Nero's Golden House restoration site tour
Rome, Italy
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
One of the most decadent of the Roman emperors’ pleasure palaces, the Golden House of Nero (Domus Aurea) was famous for its lavish interiors—until his successors buried it from view. Discover it in depth on this informative tour, which combines innovative virtual reality (VR) technology with a live guide, enabling you to experience the palace as it was in its glory days. Please bring ID and a warm layer.
- Discover the extraordinary artwork and sumptuous decor of Nero’s lost palace
- Live guide tells fascinating stories about Nero and the fire of Rome
- Virtual reality provides an intense and mesmerizing experience
- See another side of ancient Rome at a site many travelers miss
What's Included
- guided tour
- All Fees and Taxes
- entrance ticket to the Domus Aurea
- Private transportation
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Via delle Terme di Tito, 72, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
You will meet your coordinator at the meeting point at the corner between via delle Terme di Tito and via Nicola salvi, at the park side. Your coordinator is wearing a white and/or blue uniform and holding a blue flag that says "once upon a time tours" to provide you with the entry tickets.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Ticket Redemption Point
Via delle Terme di Tito, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Itinerary
1
Domus Aurea
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- The controlled atmosphere inside means that the temperature is always around 10 decrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), with 100% humidity - you're strongly advised to take a coat, jacket or pullover with you at any time of the year!
- it's required to stay at the entrance with the reservation code we will send you, 30 minutes before the start time or you will loose your visit
- IT IS MANDATORY PROVIDE US WITH FIRST AND LAST NAME OF ALL PARTICIPANTS. IF NOT THE GUARD AT THE ENTRANCE CAN DECIDE TO REFUSE YOUR ENTRY TICKET.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 22 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.6
based on 82 reviews
Jason_P, Apr 2026
This was an amazing tour. You don't even realize all of this is here and our guide was extremely nice and passionate during this tour. It was really cool to see what it all looked like way back when.
christopher_c, Jul 2025
Not the best information given and very confusing for me as they were not the best organized and informed
Edgard_D, Apr 2024
Especially relevant was the experience with the virtual reality glasses "what it was really like in the time of Nero
Jacqueline_R, Apr 2024
Excellent tour. Working through viator and paying their premium was the only way we could get tickets, as the official ticket website was sold out. Tour provider was very helpful in sending us tickets via Whats App when we had some minor problems and emailed her.
Dana_T, Dec 2023
This was a great tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. The VR was a really cool addition. Would recommend!
Mike_w, Nov 2023
Omg I’ve been wanting to do this tour for years but each time I come to Rome it’s been booked out
Finally did it and I can honestly say it was even better than I had expected.
Absolutely amazing and the guide was fabulous
Lisa_B, Nov 2023
A hugely interesting tour. The guide clearly loved the subject matter and this enthusiasm was infectious!
Jacomina_N, Oct 2023
The Domus Aurea is a unique site and the archeologist who did the tour was very good in explaining what we saw
Paul_O, Oct 2023
We received our confirmation but never received the tickets. We emailed and stated that the tickets were not received. We proceeded to go to the meeting place on our confirmation email. We arrived a half hour early and waited at least 20 minutes past the
time we were to meet. Sadly, we never found our guide. We were very disappointed and surprised as we’ve booked many trips throughout Europe with Viator without issues. We will rethink booking with Viator in the future.
Thomas_M, Oct 2023
This tour was incredible. This was the first place we went in Rome and even after our tours of the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill is still our favourite.
The guide who led the tour was an art historian (didn’t recall her name I’m afraid) who knew so much about the site and the related history. She also gave us a lot of detail about the Egyptian connections of the site which is the current temporary exhibition.
The Domus Aurea is an incredibly preserved ruin, and helped inspire renaissance artists with its well preserved Roman wall decorations etc. The site is still being actively restored so even if you have been before there may be more to see!
Finally, the VR part of the experience was excellent and really helped to visualise the site as it was.
Overall an excellent experience!!
DamonC_T, Sep 2023
The tour subject was great but beware the poor description of the meeting place.
