This morning I attempted to buy tickets to the Galleria Borghese, on line, for 7 June 2019. The website www.tosc.it tells me that no tickets are available for the entire month of June(!), and the calendar for purchase does not go beyond June.
Is there something I am missing or not seeing correctly, or is the Borghese actually sold out that far in advance?
I bought tickets a couple of months ago for our visit at the very end of May. So, yes, the Galleria can sell out that far in advance. Your best option, and I defer to the more experienced posters here, is to buy through a tour group.
The gallery limits the number of visitors at any time and they can only stay inside the gallery for two hours.
As one who toured this a few years ago with my wife, I believe it's worth whatever it takes to see Bernini's work inside... We adjusted our family's travel schedule to meet the galleria's ticket availability because I wanted to share the phenomenal works with our shildren.
There is evidence of two possibilities: That the gallery prefers to pre-allocate tickets to tours, and that they don't release all the tickets at once, to frustrate speculative re-sellers (i.e. scalpers). So you should keep trying, at various times of day, before you buy a tour. This is a very difficult ticket to get, especially in high season. I once got a single ticket online two days before, but that was years ago. You cannot depend on that.
You can compare this to U.S. Statue of Liberty "Crown Access" tickets. If you do get the tickets, get there half an hour early for security and the off-to-the-races entry line-up. Also go to the bathroom before entering, although there is one inside.
Last fall they didn't sell tickets for quite awhile because they were installing a special exhibit. I don't recall whether the gallery was closed for the installation period or whether they were just holding off -- maybe some of both. I see on the website that another special exhibit is there now, until early July. This may, in some unknown Italian way, be complicating the ticket-selling process. I can't believe they're sold out all the way through June, all times and all languages.
I'd suggest you keep trying, or look for a tour like this one. I haven't taken it, but the company has a good reputation. There may be others. Even if the tour isn't in English, it will get you inside and you can see what you want, and maybe still get good information from the Italian-speaking guide.
Thanks to all for your valuable inputs and insights. The Borghese is tough to get into through a direct online ticket process. As our trip is coming up in about a month I have booked a tour to get us in and visit the gardens afterwards. This is considerably more expensive but we look forward to being in the presence of such a collection of art - one thing to view it in an art history book, another entirely to stand in front of it (or to the side, etc.).
Thanks,
Michael
FYI, Michael, I don't know about your tour content outdoors, but "The Borghese Gardens" is a multi-square mile public park.
The site doesn't say that all June is sold out, there are tours and tickets available on June 1, 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 19.
Sometimes it seems that tourists want to be scammed by scalpers.
That's so weird, Dario, as when I double checked the site for the OP yesterday - in case they'd made an error -https://www.tosc.it/tickets.html was definitely not showing any tickets/tours available at all in June. Popular as that museum is, I thought that was just a little strange at this point; wonder if they'd had some sort of system glitch? I am seeing the dates you listed as available this morning.
I'd keep an eye on it this morning to see if more dates become available.
I think some of those June tickets were just added.
I'm wanting tickets for July 12 and have been looking at the site every couple of days, so I can buy as soon as they are available.
mdpatric, I hope you get your tickets, have a great trip!
Tim:
The gardens tour lasts about an hour and ends at the Pincio Terrace. So the tour is limited to two hours in the Borghese and another hour in the gardens, finishing at the Pincio Terrace. This is our last day in Rome so it will end with a beautiful view of the Eternal City!
Thank you for your thoughts and observation!
Dario:
Yesterday the website www.tosc.it (ticketone.it) listed "Currently there are no tickets available" for the 7 June date I wanted and just now looking at the site it still says the same.
As I look at the site I see the dates available you list - yesterday those dates were not so listed. However, I am glad for people who wish to visit on those dates that they will be able to order tickets online. But do it soon!
Thank you for your observation!
Laura:
Thank you and you have a great trip as well. Hopefully the online Borghese tickets will be available at the time you wish.
Thanks,
Michael
Have you tried calling? I made a reservation.cation by phone, albeit several months in advance.
Chris:
No, I didn't try calling but that is a good suggestion - a way to get past the computer and talk to a human. Perhaps if I run into this sort of thing again I will call and see what happens.
Thank you for the thought and your suggestion.
Thanks,
Michael
mdpatric
Looks like all of June has available times now!
GOOD LUCK!
