Entrance Fee for the Borghese Gardens?
 

Does anyone know if there is a fee and if there is, what is the cost?

There are activities in the gardens like the zoo, and I would like to know if there is a separate fee for the zoo.

Can't help you with the zoo, but there is no fee to enter the gardens.

Tom

Thanks, Tom

ttt

We walked past the zoo entrance a couple weeks ago as we were enjoying the park. Seems like the entrance fee was 8 Euros for adults, 6 Euros for kids, something like that.

The gardens are really lovely. Are you going with children? If so, I noticed quite a few folks had rented surreys which they were riding all over the place. The kids on board were having fun.

There was also a really cool rollerblade area, where these little cones were set up and people would rollerblade through the cones, back and forth, twisty-windy all the way. Really neat. We were there on a Saturday, so I couldn't be sure it's there all the time.

kopp,

Surreys (with the fringe on top?). Just kidding.

The park seems like a great place for the kids to run around and get away from all the hardscape in Rome.

Whar are surreys ?

Main Entry: sur·rey
Pronunciation: 's&r-E, 's&-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural surreys
Etymology: Surrey, England
: a four-wheel two-seated horse-drawn pleasure carriage

Thanks Rufus. So it really is as in 'Surrey with a fringe on top' ! Do they really have them in the Borghese Gardens ?

Thank you, rufus, for that enlightenment.

I call them surreys. For a better explanation, they're like a 4-passenger covered bicycle with pedals (2 people in front, 2 people in back), 4 wheels and, yes, a cover on the top. Can't remember whether they had fringe to complete the package.

Oh, and yes, the chicks and ducks and geese better scurry to keep out of their way!

Whatever they're called, the fun is still there!

Oh, this is way off the subject, but if anyone is interested, "The Surrey with a Fringe on Top" is a song on the "Oklahoma" soundtrack.

Also, a few jazz artists have played and recorded their own rendition, notably Ahmad Jamal, the virtuoso Pittsburgh pianist.

That's all folks.

If you've even been to the beach at Galveston, Texas, or to the Boardwalk at Disneyworld, I think that is what the surreys are like.

yes, missypie - the ones at the Borghese Gardens are exactly the same as those.

we are staying at the Splendide Royal does anyone know where i can get a detailed map of the gardens it seems like there is alot to see or does anyone who has been there know the highlights? thanks!

One of the highlights is a hot air balloon that is on a tether that takes you up 500 feet. Unfortunatly it had been closed down for the season when I was in Rome. I think it closes at the begining of October.

Tom

Here is a link for the balloon rides -

www.aerophile.it/eng/roma.htm

Tom

Flycatcher06,

Any map of Rome will show the highlights of the Villa Borghese.

In addition to the zoo and the tethered balloon already mentioned, there is a large riding ring (but I'm not sure how and how often it is used). It would be on your left as you go into the Villa Borghese through the Porta Pinciana close to your hotel.

There are also three museums in the Villa Borghese, two of which are considered among the most important in Rome: the Galleria Borghese (with important works by Bernini and Caravaggio, among others) and the Villa Giulia, the National Etruscan Museum. The third is the National Gallery of Modern Art, which is relatively little visited.

Thanks for all the information! I'm traveling with my husband and kids ages 15, 13 and 10. We will arrive in Rome on a Sunday and I am planning a "Borghese Day" on Thursday....two hours looking at art, the rest of the day playing outside. I'm sure a balloon ride is in our future if the weather cooperates, as are the surreys.

Any advice on where to eat? Does the Galleria have a decent cafe? Are there food vendors around? Other suggestions?

I didn't try the cafe inside the Gallery, but there were plenty of vendors outside selling paninis and pizzas.

Tom

The Galleria's cafe did not look like a place to linger, but there is a canteen/cafe in the park between the Galleria Borghese and Porta Pinciana. It is near or attached to a cinema on Largo Marcello Mastroianni, I think.
I did not eat there but it was open when I walked through the area in February.