Capitoline and Borghese on Same Day?
 

Hello again,

Is it feasible to combine Capitoline and the Borghese Museums on the same day or would that be museum overload?

If visiting the Capitoline museums how much time to allot? Nearby is Trajan Market and that also has a museum correct?

Can you combine the Capitoline museums with the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill or is that too much in a day? The guided group tours allot about 3 hours for the three Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill. Is that enough time or do you need more time to explore those areas on your own afterwards?

For the Borghese what would be a better time slot the 11-1PM or the 5-7PM?

Thanks.

You probably won't spend more than a couple of hours in the Capitoline. Borghese limits your time to two hours, you have to get there early to pick up your tickets (there is a line) and then get in line to check your belongings (you are not allowed to take things in including purses/backpacks).

>>>The guided group tours allot about 3 hours for the three Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill<<<

A lot of tours don't really seem to include Palatine Hill. Mostly just the Colosseum/Forum.

You could break up your days at the Colosseum/Forum. Tickets are good for 2 consecutive days.

***ticket colosseum, roman forum-palatine and current exhibitions, valid for 2 days in a row, one entrance for each site***

I'll say this: the Borghese is NOT The Louvre, or the Rijksmuseum. The contents are what some people would call "narrowly focused."

How fast can you roll by major sculpture pieces? How long does it take you to do a couple of floors housed in a large "home?"

I suspect there are people who could easily spend hours if they were allowed to; others much less.

It all depends on you!

I combined the Capitoline -- about 2 hours, IIRC, with the Colosseum and Roman Forum and a few other sites in the area (e.g., San Pietro in Vincoli), but I wouldn't have been able to find the Palantine Hill into that particular day.

I must admit that the concept of "museum overload" doesn't resonate with me: I've been known to spend basically every waking hour, every day, in museums for 3 or 4 days or even 5 consecutive days.

As for timing for the Borghese -- it depends on what you would do before or after, when you will be in that part of Rome, etc.

Good luck!

What you are asking depends on your background knowledge of the Roman history and the architectural evolution as well as your interests. During my last trip to the area, I spent quite bit of time at the Trajan's market. However, I have studies Roman architecture, and I was looking for articular features representative of that period present at this site.

Roman Forum is even more confusing as it is the site preserving bits and pieces by emperors from many different dynasties. However, if you don't care to differentiate between the emperors, many things in the forum look alike and you probably don't need much time.

>>> For the Borghese what would be a better time slot the 11-1PM or the 5-7PM?

Borghese gallery is an indoor exhibit controlling the number of people and the amount of time. There is little difference once you get inside. This question is something you need to ask yourself and yourself only -- which time slot integrates better into your schedule?

Off the top of my head, I would choose the 5:00 to 7:00 time slot because it will be easier to plan the rest of the day if it is not broken up right in the middle for the Borghese. Depending on where you are, it can take some time to get to the Borghese. Allow for that. You really need to get there early to pick up tickets and check bags (perhaps 15 minutes), which is a requirement. When you finish, you can head to a restaurant or to your hotel if you are changing for dinner.

The Borghese is interesting and beautiful, and I enjoyed the narrow focus of the exhibition.

I could easily spend (and have spent) many hours in the Capitoline Museums, because I'm very interested in ancient Roman art and culture. I'm less interested in Baroque sculpture, and not a big fan of Bernini, so the Borghese Gallery isn't my favorite museum in Rome. I go there mostly when they have a special exhibit that interests me.


As others have said, you get only two hours at the Borghese Gallery. The number of visitors allowed at one time is limited, and often all the time slots for the day are sold out, in which case the crowds are the same no matter when you go. Get there well before your allotted time, because there's usually a long ticket queue, and another queue at the bag check desk. (You have to check everything, even small handbags.)

I think the Capitoline Museums can easily be paired with the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Colosseum, but I would prefer to visit without the tour. I would go first to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, and then the Capitoline Museums, where I would also get a light lunch at their cafeteria. Then I'd go to the Colosseum late in the afternoon.

The Colosseum had excellent signs and is fairly easy to understand. Basically, it's a sports stadium. As Greg says, the Roman Forum is much more confusing, unless you don't much care about the history. A good guide is a great help there, especially if you are interested in the history. Otherwise, read up before you go, and bring a good map of the site, and a good guide book.

The Palatine Hill, apart from the history, is a very beautiful spot. I think many people would enjoy it more than the Forum, or even than the Colosseum, but for some reason most visitors skip it.

There's a small museum on the Palatine Hill, which has artifacts and sculptures found on the site. There's an interesting exhibit on the lower level that explains the prehistoric development of Rome.

The last time I went to the Borghese I didn't notice anyone being forced OUT after the supposed 2-hour time limit but perhaps I missed that.

Thanks for the input. We tend to linger at museums so I think we would need more than a couple of hours for the Capitoline. I was thinking to do the Capitoline in the morning and part of the afternoon. Is the cafeteria there good? Then later in the day go to the Borghese with the timed ticket. How much earlier to arrive before the appointment time at the Borghese? An hour before?

Would you recommend the Borghese for a Saturday or a Sunday or a Friday? Which would be better if we wanted to also take a stroll in the park?

Then on a separate day cover the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Is Domus Aurea worth doing? How much time needed for that? Thanks for the tip on the Palatine museum. How about the house of Augustus and Livia? Can all these things be squeezed into a day?

Please also tell me if you think trying to squeeze in Domus Romane which is next to the Capitoline would also not be feasible if planning the Borghese on that same day. Better to do Domus Romane and Galleria Doria Pamphilj together on a separate day?

