Rome: Borghese Gallery & Gardens Small Group Guided Tour
Recommended by 90% of travelers
Rome, Italy
- 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get more out of Rome's storied Borghese Gallery and Gardens when you explore as part of a guided, small-group walking tour. Admission tickets are included in the tour cost, so you guarantee your entry to the often sold-out attraction. Once inside, see works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian, and other Italian masters, and then stroll through the tranquil gardens for top-notch city views.
- Check off two top Rome attractions: the Borghese Gallery and Gardens
- Prebooked admission tickets help make logistics seamless
- A small-group tour offers individual attention and a flexible pace
- rovided headsets ensure you can hear your guide's every word
What's Included
- Entry ticket to the Borghese Gallery
- Small group of no more than 15 people
- Borghese Gallery Guided Tour
- Headsets so you can always hear your guide
- Expert, English-speaking tour guide
- Villa Borghese Gardens Visit
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Piazzale del Museo Borghese, 00197 Roma RM, Italy
Meet your guide in Piazzale del Museo Borghese, in front of the Borghese Gallery Main Entrance. (Villa Borghese entrance on via Pinciana)
End point
- Piazza del Popolo, Roma RM, Italy
The Tour ends at the Pincio Terrace overlooking Piazza del Popolo. From there it is extremely quick and easy to reach Piazza del Popolo as well as the adjacent Metro stop (5 min walk), but it does require descending a long flight of steps.
Itinerary
At the appointed time, meet your guide and group outside the Borghese Gallery, and head right in with your prebooked, skip-the-line tickets.
Follow your guide into the popular Rome museum to discover the wealth of artworks inside. As well as seeing masterpieces such as Canova’s "Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix" and Bernini’s "Apollo and Daphne," you can hear their stories. With your provided audio headset, catch all the commentary clearly as you explore the bustling museum.
After learning about the artists represented in the Borghese Gallery, head outside to the now-public gardens, which were once part of Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s private estate.
As you explore, discover the stories behind the sculptures, fountains, and greenery that abounds, and admire views of Rome.
Your tour ends at the Pincio Terrace overlooking Piazza del Popolo
Follow your guide into the popular Rome museum to discover the wealth of artworks inside. As well as seeing masterpieces such as Canova’s "Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix" and Bernini’s "Apollo and Daphne," you can hear their stories. With your provided audio headset, catch all the commentary clearly as you explore the bustling museum.
After learning about the artists represented in the Borghese Gallery, head outside to the now-public gardens, which were once part of Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s private estate.
As you explore, discover the stories behind the sculptures, fountains, and greenery that abounds, and admire views of Rome.
Your tour ends at the Pincio Terrace overlooking Piazza del Popolo
1
Galleria Borghese
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Villa Borghese Gardens
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- All personal belongings must be left on arrival at the reception of the Borghese Gallery
- We regret that we are unable to accommodate pushchairs or strollers on our group tours
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 2,297 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Barbara was knowledgeable, friendly and passionate. The art was amazing, such a gorgeous museum! Highly recommended!
Visiting the Borghese Gallery was an unforgettable experience. The collection is absolutely extraordinary, with incredible works by Bernini, Caravaggio, and many other great masters.
Bernini’s sculptures were one of the highlights for me. It is almost impossible to believe they are carved from marble. The expressions, movement, delicate details, and even the texture of skin and fabric make the figures look alive. Seeing these masterpieces in person is truly breathtaking.
Our guide, Lorenzo, made the experience even more special. He was extremely knowledgeable and explained the history, techniques, and stories behind the artworks with genuine passion. His enthusiasm was contagious, and his warm and engaging personality made the tour both fascinating and enjoyable.
A wonderful experience and an absolute must when visiting Rome. I would highly recommend both the Borghese Gallery and Lorenzo as a guide!
Our guide really packed our two hours inside the gallery together. This was such an amazing museum - don’t miss it!
We had an amazing time on this tour with Salvatore as our guide. He was super knowledgeable and made the tour interesting and one of a kind. Our best guide yet on our visit to Italy. The villa had many beautiful pieces. Our favorites were the Bernini sculptures. Having a guide for this experience was perfect since we learned way more than would be available if we walked around by ourselves. We can’t recommend this enough!
Was amazing! Our guide Frederica i believe was her name was sp helpful and so knowledgeable. The art was unbelievable!
A great introduction to the galleries and gardens. The guide was knowledgeable and navigated us to the key prices, providing background and perspective.
Paula (Pinar) was a brilliant guide, she had much insight and knowledge to share, and she did so very generously, as an art historian. My husband and I have done a number of tours of the galleries and museums of Rome and this was one of the best. To the point where we will never again try and do any of these places without an expert talking us through the lives and times of the characters past. You miss so much no matter what you’ve studied at school.
The Borghese Gallery has so many and varied masterpieces it is a ‘must do’. We recommend this small group tour as exceptional value for money.
The 2 hours of the museum tour was extremely well planned. Without our guide we would not have fully understood the history and significance of it all. Thank you so much Maria
Well worth the money
It was fantastic. Our guide was excellent! She told us information about every single important piece in the gallery, and was very knowledgeable.
We enjoyed an excellent tour with Salvatore, who provided expert insight into the Borghese gallery, along with interesting stories and an introduction to the grounds outside the gallery. With or without a tour, each visitor is limited to two hours inside the gallery, and we were fortunate to have Sal make perfect use of our time by guiding us through the highlight's and pointing out wonderful details. He was informative, entertaining, and very genuine.
