have modified our travel style greatly, but have found travel to be perhaps even more rewarding than ever. By age 3.5, Alexander was asking, "Can we go places forever, Mom?" By last year when he was 4.5, he piped up and expressed a pretty profound revelation for one so young (and especially one affected by autism where insistence on sameness is a hallmark feature). "Mom, they do everything different here. But it turns out ok. Even though it isn't the same as how we do it." So true, and also analogous to his own life although he doesn't yet realize it. He thinks differently than most, definitely problem-solves differently than most, and expresses himself differently than most... but it works.
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