I have tried to book a tour of the Villa Borghese at many tour companies, but all were filled up. I found a telephone number on the travel forum to call the Villa Borghese directly, but cannot get through, it's always busy. We are going to be in Rome in October for two days, do you have any further suggestions to visit this gallery?
Thank you for any advice.
You don't need a tour company: http://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/en/visita/visit-the-galleria-borghese.
This website should work, click on "Buy Now" to see specific dates. It shows only a few dates for October, presumably because it's so far in the future. You may have to wait awhile till it provides more October dates.
Edit -- Gundersen and I replied together, same website.
Hi Judy,
I hope you make it! Villa Borghese was our favorite museum. Intimate and easy to tour on your own. The gardens are amazing and walk to the end for stunning views of Piazza del Popolo.
Villa Borghese is a jewel and has some amazing art and sculpture in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.
When leaving the museum walk back through the wonderful park to a higher view point of Rome and then to the top of the Spanish Steps. It takes about an hour of easy walking. It shows a wonderful perspective of Rome.
Judy, it may help your research to consider that Villa Borghese often refers to the very large park around the museum. The museum is really the Galleria Borghese. I'm not being pedantic, because it's believable to me that someone would want a tour of the park. Are you aware that regular tickets are for a two-hour entry, and you have to leave after the two hours? It's certainly worth the trouble to book a ticket, with or without a tour. (We went on our own, so I can't help you with finding a guided tour of the art collection.)
If this is an important visit, keep checking their own website for original tickets to the gallery. They may be releasing tickets in waves, to prevent robots from buying up tickets for resale. This attraction is regularly sold-out.
Judy, we bought a nice softcover book from the Borghese bookshop (browsed before our appointed entry time) and used that as our reference for the pieces we were most interested in. It's called "The Galleria Borghese: The Masterpieces" and we've referenced it many times since our visit.
Thank you one and all for your invaluable advice.
I second Kathy's recommendation of the paperback "The Galleria Borghese: The Masterpieces". I obtained a near perfect used copy from an Amazon seller for less than $7 but it's worth much more than that! Thanks for the great idea Kathy.
You're very welcome, Silas! Glad that you found it as useful as we have!
When you book turn off auto translate on chroma and 1/2 way Down in the page on the right select English it changes the population on the order form
If you hold a Roma card you will get a reduced entry price and also be able to wait-list for the gallery. The online tickets can be a nightmare to obtain but a quick phone call to the gallery (when you hold the Roma card) will get to you entry even with short (several day) planning. If you reserve a time slot, be sure to arrive a bit early.
I like to recommend the nearby Capuchin Crypts as another interesting diversion...there are mixed reviews about it but the we found the museum and crypt to be a very interesting contrast to the Borghese. It's a five minute walk away give or take.
For some reason I couldn't get through the 3-D Secure process with my Visa card. It's unclear why because I know my card company participates in the "Verified by Visa" program and I am signed up and the card has cleared the process before in other uses. I think the problem was simply just a slow response from the CC company.
I discovered an easy solution. I chose to use Paypal instead. The very same Visa card is my designated choice in Paypal and the purchase succeeded immediately. Paypal performs the necessary verification.
I called a couple weeks ago for October reservations, and was told they only take them one month in advance. Website still only shows the first week open for booking.
I called back again today and was told they aren't taking reservations past October 5 until the end of September.
We decided to reserve October 6 at 7:00 PM so that we won't have to leave until 10:00 PM.
This is from the official website:
NEW: From July 6th to October 06th every Friday and Saturday evening opening (entry at 7 pm exit at 22)
I was able to book a ticket for later this month, but was having trouble with my Visa card, even after I've notified my bank(s). I used PayPal and it went through fine.