Lilit

Hello Experts - I need your suggestion please! My husband and I are planning to visit Tivoli Villas on May 17, 2010.
Should I hire a tour guide (in this case Stefano Rome Tours, who is charging 300 Euros (I am not sure if I can find others to split the cost, they take up to 8 people) or we can get there on our own?
Cost of the tour, which takes 6 hours seems too pricy...
Would it be possible to get there using public transport?

Thanks!!!

laurie_ann

Here's a link to Rick Steves website which indicates it is easy. http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...aly/tivoli.htm

SusanP

In case you prefer a tour, I took a tour with Vastours for 53E which included both Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este/Tivoli. I didn't think that was a bad price. We didn't see everything at Hadrian's Villa, but I was happy with the amount we saw, and then we went on to Tivoli and the gardens and had time to wander around there on our own. (They did have a cameo stop at the end, but it was optional and there was no pressure to go to that. Since I was finished with the gardens, I decided to go and actually thought it was interesting. There was absolutely no pressure to buy anything.)

Jean

We've gone on a tour to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa like the one SusanP took, and we've gone to both on our own using public trans during other trips. If you want to see both in one day, the tour makes it simple. I don't remember the tour company we used, but we signed up for it at the American Express office which is located near the Spanish Steps.

viking

Combining the villas is the trick, and Hadrian's out of the way villa is the focus for me. Is it hard to find where to get off the shuttle at Villa Hadriana - sometimes it isn't possble to ask the driver? Do you need to have tix already from town for the return trip, or can you buy onboard?

For the daring, there is some alternative transpo advice at http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...voli-BR-1.html There seem to be catch22's though:

They suggests you can simplify the 2 bus complication (with a bit more walking) by using the cotral line for both segments. The key is finding the cotral stop nearest V. H. which means stopping inbound to Tivoli so you can ask the driver. From there you can either return to the cotral stop (but again how do you get tix - onboard?) or try to locate the closer shuttle stop for Tivoli.

On a google map, you can see a shortcut that put Hadrian's Villa in walking distance to town, but probably only workable in reverse direction because Tivoli is steeply uphill (the bus road is longer to make the hill more gradual). On the opposite (east) side of Tivoli appears to be it's train station, which might be useful. Close to town, but you must cross a bridge and a cliff. At least with a train you don't wonder where it stops and where to get tickets.

Lilit

Thank you so much for helpful tips.
I will book it with Vastours since we only have a day in Rome and we want to squeeze in Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este in Tivoli.
I knew I could count on you!

kybourbon

Walter wrote a detailed thread on getting to Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...directions.cfm

charnees

You are doing Rome, and Tivoli, in one day? Faster than the speed of light!

viking

VaVoom! With Walters thread courtesy of kybourbon, I can now make sense of cotral.it site which can handhold you thru the most elegant and detailed routing. Easy to include both Villa's with no funny backtracking or changing of bus companies - all tix bought at once. All the online maps of literally every footstep you take - see their interactive journey planner ("find route"). Walter says the Mammalo tix office opens at 8:30, and best to anticipate your onward times. First 2 legs will be using the rare busses labeled PRENESTINA rather than the usual roma-tivoli busses to get easy access to Villa Adriana... then can take regular bus from Villa D'este

viking

>>>cotral.it

kybourbon

viking - Walter's post was from several years ago so be sure to check times for buses as they may have changed a bit.

viking

Kybourbon, yes with the site I gave you would not assume a any detail for time or even routing from Walter. It's one of those leading edge sites that literally tells you where to walk and everything. But I do cross check the chosen route with their (confusing) pdf charts and (excellant) maps so I can tell what stop precedes the one I want to leave at, etc. For endpoints, use the ponte mammalo one with mention of line B. Use the specific Villa Adriana stop at the end of the list (not the generic one!), and they use a weird name for the ultimate Tivoli stop which you better confirm by clicking on their map.