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Day trip to Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este from Rome using public transport?

Posted by (California) on

Hello, during our stay in Rome, we want to visit Hadrian’s Villa and Also Villa d’Este as a day trip. Has anyone here done that using public transport? How did it go?

Trying to plan it out and having trouble with the logistics. It seems that both Hadrian’s Villa and so Villa d’Este require a timed entry pass, and we’re having trouble figuring out how to allot time for these, since there are so many unknowns. And we are concerned if we get to a location too early or too late…

Any suggestions for making this work well? (And how did you enjoy these sights? I’m almost wondering if it's just logistically too difficult…) Thanks!

Posted by
23534 posts

We followed the directions in Steves' Rome guidebook. Requires the train and a couple of buses but his directions are good. The Villa dEste can consume a lot of time and seeing both makes for a very full day.

Posted by
11600 posts

Having been to both, I would not try to do both in one day unless you at least use a taxi between them. Hadrian’s Villa benefits from a guided tour, IMO, and is a bit remote from the train station.

Villa d’Este is an amazing estate/garden/palazzo and is walkable from the station. By the time you walk there, tour, and have some lunch or a rest, you may be too tired to tour another place anyway.

Only go if the weather is good. Neither is much fun in the rain.

Posted by
2045 posts

We did this a few years ago and had no problems nor regrets. We took a bus from Rome to Tivoli following Rick’s advice and walked over to tour the Villa. I recall lovely murals in some rooms but it didn’t take too long to complete. As much as I love gardens, it really didn’t take too long to feel we’d had a good visit, which frankly surprised me at the time. We walked a few minutes to catch the bus to Hadrian’s Villa, had a quick lunch at a restaurant just outside the entrance, and spent some hours walking all over the grounds. It is very large. Then bus back to town and back to Rome. We enjoyed our day, didn’t feel rushed or fatigued. This was all before timed entry tickets so our mileage varied. Very enjoyable all the way around. Safe travels.

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