Villa Borghese Gardens

Encompassing early 200 acres of rolling parkland, Villa Borghese is Rome’s verdant heart and everyone’s favorite place for an afternoon walk. The vast gardens are criss-crossed with picturesque paths, where visitors can meander past ancient statues and fountains, sit by a lake or caffè, and take in a film at one of two cinemas. For culture vultures, there is a Shakespearean Globe Theatre with a robust summer schedule, a historic puppet theater, and several world-renowned museums including Galleria Borghese with its enviable collection of Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings. Younger kids enjoy playgrounds, electric train rides, and a kids museum, while children of all ages can get active with skate, bike, and paddleboat rentals.

Many city parks offer green grass, fresh air, and open space (that’s kind of their m.o.), but few include ancient Roman ruins! Villa Borghese is as breathtaking as it is vast, and it’s the ideal place to lounge with a book or get in a quick run to burn off some of those pasta dishes you’ve been savoring. In addition to glorious Roman columns, you can find gorgeous ponds, fountains, and museums here, including the brilliant Galleria Borghese. The park’s just a short walk up from the Spanish Steps.

This is the central park of Rome, “Villa Borghese”, while snowing last Friday. The beautiful landscape with a touch of snow....just amazing!

What a beautiful experience on a warm summer day in Rome at Villa Borghese Park!!

Rome is continuing to be overrun with crowds, but few people know about the Villa Borghese Gardens, a large park just at the top of the Via Veneto. When you want to get away, go there. A little known secret: you can save a lot of uphill walking by ducking behind the Spanish Steps. Enter the Metro station, but don’t catch a train, and take the escalators to the top.

While all the streets below are clogged with tour bus crowds, take the series of escalators from the Piazza de Spagna Metro stop up to the Borghese Gardens. There you’ll find a vast open space, with hardly anybody around. And, once you’re there, you can go for a short boat ride on the picture-perfect lake.

The Villa Borghese gardens and villa are a tranquil respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. In exploring the gardens, prepare to be on your feet for a substantial period of time, as you’ll wander by a boating lake, a museum, and even a zoo. Before you head out, fuel up at Come il Latte, which churns out some of the city’s creamiest, richest scoops in flavors like salted caramel and mascarpone with biscotti. True to its name, bottles of milk line one of the walls.