The tour guide was incredible. He was very specific and thorough with his explanation. Definitely a must if in Rome!
Fantastic tour!! We are so happy that we booked this tour for our "free day" in Rome. A beautiful art collection in a beautiful place! Tour guide was excellent!!
Very knowledgable tour guide. Francesca gave a lot of information and showed up very energized and passionate for the Galleria Borghese tour.
Overall, the tour was organized well and we got all necessary information in a timely fashion. We will book again with Viator.
Of all the things in Rome, this is the one I recommend the most. If you like art, you have to go to the Borghese Gallery. Sal was an amazing guide - you could tell he knew and really enjoyed all of the works here. It was an amazing tour of an amazing place.
Our guide, Frederica, was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the pieces in the Borghese Gallery. She was enthusiastic and energetic in her descriptions of the art. Highly recommended!!
This was a terrific tour of the masterpieces in the Gallery with Salvatore “Sal.” He provided excellent and enthusiastic insight into the works in the museum. We thoroughly enjoyed it!
The only negative was that the “Gardens” part of the tour was very disappointing because the gardens are not well preserved at all, and we were not in the gardens at all, really, only on the grounds which are nothing much to see.
Salvatore was a wonderful tour guide, he knew which rooms would be crowded at the beginning, so he took us further into the tour first and circled back later when the beginning exhibits had less people. Audio earpieces worked great and Sal was so passionate about the pieces he showed us - we learned things we would not have on our own. Highly recommend.
Frederica is super knowledgeable and a good story-teller. This is a wonderful guided tour of the Borghese Gallery.
The tour did not include the gardens as advertised, but it was still a great experience. We needed the full time to get through the museum. Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate.
This was a wonderful tour of a fabulous house full of amazing paintings and sculpture. It takes about an hour to walk from Piazza del Popolo (closest Metro stop) to Galleria Borghese. You can take a bus. Wish I had realized it was so far. I almost missed my tour. They were completely sold out.
We had a small group which was very nice and our guide, Salvatore did a wonderful job walking us through the Gallery discussing the background and significance of some of the stunning works. I say “some”, only because there is no way to see or linger at every piece of art, in the 2.5hrs the Borghese limits your visit. There is a limit to the number of people allowed in the Gallery, at a time, and the time you can spend in the gallery. An appointment is the bare minimum requirement to enter. On a first visit I would definitely want a tour, just to get a sense of what they have and what you might want to go back and see on your own.
The only difference I noticed from the tours done directly through the gallery, and City Wonders was where we met up (just outside the main entrance), but once inside it all came down to your guide. We were given an earpiece to hear what Sal was telling us, so we could stand up close or further back from the piece, if we wanted a different view/perspective and still hear what he was saying. He was very knowledgeable about the art pieces, the history behind their commissions, the artists, and he had a real appreciation for Bernini, which was evident as he discussed Bernini's sculptures and their beauty. Seeing a Bernini in person is awe inspiring, but having a guide who loves the artist, highlighted the true genius of the sculptures and the complete command Bernini had over marble.
I was ecstatic to learn the Borghese Gallery has 6 Caravaggio’s. Sal presented them in order of their creation pointing out the differences and changes Caravaggio made as he aged. It was the highlight for me and Sal did an amazing job in this room, only heightening my absolute love for Caravaggio. There just simply aren’t words for how much I loved this portion of the tour.
There was also a park tour, following the Gallery, unfortunately part of my group was not feeling well and so we did not continue on for that portion. I did do about a 10 min walk around the park, on my own, and they are quite extensive and very cool on a hot day.
Guide was knowledgeable and very entertaining. He pointed out many interesting things about the priceless pai ntings and the sculptures. Told funny stories about one of the ladies that posed for the artist.
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An amazing collection, and our guide’s expertise and insights added so much to our experience. Would definitely recommend!
The gallery is exceptional , paintings and statues are unique and amazing. The guide was very knowledgeable,
Flavia was a fantastic guide to this museum providing information and an entertaining narrative. The best experience in Rome if you enjoy Bernini and Caravaggio.
Beautiful museum, lovely tour guide. Of course it will be crowded but it’s still manageable and enjoyable. Nice cafe inside.
What a treat to get to explore these amazing art pieces with a guide who grew up in Roma! Sylvia was so passionate about the Borghese gallery -she pointed out special features of the works that we would definitely not have noticed and told us wonderful stories and the history of these treasures. She went above and beyond , taking extra time to show us her favorite places on the grounds and even took photos for her group . My husband and I were thinking she would be a remarkable personal guide to visit the city with!
Great guide and stories to tell. Bernini and Caravaggio and Raphael. Not too crowded with room and time to really enjoy.
The museum was absolutely stunning! Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating. In addition, the visitors are carefully staged so no part of the museum was ever too crowded giving everyone the time to enjoy what they were seeing. This tour also included a visit to the Borghese Gardens; however, this part of the tour was quite disappointing and not worth the time. Perhaps someday it will be worth visiting, but not yet. I would much rather have spent more time inside the museum.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and brought us through a very large museum is plenty of time to see the artworks. We wanted to see. Our guide was very pleasant and attentive to all the guests who she had.
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