Borghese Gallery Reservation - Using Roma Pass??
 

I am hoping to go to the Borghese Gallery on April 6th in the afternoon. I know that I need to make a reservation. I went to the website to make an online reservation but it is asking me to submit payment. I know that the Borghese Gallery is covered on the Roma Pass (plus an additional 2 euros) that I will be purchasing and using throughout Rome for three days. How do I make a reservation without paying the full price and using and Roma Pass?

Has anyone made reservations at the Borghese Gallery and used the Roma Pass? Not sure how to do this! If anyone has a tip on how they would do it that would be greatly appreciated!

You have to phone ahead and they can book you a time slot so you can use your Roma pass. I am going in May and they don't reserve time slots more than about 6 weeks ahead. Although I chose English as the language over the phone their language skills in English are a little on the weak side. Let me know how it goes as I'm calling back the end of March.

We used a RomaPass to enter the Borghese last year.

It is as Baxterpoo says: you contact them with your phone number, they call you back (immediately, in our case) at their cost. When you show up, you redeem your reservation with your RomaPass at a desk (possibly a special, "dedicated" desk -- I do not recall.). They scan your pass and that is that.

You probably know that you cannot take anything like a bag or backpack into the museum with you. This is VERY seriously enforced. I have seen a line of 100 people waiting to check items, some 15 minutes after their timed tkt would have admitted them.

BTW, I was surprised to find that we were almost alone in the picture gallery before the 2 hrs were up. The main floor sculpture galleries are stunning -- the upper floor painting galleries are full of 2nd rate paintings. I remember almost nothing of their contents. So take your time on the main floor.

BTW, I'd like to see a discussion here whether Roma Pass even saves you money any more.

Once upon a time, you were able to use your 3 transit pass on days OTHER THAN the days of your museum pass. Now the two must be used simultaneously. On big "mseum" days, I get almost no use out of a transit pass. And now that the price of a RomaPass has risen, I wonder if there is any real saving....

The Roma Pass is still worth it if you use the free admission for two big-ticket places: Colosseum/Forum/Palatine (12 Euro) or Galleria Borghese (up to 13.50 Euro if there's an exhibition on, which there very often is) or Musei Capitolini (up to 12 Euro if there's an exhibition on).

Titian's Sacred and Profane Love second-rate? I don't think so...

it's also very worthwhile just to bypass the lines at the colosseum and the forum too, now that they charge there as well.

We are planning to use the pass for the Borghese Gallery, Capitoline Museum, and Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill at a minimum.

The pass is 25 euro (plus 2 extra euro for Borghese)

Colosseum pass is 12 euro
Capitoline museum is 8.5 euro
Borghese Gallery is 8.5 euro

So if you get two free (the Colosseum and Capitoline) that's 20.5 euro. Then 30% off Borghese, you save 2.5 more euro so you're up to 23 euro before you take into accout the free transport. So as long as we saved 4 euro on transport we would break even. It does seem though that you would need to make sure you are going to visit enough sites to make the pass worth it.

If you are european and get the discounted rates at all of these places it might not be worth it. But being an American, and paying the full ticket prices we will probably do it so that we can take advantage of more places and pay discounted rates.

I've never seen an extra 2€ (the booking fee) mentioned for using the pass at the Borghese. Do you have a link for that? Has anyone else been required to pay the 2€ booking fee at the Borghese when using the pass?

As for the transit pass, if you are using the pass to visit the Borghese then take the 116 bus to and from (would cost 2€)as it would be a long walk (uphill going) otherwise.
http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=9

Just made hotel reservations for September - so I'm enjoying this discussion of the Roma pass. We only had 3 nights in Rome on our last trip, and never got to the Borghese or the Capitolini which is why we're going for 6 nights this time. Thanks "ky" for the link!

We loved the 116 mini bus, it seemed to be all over Rome but I'm sure that was because we spent so much time in the centro storico. It saved us a few times when we couldn't walk another step ;;)

We also bought the Roma pass and went to the Borghese, Colosseum and the Capitolini Museums as well as riding a number of buses. We certainly thought it was a savings of money and time. Deborah

Hmmm - I've also never seen a 2€ booking fee and I've probably been there 10-12 times? If there is a special event - or exhibition - you may be required to pay that surcharge but that's NOT a booking fee. As Deborah mentions, the 116 bus is a great way to get to the Galleria... here's a link with a few other public transportation options:
http://tinyurl.com/Borghese-transportation

And more info on the Boghese: http://tinyurl.com/borghese

I think the 2-Euro fee is quite recent. General admission for 8.50 Euro includes it, and "free" admission charges it:
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/einfo.htm

hmmmmmmm in my Rick Steves Rome book it says there is an extra 2 euro charge when you use the Roma Pass only. I will reread that section - maybe I read it wrong.

I thought the 8.50€ included a booking fee of 2€ (admission 6€), but the Roma Pass lists admission as 6€ and 2€ booking fee. I still don't recall anyone saying they had to pay 2€ with a pass.
http://www.romapass.it/doc/sitiAdere...lietti_eng.pdf

Recently, when I contacted our Rome hotel to ask assistance in arranging tickets/entry time for the Galleria Borghese, I was told that they can be booked minimum 15 days in advance. I was hoping to have all this in place before leaving home since Rome is the last stop in our four-week holiday - oh, well!

Could the additional 2€ fee be the Rome City Tax that is now applied to hotels, city museums & transporation (sightseeing buses, etc.)?

