Villa Borghese. Rome.

Few days before leaving Italy I was wondering what could be the place where I would say goodbye to this beautiful country. Rome gave me the best goodbye present I could expect, a breath of fresh air in the middle of a busy city – Villa Borghese. Later I have found out that a park has a shape of a heart. So I could say Rome has opened its heart for me.

Villa Borghese has a perfect location and can be easily reached by public transport. I am still surprised why I have never heard about this enjoyable space before. As soon as you enter a huge park you could feel an atmosphere of peace and relaxation all around.

What makes Villa Borghese special? Lots of greenery and flowers, beautiful fountains and a lake with an ancient temple in the center, hippodrome , plenty of paths to walk, museums, sculptures, theaters, water clock and a secret garden full of the hugest oranges and lemons I have ever seen are just the part of the things you can see there!

Villa Borghese offers a range activities for every age and pocket. Children enjoy their rides around the park on the little tram and having a great time in the zoo and little playground just inside the park, young people hire bikes or roller blades to explore surroundings, couples rent boat to swim in the lovely little lake located in the middle of the park, elderly take long romantic walks, feed ducks and geese, lovers of Arts explore museums and  gallery, talented musicians entertain passers and everyone enjoys their time.

Moreover in villa you could find Cinema dei Piccoli, which is included in the Guinness book of Records as the smallest picture house in the world. It screens all genres an hosts film related events. Not to get lost or miss something there are huge maps all around the park, that display all places of interest (at around 90). But as I hate maps I decided to explore a park on my own and didn’t regret that.

As villa is located on the height, visitors can enjoy one of the most picturesque view of Rome from Pincian Hill. If you have a romantic souls it is a perfect place to see sunrises or sunsets.

An advice, if you plan to visit Villa Borghese gallery purchase your tickets in advance not to wait in the queue. Note, that gallery is closed on Mondays. Even without visiting a gallery you could spend a day walking the paths of extensive villa.

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Admission to the park is free.

How to get there?

Villa is located near the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo. There are 9 entries to the park. Main ones are at the Piazzale Flaminio, near Piaza del Popolo and the Porta Pinciana.

By bus: take bus No 910 from termini to Borghese Gallery. Other buses that go there 52, 53, 217, 920

By metro: to Spagna metro stop, then follow the signs, it will take around 10-15 min walking. Or station Flamio, then again around 10-15 min by walk.