thefengs

Our family took a trip to Villa d'Este, Tivoli in May. We were so disappointed because the fountains were not running at all. For a place to boast 500+ fountains, the place was pretty dry. The funny thing was that they still post the splashing schedule for the big fountain where it was totally dry. The famous wall fountains which we were looking forward to seeing were dry too. If anyone plans to go there, be informed.

isabel

Thanks for the information. Did you get a sense of how long it was going to be like that?

michele_d

Hi thefengs,
I'm sorry for your experience. It is beautiful when the fountains are going. Hopefully you can go sometime in the future. I can't imagine it is nearly the same without all the water. Hope you still had a great trip.
Michele

Dayle

Dear fengs,

I'm sorry you didn't get to see the fountains. They really are just wonderful!

I just checked the Villa d'Este web site and it doesn't say anything about the fountains not running. It does, however, give their phone numbers. Anyone else planning a visit might want to call before going.

Maybe this will be just one a many good escuses to return to Italy!

LoveItaly

That certainly must have been a huge dissapointment, feng. Did you ever find out the reason as to why the fountains were dry? I take an interest in keeping up on the news in Italy for various reasons and I have not read anything about this.

thefengs

Thanks for your comments. For those of you who have seen the working fountains at Villa d'Este, I envied you. We did enjoy our trip there however. It would have been better though. We did check the website before we went. There was not any information posted about the fountains not working. Judging how dry it was, the fountains seemed not running for a while. Even when we purchased our tickets at the site, we did ask them about the fountain schedule. The person there just pointed at the printed schedule and never hinted that the fountains were not running. Anyway, it was disappointing but not spoiled. Thanks for your concerns. I do not think that we will ever go back because there are too many places to see in Italy and Tivoli is too far out in my opinion.

billpat66

Sorry you missed that. We enjoyed it, and even enjoyed it more after we rented the movie, "Three Coins in the Fountain".
It was filmed circa 1952 and we were there just a few years ago and it looks pretty much the same. The first 5 minutes of the movie show much of the estate's fountains.. If you can rent it, do so. It's worth it just for the beginning fountain scenes.

thefengs

Thank you, billpat66. I will remember to look for the movie. Maybe after watching the movie, we will be motivated enough to go back again.

billpat66

If you have Netflix, it is available from them.

LoveItaly

Three Coins in the Fountain is one of my favorite movies! I don' know how many times I have watched it. It was what motivated me to get to Rome. I am sure you will enjoy it, fengs.

2010

thefengs: Just wondering about the logistics getting to Villa D'Este in Tivoli from Rome? Did you & your family take the train or bus? Would you mind explaining how you made the trip there & back? Many thanks!

isabel

We did Villa D'Este as a day trip last summer. There are some very detailed instructions on this site. If you search you'll find some of them. But here's what I put in our trip report of how we did it:

Metro Line B to Pont Mammalo station which is the bus terminal for the Cotral buses. Easy to see where to buy tickets (2€) and we got the return ones at the same time. The display board listed buses to Tivoli about every ten minutes. There were people waiting at the platform but the bus was not full and we got seats. The bus makes a ton of stops, is not air conditioned and the scenery was pretty boring but it was not complicated or confusing at all. The driver announced “Villa Adrianna” but it was not obvious where you would walk to get there. Just after that stop the bus goes up a big hill, and vistas open up on both sides. A couple more stops and then it’s obvious you are at Piazza Garibaldi. There were signs directing you to the Villa d’Este and it was a five minute walk. When we were ready to return we looked on the opposite side of the piazza and saw a bus stop sign and within five minutes a bus came along that said Roma on it.

The rest of the trip report, with some info on the fountains running/not running is here: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rful-weeks.cfm

The Tivoli day trip was our last day so just scroll to the bottom and go back up from there till you get to 'Day 21'.

rineurope

2010, isabel gives you great directions.... for some pictures to match her details, go to this post for a step-by-step pictorial on "getting to Tivoli:"

http://tinyurl.com/tivoli-daytrip

2010

isabel: Thank you so much for your clear, concise explanation of how to get to/back from Villa D'Este! This kind of detailed information is what guidebooks/websites don't always give to the first-time visitor!

Also, I took a peek at your trip report of Rome. Your photos are gorgeous!!! Hopefully, the fountains will be running when we're there in May! Can't wait!

rineurope: Thank you so much for the link! The step-by-step photos support the text well and they help us to familiarize ourselves with the places, process & experience. You've answered all of my questions!