<i>The last time I went to the Borghese I didn't notice anyone being forced OUT after the supposed 2-hour time limit but perhaps I missed that. </i>

People are most certainly required to leave when the two hours are up. The next group can't enter until they're all out.

I would avoid the Borghese Gallery (and other art museums) on a Sunday. That's the favorite day for Italian art appreciation groups; the groups and their guides tend to clog up the space.

I think arriving half an hour early is sufficient.

Between the Domus Aurea and the Domus Romane, I would choose the Domus Romane. However, I haven't visited the Domus Aurea since it reopened. It was closed for a number of years because of flooding. I believe that less is now open than previously. My experience of the Domus Aurea was rather frustrating, because it had to be done with an audio guide, accompanied by a person who was not an official guide and therefore not allowed to say anything about the space. It's a large space, and it wasn't easy to know what was being described by the audio guide. Maybe that problem has been resolved.

The Domus Romane has an excellent sound-and-light show, offered in English several times during the day. Since I was there, it's been expanded to include material about Trajan's Column and Market, so it would be interesting to visit Trajan's Market after the Domus Aurea.

The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is another of my favorite visits. It's near the Pantheon, so would best be combined with other visits in that part of town.

Because the number allowed in is set, it hardly matters what day for the Borghese unless you are so lucky as to go when they have lots of tickets left. Even mid-week in September, all tickets were sold when I was there. Tickets not picked up for a timed slot will be given to people in a standby line. I got lucky and got in that way, but wasted about 15 minutes of the time period waiting for the ticket and checking my bag. You do not need a tour if you read and know anything about sculpture. May have changed, but at that time, they did clear everyone out at the end of the ticket time.

I agree with Sassafrass, and said the same thing above. However, Sundays are a special case. Most towns in Italy have art appreciation groups, and most cities have more than one. They take tours of art museums and special exhibits, and Sundays are practically the one day they can do so. That's because a great number of the participants in these groups are schoolteachers, and schools are open, for the most part, on Saturdays in Italy.

The presence of art tours is an additional problem above and beyond the number of visitors. They tend to form clumps in front of whatever you most want to see. I try to avoid museum visits on Sundays for this reason, even though we belong to an art appreciation group in our town and are sometimes among the people in the clumps.

I loved the Borghese! I always recommend it to friends going to Rome. We took a larger group tour to the Forum, etc. which I found interesting but not nearly enough information or time for us. In the three hours, we barely scratched the surface! Also, the time of year depends for that tour, it can be very hot and sunny and we were drained afterwards. The park near the Borghese is lovely. We took a snack and ate there first before we went into the line. Have fun!

<<I would avoid the Borghese Gallery (and other art museums) on a Sunday. That's the favorite day for Italian art appreciation groups; the groups and their guides tend to clog up the space.>>

I can't agree more! Just was there a couple of Sundays ago, and the crowds were horrendous, thanks to the number of groups. The transition from the end of one time period and the beginning of the next was a zoo, with hordes of people at the check in either coming in or leaving. We didn't experience crowds like this anywhere else.

Still, we loved the Borghese, but then again, the work, particularly the Bernini sculpture, thrilled us.

Personally, and I'm only saying this personally, I don't think I would do both the Capitoline and Borghese on the same day, as they both are very absorbing and I can only spend so much time concentrating on exhibitions. While it's physically possible to do both, I know our limits and both on one day would be too tiring to enjoy. We just returned from an 8-day trip to Rome (see my TR if you're interested) and we did a LOT every day but it was a real mixture of things each day.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Progol--I loved your trip report. Thanks for sharing.

Bvlenci--Thanks for the information about Sunday's at art museums. These are the tidbits we learn from this forum!

Maybe then we should do the Capitoline museum, the Domus Romane and the Trajan market on one day and save the Borghese for another? The issue is I will be running out of days. Can we squeeze in a visit to Doria Pamphilj late in the afternoon on the Capitoline day or would we run out of time given the other items on the itinerary?

Combining Doria Pamphilj with the Borghese sounds like too much art to absorb in one day. The other option would be to combine one of these with the Vatican day but I think that would be too exhausting.

Since they limit the number of people at the Borghese and usually are at the max any day you say it doesn't matter which day we pick but if you had to chose between a Saturday and a Friday which would you prefer? My thought was that Saturday more families would be about in the surrounding park and might be better for strolling before or after the museum rather than on a Friday. Thoughts?

Again, it depends on your interests, but I would have found it difficult to combine ANYTHING with the Vatican.

Kja--I agree--I think that would be too exhausting. Would it also be not advisable to combine the two smaller venues of Doria Pamphilj and the Borghese?

Europeannovice,
Glad you liked the report! Now, if you want to make yourself crazy, read my planning thread! Better yet, don't - there are far too many wonderful places that were recommended that it'll probably make you overwhelmed and frustrated that you can't see them all!

Here's what I discovered on my recent trip - you really don't need to see every site or sight!

First of all, just walking will allow you to "discover" places that are also amazing, whether it's entering a church and appreciating the work, coming upon a set of ruins, appreciating a beautiful piazza.

I created a list of "want to see" sights and then prioritized, though tried to keep them (more or less) within the same general area. We found that having 1-2 big ticket items (major sights) as a focus then allowed us to veer off and explore freely.

Keep in mind the places that need tickets ahead of time - not just the Borghese Gallery, but the Domus Romane, too. I assume the Vatican as well, but we didn't go there this time, so I can't give any advice on that.

As far as a visit to the Borghese, I'd probably visit on the Saturday for the same reasons you're thinking, although my guess is that it's a tossup.

Just being in Rome is such a joy that whatever you see will be great.