It said ' entrance to the park' should have BETTER described the hidden entrance to Nero's golden house. Worse still the local company as your agent is unknown and we were turned away 3x until we insisted the reception check our names from an 1115 am tour .....phew
Jacob_N, Sep 2023
I would give 0 stars if possible. The tour organizer never sent us our tickets, and never showed up at the meeting point. We could not do the tour because of this. This tour also sells out, so no other tickets were available at the door. I am extremely disappointed by the lack of response from the tour organizer - how is it possible that someone can offer a tour on a Sunday and have their offices closed with literally no other point of contact? I am not sure how a business could operate like that; Ridiculous. Also, the fact that Viator was 1. Next to impossible to get ahold of, and 2. Viator was not willing to provide any compensation or path forward on the situation besides waiting at least 24 hours for a response from the tour organizer. I am disgusted and disappointed by the whole experience, and will never book with Viator again. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy.
Manuel_M, Sep 2023
Domus Aurea is something I never saw before. The magic of seeing the Roman frescoes and mosaics with my own eyes and the virtual reality show displaying the original state of Domus Aurea was mind blowing. I tell everyone I know to get there. I only took one star of because the offering on Viator is about twice as expensive as when booked directly on the site of Domus Aurea. I figured this out one day to late
Kelley_B, Sep 2023
This place was really interesting and thoroughly enjoyed it! The experience ended with a virtual reality presentation that was amazing and provided a glimpse of how spectacular this house was when it was new. Our guide was insightful and informative.
I do need to mention that we had a very difficult time finding this place. We finally arrived 15 minutes early. We tried to enter and the workers in the lobby were nasty and rude.
Nicholas_b, Sep 2023
The ruins were amazing. The program was very informative. There is fantastic history down there. The operation side was not great. Ticket/voucher delivery awkward. The tour guide was lovely but spoke broken English. The on site staff / security were borderline terrible.. a combination of unhelpful and unnecessarily rude to some of the guests. Overall it was a very important site worthy of a visit but could have taken less time and been a little easier.
Lisa_T, Aug 2023
First off, Elisabetta Barbetto, who was troubleshooting Viator issues with me, is a kind and effective professional. The museum itself is a must-see; a gem of ancient and virtual reality. Viator is a huge pain as a tour purveyor; I was caught in a loop of "click here for your tickets," to a PDF of "THIS IS NOT YOUR ENTRY TICKET" over and over again, until Elisabetta helped me troubleshoot (uninstall Viator app in order to access the PDF I received by email). What a mess. Better to contract with a single soup-to-nuts entity like AirBNB Experiences or LivTours (wonderful customer service). Viator has the largest range of easily-bookable tours, but this experience was too stressful to make it worth it.
Caroline_T, Aug 2023
The operator did not send us the tickets for this tour - just kept resending a booking confirmation that was not valid for entry. After several phone calls the ticket was sent to us 30 minutes after the tour had started. Extremely unhelpful and refused to refund us. Completely rip off. Avoid!
Response from Host, Aug 2023
well, after the 50 minutes spet at the phone with you trying to help you and after send you the ticket on whatsapp together with the screenshot of the ticket we sent you 1 week before the tour (that you never read)....I was expecting a different review....
As already told you by me and by the Viator cuatomer service the entry ticket has been successfully sent but if you have the Viator or Tripadvisor app on your phone you need to open there the messages the tour compan sent to you to download the correct PDF document. You made confusion between the booking confirmation and the entry ticket PDF.
Vladimir_F, Aug 2023
It was a very unique historical building! It was very interesting to learn that part of Italian history!..
Scott_E, Jun 2023
The guide was very informative and genuinely loved relaying his experience and knowledge. The tour included seeing some extraordinary artifacts, and then ended with an incredible VR experience that really brought Nero's house alive. Fantastic!
Benjamin_S, May 2023
Super impressive experience. We had walked through that park on previous trips and had no idea Domus Aurea was there. Great time based tour through the restored areas. Our guide did a wonderful job of painting the picture and giving us the background. The virtual reality experience really added so much to things - an amazing recreation of what the Domus would have looked like in its full glory.
azarto, Apr 2023
VR was good, but headsets need to be disinfected after each use! Mine smelled. Guide was very knowledgeable, but too soft spoken.
Brittany_W, Apr 2023
This experience was such a gem! My family of 6 (4 kids ages 7-14 and 2 adults) really enjoyed exploring this site. My kids loved the adventure of it, going underground and the VR portion really brought the ruins to life for us. Our guide did a great job of helping us to imagine and orient us to how it would have looked in its prime. Definitely a highlight of our 10 day trip! I highly recommend this experience if you can fit it into your schedule since they are only open Friday- Sunday.
Merle_B, Jan 2023
Amazing to see what has survived underground for 2000 years and hear the story of tge palace. The VR visualisation although brief was excellent.
