Castel Gandolfo: Papal Apartments and Secret Garden Entry Ticket

Rome, Italy

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2 hours (approx.)

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Overview

The Pontifical Villa at Castel Gandolfo was used as the pope’s summer residence for centuries and closed to the public, but now you can access these sumptuous private gardens when you pre-book your tickets. Stroll through the vast park overlooking Lake Albano and admire the ancient ruins of Emperor Domitian’s residence and see even more if you upgrade to include entrance to the astronomical domes.

Enter the Pontifical Villa to admire the gardens, long closed to the public
Views over Lake Albano and the Roman ruins of Domitian’s villa
Upgrade to include entrance to the astronomical domes
Set your own pace to explore the former papal residence

What's Included

Secret Garden entry ticket
Papal Apartments entry ticket
Entrance ticket to the Astronomical Domes (if option selected)

Food and Drinks
Guided tour
Transportation to Castel Gandolfo
Audioguide

Meeting and Pickup

Departure Point

Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, Piazza della Liberta, 00040 Castel Gandolfo Italy

Ticket Redemption Point

Piazza della Libertà, 12, 00073 Castel Gandolfo RM, Italy

What To Expect

Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Palazzo Pontificio

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate

Head to the ticketing desk inside the Villa, after passing the security check located in Piazza della Libertà 12- Castel Gandolfo.
No need to print the tickets: just show the tickets the Touristation Staff will send by email or whatsapp/imessage
ID required
Please note that the option with the visit of the Astronomical Domes of the Papal Palace is not suitable for children under 7 years old, for safety reasons.

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.2

based on 36 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Summer Palace

Debbie_T, Apr 2026

Very interesting self-guided tour. And the small town itself is lovely and a short train ride from Rome. Well worth the visit.

Castel Gandolfo

Antonio_P, Nov 2025

Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence of the popes since many years. It has beautiful gardens and easily reachable by train from Roma Termini

Response from Host, Nov 2025

Dear Antonio, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. At Touristation, customer satisfaction is our top priority, and we deeply value your constructive feedback as it helps us improve our services. We look forward to assist you again in the future. Best regards, Touristation Customer Service

Fun with the Popes

Okezie_N, Jul 2025

I loved this self-paced tour of Castel Gandolfo and the Papal Palace. It was so historical and fun. I learned a lot about the popes as well as the astronomical tower/telescope.

Response from Host, Aug 2025

Dear Customer , Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us! We are delighted to hear that you had a positive experience, and we truly look forward to welcome you back in the future. Best regards, Touristation Customer Service

Beautiful experience

Lana_M, Jun 2025

This is a very beautiful place in a spectacular landscape. The palace is full of amazing art and historical pieces. It is mostly silent which lends to the feeling like you must whisper. The guards outside were very friendly and helpful to my mother who walks with a cane and gave her a ride in the golf cart to the secret garden.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Dear Lana, Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us! We are delighted to hear that you had a positive experience, and we truly look forward to welcome you back in the future. Best regards, Touristation Customer Service

Best Of The Best

Paul_L, Jun 2025

Excellent service from start to finish. Andrea knew so much of the history and explained it in a way that wasn't like sitting in a classroom but came alive. His choices of locations to visit were the "best of the best"! He was also extremely flexible! It simply couldn't have been better.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Dear Paul, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. At Touristation, customer satisfaction is our top priority, and we deeply value your constructive feedback as it helps us improve our services. We look forward to assist you again in the future. Best regards, Touristation Customer Service

Very peaceful and very...

Joseph_A, May 2025

Very peaceful and very clean. Good for family and friends. Highly recommended to others. We will be back

Response from Host, May 2025

Dear Joseph, Thank you so much for your kind review! We are thrilled to hear that your experience touring Rome with Touristation was both fun and inspiring. Your feedback means a lot to us! We look forward to welcoming you back soon for another unforgettable experience! Kind regards, Touristation Customer Service

Historical and Intimate.

AnaMaria_R, Oct 2024

Although we had to make our own travel arrangements from Rome to Castel Gandolfo, the train ride was interesting. On arrival, we took the shuttle, which brought us directly to the entrance. The Papal apartments are quite interesting and historical, specially for believers. Unfortunately, we had rain and couldn't visit the gardens, which were not included and also the entrance price was quite high. The driver of the shuttle coming back was so kind and gave us a tour of the town and its particular residents.

Response from Host, Dec 2024

Dear AnaMaria, Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us! We are delighted to hear that you had a positive experience, and we truly look forward to welcome you back in the future. Best regards, Touristation Customer Service

So I have very bad experience with Viator

phuong_a, Sep 2024

I not miss the tour, only because I think that tour in Vatican in Rome. I have tour in St Peter from 9:AM to 11:30 AM and tour Vatican museum from 4:30 pm. I explain to Viator that this tour far from Rome. I cannot make it and request refund. Because I booked many other tours from Viator. But Viator denied. That not fair.

Castel Gandolfo Day Trip

S_K, Aug 2024

A very interesting tour of the Papal summer home and gardens in Castel Gandolfo. We had a delightful tour guide and driver, Sebastiano, who picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel at the airport. There were beautiful views of Lake Albano and Nemi and the Appian Way during our day trip. We had a wonderful lunch at Arte E Vino steps from the Pope's summer home in town. An overall delightful day trip.

Amazing Summer Palace

Allan_L, Jun 2024

The garden and they apartment was amazing and the audio commentary was fair The directions from Viator on how and where to redeem the ticket was totally inept We had to ask several people on how to access the tor ticket

Spurious address given to...

Owen_B, Oct 2022

Spurious address given to meet up with guide. Nobody showed. Had to straighten out with pontifical office on our own #-$@((&

Nice tour

Anonymous, Jun 2022

Very much enjoyed the palace you. The walking tour too long because we had to go as a large group. We kept stopping and waiting for others to catch up. Do the guided tour on the shuttle.

okay

reem_a, May 2022

nothing special. we enjoyed the garden... but you could not walk in it... its in a small bus. villa was all filled with popes pictures and their stories.

The indications were only...

Martin_L, Oct 2025

The indications were not very clear during the visits. What directions? what time allocated for the visit? Customer Service is not up to the task of guiding us

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Response from Host, Oct 2025

Cher Martin, Nous vous remercions sincèrement d’avoir pris le temps de partager votre expérience avec nous. Nous sommes désolés d’apprendre que notre service n’a pas répondu à vos attentes et souhaitons profiter de cette occasion pour clarifier certains points. Chez Touristation, la satisfaction de nos clients est notre priorité absolue et nous apprécions grandement les retours constructifs, qui nous aident à améliorer continuellement nos services. Nous restons toujours à votre disposition pour toute assistance. Si vous avez d’autres questions ou souhaitez nous fournir davantage de détails, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter par e-mail à l’adresse info@touristation.it . Nous apprécions votre retour et espérons avoir l’opportunité de mieux vous servir à l’avenir. Cordialement, Service Clientèle Touristation

Fascino della storia

barbara_f, Jul 2024

Sentirsi partecipi di storia, attraversare i secoli immersi nella cultura. Una esperienza da ripetere

COSTI ECCESSIVI

Marialisa_S, May 2024

il posto è bello : trovo eccessive le spese di commissione se avessi acquistato direttamente in loco avrei pagato 48,00 euro contro 88,00

Una bella giornata

Anna_M, Apr 2023

È stata una giornata speciale, visitare Castel Gandolfo è stato molto interessante tornare indietro nel tempo, bellissima la passeggiata nei giardini, da consigliare a tutti

Likely to Sell Out