Tivoli Day Trip from Rome: Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este
Rome, Italy
- 6 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Take a day trip from Rome to the charming mountain town of Tivoli and explore two extraordinary villas. Discover the grandeur of Hadrian’s Villa with its peaceful pools and historic baths, brought to life by your guide’s insights. Then, wander through the enchanting terraced gardens and glittering fountains of the 16th-century Villa d’Este, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Tour the mountain town of Tivoli and escape the hustle and bustle of Rome
- Visit ancient villas, including the 2nd-century estate of Emperor Hadrian
- Make the most of limited time with a convenient bus service from Rome
- All entrance fees to these two UNESCO World Heritage sites included
What's Included
- Professional Guide
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Headsets to hear the guide clearly
- Lunch (if option is selected)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Castro Pretorio00161 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy
Please meet us at the exit of Castro Pretorio Metro Station (Line B). Our representative will be there holding a flag that says 'Enjoy Rome.'
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.9:30 am
Itinerary
1
Villa d'Este
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
2
Villa Adriana
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Please wear comfortable shoes as there is a bit of walking
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Individuals with Disabilities MUST NOTE it on their booking.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 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
Featured review
MichaelR_G
Our guide was a wonderfully informative archaeologist full of gorgeous details for both the Villa of Hadrian and Villa D’Este. If you have a full day available and are interested in ancient Roman architecture and Renaissance garden design/frescoes, I’d highly recommend this tour!
Reviews
4.3
based on 77 reviews
Mark_S, Apr 2026
Pleasant bus ride, knowledgeable, guide, beautiful sites, exquisite fountains
Lunch was nice. Got to interact with the other visitors.
Mark_C, Apr 2026
The sites were wonderful and the guide Giuseppe was very informative. Only issue was the transportation was poor. Regular tour bus going but the return transportation was a small mini bus that was extremely uncomfortable
Robert_G, Mar 2026
Lots of walking, beautiful gardens. Lots of restaurants in Tivoli. Excellent guide. Smaller bus but acceptable.
Martin_U, Mar 2026
Two villas in a day. 40 mins to reach and return. Hadrian's villa has some large buildings. Villa d'Este has beautiful gardens and magnificent fountains, especially the Organ fountain.
Bonny_S, Nov 2025
I met so many people with shared interests on this unique tour. That, along with our guide, made this so meaningful for me! She carefully threaded the stories of these special places, even for the children who were joining us.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you so much! We’re thrilled you enjoyed the Tivoli Day Trip from Rome: Hadrian's Villa and Villa d’Este. It’s wonderful that our guide made the stories engaging for everyone, even the children, and that the experience was meaningful for you!
Lee_P, Oct 2025
It is a full day experience and so worth it! Our guide, Marta, was expertly led us and described in detail what we were about to see, and then what we were actually viewing. I especially loved the gardens and all the fountains!
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We’re thrilled that Marta made your Tivoli Day Trip from Rome: Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este so informative and enjoyable. It’s fantastic to hear that you especially loved the gardens and fountains. We hope to welcome you on another tour soon!
Adriana_P, Sep 2025
Definitely one of the best experiences outside of Rome
Well organized even though the information were repeated over and over
The Hadrian’s villa is Spectacular
MichaelR_G, Jul 2025
Our guide was a wonderfully informative archaeologist full of gorgeous details for both the Villa of Hadrian and Villa D’Este. If you have a full day available and are interested in ancient Roman architecture and Renaissance garden design/frescoes, I’d highly recommend this tour!
Frank_R, Jun 2025
Tour guide was not very good but Tivoli grounds were great. They were doing construction at Hadrians villa for a private wedding.
Kathleen_S, May 2025
So much to see, so beautiful, so much info, such a memory. Great guide. Best before the weather gets hot!
Bruce_L, May 2025
Tour included walking the ruins of Hadrian's Villa and contrasted with the villa at D'Este. Time was allowed to take a break solo for lunch and again to wander the gardens at the second stop. Marsha, our guide, did a good job collecting tour attendees and ensuring no one was left behind, coordinating times to meet and facilitating the transportation back to Rome. We capped off our tour with an additional villa back in Rome, the not-to-miss Borghese Gallery! It was enjoyable to watch the progression and think of how the Hadrian's Villa and D'Este would have looked with all the art and finery of the Borghese in their respectice golden eras.
Dana_M, Mar 2025
These places I believe has a hugely interesting past to hear about, but the story telling was so poor... When passing by I was reading info posts, as there was more interesting and detailed information.
ldbrooks, Sep 2024
Giuseppe was a great tour guide. In reading other posts I believe most people are grumpy and have high expectations. We appreciate the knowledge of someone that comes from the area and tells you good restaurants to eat at and stores to shop in. Great day!
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Thank you for your kind words! We’re delighted to hear that you had a great experience with Giuseppe as your tour guide. His local knowledge and recommendations can truly enhance the experience, and we’re glad you found them helpful.
We appreciate your understanding and perspective, and we hope to welcome you back for more memorable adventures in the future!
Carolyn_M, Jun 2024
Love seeing the Tivoli garden and Barouque paintings! The experience was greater than expected ! Weather was perfect! Guide was very informative! Only difficulty there were a lot of steps to climb! There is an elevator in gift shop if you ask they will let you use it.
Lisa_H, Apr 2024
The entire day was memorable! Both dites were spectacular and our guide Giuseppi was very knowledgeable and kind.