Emilio_W, Nov 2022
Very historically insightful. Our spsnish speaking guide was very knowledgeable and helpful. An experience that can’t be missed if you want to understand the crazy life and death of emperor Nero.
Matthew_B, Oct 2022
This was the third time I visited the Domus Aurea and it was the best yet. Our guide was fantastic. She was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and answered all my questions.
Edward_S, Oct 2022
It is a great tour but they should use an audio system . The guides could have been louder. But this is a tour that should be high on your list
LAURA_C, Sep 2022
I could not post pics because we never got in . ARRIVED at 10:45 for 11:00 tour and told our tickets were not acceptable. After explaining and showing our tickets. The staff would just repeat it able to accommodate.
Response from Host, Sep 2022
Dear Mrs Cavicchi,
I think that you shown your booking onfirmation at the entrance and not the ticket. That's why the staff didn't accept it.
As written on your booking confirmatiion "this is not your entry ticket: the ticket will be delivered to the customer few days prior the visit".
Upon checking your booking, made for last september 4th at 11am, the ticket has been successfully delivered to your email address 20 days prior your visit.
I am sorry you could not visit the Domus Aurea. Next time remind that we are at our customer disposal in case of problem. You could have to call us and we would have been happy to resend your ticket!
Richard_T, Sep 2022
Voucher refused at entrance. Never got in. Stood in the rain - never got in. Wasted effort & money. Disappointed
Response from Host, Sep 2022
Dear Mr Topp,
as already replied to Mrs Cavicchi who booked together with you I think that you shown your booking onfirmation at the entrance and not the ticket. That's why the staff didn't accept it.
As written on your booking confirmatiion "this is not your entry ticket: the ticket will be delivered to the customer few days prior the visit".
Upon checking your booking, made for last september 4th at 11am, the ticket has been successfully delivered to your email address 20 days prior your visit.
I am sorry you could not visit the Domus Aurea. Next time remind that we are at our customer disposal in case of problem. You could have to call us and we would have been happy to resend your ticket!
janet_r, May 2022
My husband and I were both freezing cold. Thank goodness for our Viator guide who was wonderfully informative pre entry.
For starters, Viator sent me an email with a link to downloading our tix. We could not do that. Each time i hit the button the same page appeared with our reservation information….but in RED saying “ THIS IS NOT YOUR TICKET.” At the Domus Aurea meeting site our guide was not able to find our names on her list of paid visitors. Fortunately, she just ignored that glitch.
The Domus Aurea tours guide had such a heavy accent, and pronounced so many words incorrectly that we were enormously frustrated as we did not understand what he was saying during the entire tour! “PROBABABLY….” He also had his back to the group frequently as he talked. The special video piece…a virtual tour was diminished because the cleansing spray fogged the lenses! And, it was freezing. I could not wait to get it over with.. My husband felt the same.
This was my THIRD visit to the Domus Aurea. My 1st was enormously exciting. It was not long after if was 1st opened. My second was after the 2006 flood and we had to wear protective helmets…there was scaffolding in many areas but that did not interfere with the tour.
After my 1st tour I was so blown away I wanted friends with whom I was traveling to see it. I had the same feeling this 3rd time. 1st time was with my now deceased husband. 2nd time just me with friends. 3rd time 5/8/2022 with my new husband!
Never again!
However, the Viator guide gave the group a good bit of info before the Domus aurea guide took over.
Response from Host, May 2022
I am sorry you didn't like your experience at the Domus Aurea even if is one of the much appreciated in Rome.
The first email you got from Viator with the ticket that says "this is not your ticket" is only the booking confirmation and it also says, in the section named "before to go" that "you will receive your entrance ticket few days prior the visit, please check your email account".
The guide doesnn't have a list of travellers so I think you asked to a meeting point of another tour company (that's why she didn't find you on her list). We don't use any list. We just forward the entrance ticket to our customers and that's what it's required to show at the entrance.
This tour has only one guide and Viator dosn't provide any additional guide.
Viator is a marketplace where different tour companies sell their tours.
All tour guides at the domus aurea are highly selected and not all tour guides become guides at the Domus Aurea. By the way, I will check once more their operate.
Regards
Tom_P, Feb 2022
It was ok but I would only go if you have seen most of the sights in Rome. The directions to the place are pretty poor. The place is effectively in the park by the coliseum. The tour had some cool views by the tour guide was nice but slightly uninspiring. Overall not really worth the money. We’re also issued tickets for the wrong date.
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per person-You will not receive a refund if you cancel.
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