In Rome: Villa Farnesina, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, or Palazzo Barberini?

I'd rank the Villa Farnesina and Palazzo Barberini as roughly comparable but obviously this is inherently subjective. Either would be a good choice. I guess my personal ranking would put the Farnesina first because of the art & frescoes. The Michelin Guide gives ** (recommended) to both the Farnesina and the Barberini.You could do both--but if you had to choose just one, the Farnesina offers both its architecture and the collection of paintings. The biggest draw at the Barberini, when I saw it a few years ago, was the architecture--they were in the process of rearranging the art collection and, when I saw it a few years ago, the art was crowded into a few rooms--note this may have changed since then, you could check into that.

Hmmm, the Galleria Doria Pamphilj I am talking about is near Capitol Hill, I think. And comes fairly highly recommended in several guides.

Thanks for the clarification: you mean the private art collection that is in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, near the Villa Colonna. I have not been there, but it is well known. Any of the three would be a good choice. If I had to pick one it would be the Villa Farnesina for the reasons I gave in my first post; I'd time my visit there so that you could enjoy the noon cannon firing and views from the Janiculum. But (again) I haven't seen the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj art collection and thus can't compare it to the other two.

The Pamphilj is fantastic!! And the family still lives there and you can get ticket to see the "private quarters" if you so wish. Sometimes when you look down at the courtyard below you can see the family dogs running around. The audio tour in English is given by Mr. Pamphilj himself and he works in little stories about his childhood in that big palazzo along with talking about the art. Seeing as the Pamphilj family has strong ties to England (which you will hear about when you take the tour) there is also a tea room downstairs. The museum is gem, and I never get tired of going there.

Thanks so much, Claire. Are you able to compare it to the other two sites, or no? Either way, thanks for the info! Sounds great.

Claire: What kind of art--names of painters, genres, periods--is in the Pamphilj? And what kind of architecture? Ben is trying to compare it to the other two, which he and I know something about.

The Doria Pamphili is high baroque bordering on Roccoco . Inside there are paintings by Caravaggio, Velaquez, a sculpture by Bernini, and many other famous paintings. What makes it neat is that the house appears as how it did when it was still a private residence for the family. I liked Palazzo Barberini too, who says you have to limit yourself? Do all three!

It's not on your list, but what about the Galleria Borghese? If I remember correctly, it has a lot of wonderful works by Bernini and a few by Caravaggio.

Antuany, it's not on my list because it's a MUST SEE. :-). I want to add one of these three to the itinerary, but don't worry...the Galleria Borghese is already there. Looking forward to it very much!

We will be in Rome in a few weeks and these three sites really appeal to me. However, my guide books, Dorling Kindersley and Access Rome, list Pamphilj and Farnesina as being closed to the public at this time. My guide books are a few years old so maybe someone has toured these recently or can share information? Thanks!

According to the Insight Italy guide book, the Galleria Doria Pamphilj Gallery does not label the paintings and that was the reason I skipped it.

The Doria Pamphilj is open, the only thing that has changed is that the entrance way is now on Via del Corso instead of on the piazza di Colleghi Romani.

Well, I think I've narrowed this decision down to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj or the Villa Farnesina. Such a tough call, and I will only have time to do one.

Pamphilj sounds terrific with its audio guide (everyone seems to rave about this), Caravaggio and Raphael paintings, as well as the bust by Bernini.

Still, Villa Farnesina sounds enticing for its history and rooms painted by Raphael. Argh.

Does either site allow video to be taken? Maybe that can be the deciding factor, ha ha.