Tivoli or Borghese
 

I have one free morning in Rome and trying to decide between visiting Tivoli or Galeria Borghese. Which one should I choose?

Tivoli is really a whole day trip as you need to do both Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa) and Villa d'Este. Tivoli itself is a disappointing town.

Go to the Galleria Borghese - you will not regret it.

Let's do some math. Presuming you are coming from Rome and that you are planning to visit Villa d'Este in Tivoli,

my recent trip to Tivoli took about 110min one way from the Pantheon area using the city bus, metro, and the Cotral bus from Ponte Mammolo. I made all connections with little layover between each leg.

Villa d'Este takes about 2 hrs to visit including the Villa itself.

The Villa opens at 8:30, but the Fontana della Civetta starts at 10:00 http://www.villadestetivoli.info/infoe.htm.

Put in another 110min to come back to Rome, you get something like this using optimistic assumptions,

6:40 leave Rome
8:30 arrive at Tivoli
10:30 done with Villa d'Este
12:20 back Rome

Alternatively, you can do something like: http://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Had...d511-2390GRET7. If you read people's postings there, you realize that you have about 1.5hrs to do both, or even less if the traffic is bad.

You can easily get a BUS tour that goes to Tivoli and the Hadrian thing (which I found rather boring but that's subjective). The fountain complex is definitely worth the trip IMO; the town is just, well, the town. The organized tour means you do not have to wait on public transport of course

I assume when you say the Borghese you mean the museum...particularly if you like sculpture and faux marble the place is not to be missed...obviously easier to get to than Tivoli....you do not say that you have an interest in one MORE THAN the other so cannot say which one is a "must see" since I enjoyed them BOTH.

different venues, but I would definetlly
pick Borghese - beautiful art and setting.

Hard to compare the two but I will say that visiting the Galleria Borghese was one of the most unexpected highlights of our trip to Italy. After seeing the Uffizi in Florence, the Vatican museum, and hordes of churches, etc...., my husband and I 100% agreed that the Borghese Gallery was our favorite. Partly because it was a beautiful museum in a beautiful setting and the crowds were controlled (you book a 2 hour window for your visit) but mostly because we were in absolute awe of the skill of Bernini on his sculptures (esp Apollo chasing Daphne). I would not normally consider myself a big fan of sculpture but I was amazed by his work and still think about it to this day....

As someone who loves sculpture I would visit the Borghese and hopefully find time to enjoy the Borghese Gardens also. But not knowing what interest you have it is impossible to say what you should do, Simone. With just a free morning it would certainly be easier for you to stay in Rome. I hope you will be happy with your decision and your visit to Rome.

I haven't been to Tivoli so cannot offer insight on that. I can tell you that I visited the Borghese Gallery and the Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings are fabulous. Following entry is from my 2006 trip report:

...We arrived at the Borghese and the beautiful parkland. The walkway to the museum is lined with ancient statuary with missing limbs and such. These old, static subjects just don’t hold my attention. I’m only mildly interested in them from an historical perspective; as art, they just do not move me. I knew what lay ahead and was very eager to see the works of Bernini and Caravaggio. We picked up our tickets, checked our handbags and retrieved the recorded walking tour. I thought it strange that handbags had to be checked (along with cameras) but that you kept your coats; they give you a small, clear bag for your wallet). We were right on time and entered the museum. The palazzo is over-the-top ornate and full of statues, bas reliefs, frescos, paintings, large and small bronzes and I’m sure much more but with a two hour time limit you just can’t attempt to see it all. The sculptures by Bernini are simply, sublime. It is difficult to image the beauty he bought out of the marble; how real, how alive his figures are. Persephone, with Pluto’s strong hand pressing into her thigh and tears streaking down her cheek; Daphne, with laurel leaves of seemingly transparent marble sprouting from her fingertips and the artists interpretation of Apollo Belvedere in futile pursuit; and David, his mouth set in determination at that moment he begins the spinning motion to release the force within him. Sublime.
To reach the pinacoteca, there is a long flight of stairs, many stairs. I’m not sure if this gallery is handicapped accessible. I did see a very small elevator but it would not be able to hold a wheelchair. There are many very fine paintings and we made sure to take a really good look at the Caravaggio’s as we had another Context Tour that very afternoon, the Caravaggio Seminar...

I hope you have a great time in Rome and that you post a trip report when you return.
Margaret

After Villa Borghese descend the gardens until you arrive at Piazza del Popolo. Visit the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo and look for the Cerasi Chapel where you will find two magnificent Caravaggio. A real treat. There is much other art of note but the Caravaggio is frankly in a different league. See http://www.sacred-destinations.com/i...ria-del-popolo

I interested in both, but due to lack of time I think I'll visit Borghese and will see Tivoli in my next trip.
Thanks for sharing yr experiences.

Sorry, I mean I'm interested in both etc etc

Wise decision for this trip, but let me just add that the negative remarks on Tivoli town on this thread can only be due to a lack of knowledge. Tivoli town is of of the most amazing sights for anyone interested in how the ancient Roman empire developed into medieval Italy - the transformation of ancient public buildings into palazzi and churches that preserve more than just a few traces of their ancient predecessors is hardly anywhere as fascinating as here. So when you go there on your next trip, try to get a knowledgeable guidebook rather than rely on those really strange comments on this thread, and definitely add the town as a third sight to Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este.

Hello Simone, our Fodorite by the name of "thefengs", think I got that name correctly, just posted on their thread that they just visited Villa d'Este and that the fountains were not working. The reason is unknown, I even checked on Google and there was nothing that I could find regarding this subject. So was it just for the day that they visited or for a longer time? Perhaps franco can shed some light on this subject.

I am also interested in any info on the fountains not running. We will be there in mid July and were planning a day in Tivoli. I also had heard the town itself was interesting (although there is less info on it than many other places in Italy in guidebooks). But if no fountains I'm not sure it's worth going.

Actually, I didn't know anything about problems at the Villa d'Este, but it was easy enough to find out - you need to check the "news" section on their official website, www.villadestetivoli.info, but - as customary in Italy - the Italian version, which is way more complete than the English translation. They thoroughly inform you whenever the fountains are out of order, which was twice the case over the last 1.5 years: on April 28th, 2009, and on January 8th, 2010, due to meteorological conditions. Not much reason to worry, though.

Franco I have visited Tivoli on three occasions - once by myself and twice with friends taking them to see Vilia Adriana and Villa d'Este. I frankly was none too impressed by the town despite being aware of the history.

nochblad - I'm with franco. After we'd seen the villa d'este we didn't have much time in Tivoli itself, but what we saw we liked a lot. like many places, not just in Italy, you really need to stay there to get the best out of it.

Simone - another possible day trip from Rome is Orvieto, which is dead easy - train from Termini, then the funicular and bus up to the old town and the glorious cathedral.

if you are only in Rome for a few days, you probably won't want to do a day trip; if you have a week or so, it can be nice to get out of the city.

Here is the thread from thefengs, they visited the Villa d'Este this May when the fountains were not running. For anyone wanting to go to Tivoli if the fountains are important to you and they possibly are I would call before visiting.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ste-tivoli.cfm

How strange! When the fountains were not working on April 28th, 2009, they even charged a special - symbolical - entrance fee of just 1 Euro... and now, they don't announce anything on their website, and charge normal fees?

Don't the fountains depend on rainfall and water levels? It's definitely NOT worth going to Tivoli when they aren't working.