James_F, Oct 2023
Great opportunity to see history up close and personal. Our tour guide helped paint a vivid picture of the ancient Villa in our imagination with her knowledge and storytelling.
Carmelina_A, Sep 2023
Our tour guide Marcia was excellent! She had an incredible depth of knowledge on both villas and was pleasant to all guests. We enjoyed the day trip to both villas. Free time to explore Villa D’Este was a great idea and allowed time to take photos at leisure. Thank you Marcia for a great day!
John_H, Sep 2023
Our tour guide was great, he made it a great trip. The trip was enjoyable and Vistor was prepared and on time.
Paul_A, Jul 2023
Our guide lived in Tivoli all his life and truly knew both Hadrian's Villa and Villa DEste inside and out. He managed to mix historical facts with the structures and trace some parts from Villa Adrian to their counterparts in Villa D Este. He had so much to cover and kept the group of about 20 moving well and held our interest thoroughly
Eimer_M, Jun 2023
Enjoyable day trip, our guide Guiseppe was brilliant. Would have liked more time at Villa d'Este and less at Villa Adriana.
Norman_L, Apr 2023
We were asked to arrive at the start point at 9:05 for a supposed 9:30 start. No one showed up from the tour company till 9:20.
We were told at 9:40 that the bus had been in an accident but the company was sending taxis to take us.
They finally arrived at 10:05. Of course accidents do happen but annoyingly the guide left Villa d'Este early instead of extending the stay to make up for the lost time at the start.
The places themselves were fabulous and well worth a visit. Apart from cutting the tour from 9 to 8 hours the guide did a good job of explanation.
MIROSLAV_B, Nov 2022
We had an excellent local guide for both Villas. Guesseppi was knowledgeable, friendly, and easy to understand. Although the weather was not the best, site were incredible. Beautiful grounds, interesting ruins and statues and amazing water fountains in Villa D’Este
Naomi_C, Jul 2022
Amazing! Before this tour I didn’t know about the Villa D’Este - I had wanted to see Hadrian's Villa. And Hadrian’s Villa was beata d amazing with a 1,000 year old olive tree … but the fountains and garden at D’Este were so incredibly beautiful. No wonder it’s a World Heritage Site.
Our guide was lovely, funny and overflowing with knowledge. And Tivoli is his home town so he knows everyone.
Oh and if you are punctual you will get a surprise… I won’t spoil it but I did get a little teary when I heard it.
There is a gelato place with @cactus” in the name near the entrance to D’Este that’s the best we’ve had. Check that out too!
Micah_C, Apr 2022
There are two types of guides - those who point and spew factoids and those who bring history to life. Giuseppe is the latter and a wonderful raconteur.
The bus was clean and the driver was excellent.
We went to Hadrian's Villa first where we spent just over 90 minutes among the spectacular ruins. Giuseppe made sure we not only saw the highlights but understood their relevance and their history. We moved at a steady pace but it wasn't a death march.
Next came lunch at a small trattoria in Tivoli. The food wasn't bad, but neither was it remarkable - a solid 3 out of five stars. The problem is that we spend well over 90 minutes for food and still had to rush at the end. SKIP THE INCLUDED LUNCH! It was a lot of very average food and the time would have been better spent walking around Tivoli.
Villa d'Este is literally around the corner from the trattoria. Again, we had just over 90 minutes. While the tour itself was nice, we were rushing and saw perhaps half of what there is to see in those magnificent gardens. We were given 30 minutes to wander and get our own pictures. I asked if there was anything, in particular, to go see and was essentially told to wander and discover. Bad advice, as when I shared my experiences with my friend who has visited Villa d'Este, she was shocked we had seen so little and had missed out on some fascinating grottoes and sections.
Overall, while our tour guide was friendly and informative, the time management was awful, and way too much time was lost on a mediocre meal.
Anyone wanting to see these sites is better off renting a car for the day. However, if you can't do that, you could do worse than this tour. Even though we only skimmed the surface, it covered the main sights.
Joseph_A, Oct 2019
We would have liked to see more of Hadrian's Villa since we came from the USA and will never be coming back.You can extend the tour and charge more if required. We were disappointed htat we could not see more.
Christopher_B, Sep 2019
We booked this tour as we had several family members interested in history and gardens. I thought a 6 hour tour would be sufficient since Tivoli was only 45 min away. Unfortunately our guide Giuseppe, though knowledgeable, has an incredible gift for wasting time. He repeated himself constantly, talked too much and too slowly. Set a lengthy lunch schedule and then had another required 30 minutes of souvineer shopping after we met up after lunch to resume our tour. In the end we saw Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'Este each for barely an hour. The remaining four hours were wasted on travel, lunch, required souvineer shopping and repetition of the schedule. The ruins and gardens were very interesting and beautiful. I would have liked to see more of them. The trip would have been better without a guide and just free time to explore each on your own.
vagila17, Oct 2018
Very disappointed as this is not a whole day. We left Rome at 9.45am and were back by 4.20pm Giuseppe kept going on about the restaurants and shopping in Tivoli! He was rather keen to get us to this restaurant for lunch. I would opt for a quick sandwich and spend more time looking the fountains There was just enough time at Villa d'Este to enjoy this beautiful place. The fountains are so majestic that this tour should have an extra 1hr and 30mins added to it. Then I would consider it value for money. Please add this extra time and then yes I would give this a 5 star
JosManuel_L, Mar 2022
La visita a villa Adriana y Villa del este con las explicaciones del guia Yusepe
También nos ha gustado la visita a la ciudad de Tivoli y el restaurante escogido para la comida
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