Your hotel is wrong. You can book right now through April 30.

tedgale - how did you contact them with your phone number? did you email them and they called you back?

kybourbon: So, I should be able to book a reservation for May 29th around the first or second week of April.

Is there a way to check on-line when tickets are available for specific dates?

Reasons for the hotel to say Borghese reservations can only be made 15 days out?

Ticketeria is the booking site for the Borghese. You can do a mock purchase to see what times are available. Hit next at the bottom of the page and it will show dates now booking. Select a date, make-up a name if you don't want to put yours on the mock purchase, hit next, click the arrow on the drop-down box for times and it will show how many tickets are left in each time slot.
http://www.ticketeria.it/ticketeria/...amento-eng.asp

>>>travelfridge2 on Mar 10, 11 at 9:26am
tedgale - how did you contact them with your phone number? did you email them and they called you back?<<<

For a while, the Borghese had a call-back feature on their website. It's no longer listed.

kybourbon: Thanks for the link! You've been most helpful!

I just made my reservations. Despite the 15 minute hold time, it was easy. The operator was friendly and her English was very good, no problems. I have my reservation # for 5 people. Fifteen more days til I'm in the Gallery!!!!

We just made our reservations for the end of April by calling this number from the US: 011-39-06-32810. We waited for about 10 minutes on the phone and they were very efficient.

Allow yourself plenty of time to get there as another poster said because sometimes there is a line to check-in items as well as to verify your Roma pass reservation; we arrived a good 40 minutes before scheduled appt.

The clerk gave me a small, clear plastic bag to carry my wallet when I checked in my small backpack. Because we arrived a bit earlier, we had time to preview the gift shop which you can access without a ticket. Restrooms are near the gift shop as is a little coffee shop. No place to really sit down inside (maybe go back outside) but you can get a pastry and a drink. We all began to line up inside the museum about ten minutes before our admission time. Bernini sculptures will take your breath away! Rent Simon Schama's Power of Art before you go and watch the segment on Bernini (and other artists) for background.

Update ...

When I phoned Ticketeria on April 5th for a May 29th reservation for the Galleria Borghese, I was told that tickets were only available up to May 15th.

So, when I called this morning (two weeks later), the agent told me that I must call back two weeks in advance ... in other words, mid-May.

The Ticketeria website appears to be down so there's no other way to check dates & availability.

What's going on? I have been told two different time frames to call for reservations: 6 weeks and 2 weeks prior. Any suggestions what I should do?

Thanks!

I would check back in two weeks as their online system currently has dates through May 15. I had no problem loading the Ticketeria website.

I am going to call for reservation for 8 people but only 6 of them will use the Roma Pass. The other 2 are only in Rome for a day so won't buy the pass. Can I make the reservation for all of us and they just pay their ticket when we show up that day?

I think this will be very confusing for the operator if I try to reserve 6 tickets and pay for an additional 2. Any suggestions?

try for all 8 first.

if there's a problem, use the 1st call to book for the 6, and then phone again/use the internet for the other two. [have the website page open while you phone to make sure that you can book the other two straight away to make sure you get the same time slot]

I am going to have to study this thread!

We are flying into Ciampino on EasyJet. Do you know if I can buy the Roma pass there? or where? Better get out my RS book!

From the Roma Pass website for Ciampino:

PIT Ciampino, Aeroporto G.B.Pastine - International Arrivals, luggage claim area, 9.30am - 6.30 pm;

(Tourist Information Points (Punti Informativi Turistici, PITs)
http://www.adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-r...x-cia-ciampino

when we were there in last October, we asked our tour operator Yatra.com to make the reservation for us. We then went to the ticket office at our reserved time and gave them our Roma Pass and they issued us our tickets. I tried going thru the website at first but when I found out our hotel/tour operator can make our reservation for us, I just went for the easy way..
This is the best possible way i can suggest!

Does anyone have a sense of how early one needs to make a reservation to the Borghese Gallery, Colosseum, Forum, etc.? I plan to buy my Roma pass when I reach Italy, but I'll only be staying for 10 days. Will that give me enough lead time to call for reservations - or should I buy the pass online and make calls for reservations from the US? My Italian is shaky but I will be meeting an Italian friend when I arrive and he could easily make the arrangements if a week's lead time is all that's required. If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know. I'll be in Rome on May 9-19th. Thanks!

It used to be were you could see how many spots were left on the booking website. They seem to have changed it. I guess you can check the days to see if places are still available.

http://www.tosc.it/tickets.htm?affil...78&language=en

Your friend should be able to call and book a spot for you if you know what day/time you want and just tell them you are using the Roma Pass.

I reserved 2 spots via calling the number on the website. Had a 10 minute wait but was fairly simple. They just ask the name and number and give you the booking number. The operator spoke perfect english. Someone mentioned that the gallery calls back on the number. I didnot recieve a call back and now I am concerned. Is my reservation done?

I wouldn't be concerned since you have the booking number. This thread is a couple of years old and things change. It used to be they had a Skype type system on their website where you could call and they called you back. They don't have that anymore.

You are not allowed to take anything in with you (not even a purse) so don't take any bags that are very big or anything you would mind leaving at bag check. You need to allow time to check whatever bag you do take. You get a small plastic bag to put your wallet in to carry with you.

I appreciate your question as I am looking for the same information. The number I found is +39-06-32810. Is that correct?
I am assuming it is an European phone but can I dial from the USA?