Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este Day Tour from Rome reviews, Rome tours & activities, fun things to do in Rome | VELTRA

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more here

Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este Day Tour from Rome

Overall Rating

3.94 3.94 / 5

Reviews

18 reviews
Post a review

Reviewed by: Stella, 2017/10/29

The tour itself was fabulous a highlight during our vacation! The pick up was bad waited over an hour we were there earlier than time specified so as not to keep driver waiting and of course reviews I had read said they were always late but thought probably this has been rectified! Driver was not at all friendly and gave no information what so Ever!...the other main problem with the tour was we were dropped off and had to make our own way back, told was a nice walk, well could be if those street maps made any sense we walked for over one and three quarters hour to get back to hotel with a few wrong turns after we had already done plenty of walking on the Tour! So loved them destinations, the bus driver and the tour guide were very good but oick up and return need some modification to make thismthe perfeçt tour

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Elizabeth, 2017/10/27

Great tour but we could have used more time at Hadrian’s palace for sightseeing and photo taking. The trip to Tiovli and Villa d’Este was great and the gardens beautiful.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Valda, 2017/10/26

A good tour although way too short! I would have preferred a shorter time at Hadrian's Villa and longer at Villa d"Este to enjoy the gardens. Having two tour guides (English and Spanish) was not ideal.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Could have been better

Reviewed by: Megkap, 2017/10/14

The organisation of directing tourists to buses was not very welcoming as we were corraled by an organiser who was more like a cranky kindergarten teacher than a professional service provider. Then we had to wait half an hour for one couple on a the shuttle bus and we were told we would not be making up the time.The locations we visited were beautiful, but particularly as Ville d'este we really could have used the missing half hour.

Rating:
Attended as:Couples
Activity Date:2017/10/10
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Herbert, 2017/05/12

This is a very good tour, but could use more time in Tivoli. Time in Hadrian's villa was about right.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Jill, 2016/10/02

It absolutely is a must do but I would have preferred to have had more time at the Villa d'Este, and we intend to go back there at some stage to do it justice - it's so impressive..and we hardly scratched the surface. I'd spend less time at Hadrian's Villa and more at Villa D'Este if the time couldn't be extended. The guide was excellent - knowledgable, interesting and relaxed.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Darinka, 2016/08/13

Exciting sites, very nice and competent guide - Claudia. The time in Villa d'Este is deffinetly not enough. It would be better if we also had some free time in the town of Tivoli.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Edward, 2016/04/13

You are an excellent company to deal with. The reservation was handled perfectly. i am happy i found you on the internet.n***

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Joan, 2015/04/26

Our tour guide Danielle was excellent. Both villa Adriana and Ville D!Este were amazing. I felt we had adequate time to see both, great tour.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Joan, 2014/10/03

The Tivoli day trip was excellent. Again the driver and tour guide excellent. well done.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Gabriele, 2012/03/23

Unfortunately the tour guide translated the guidance in four languages which made it a bit annoying to have to listen to other languages. Also very time consuming. It wasn't a profound tour but we liked it and I am happy i didn't miss it.
Thanks

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: sharman, 2011/11/15

The tour itself was great, Hadrians villa was interesting and guide knowledgeable. Tivoli was beautiful. Getting there a little rocky. We had to call for a pick up...told we weren't prearranged as stated on voucher. We were taken to the tour office and told to wait. Gathered up on another bus after 10 minutes and driven to another tour operator and transfered to another bus....confusing with no explanation. After this everything went without any problems

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Jesus, 2011/10/24

A very nice taste of the Roman Empire and Reinessance greatness.
Lots of learning. Very interesting!

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Robin , 2011/06/08

On the third day we had a day trip booked to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa. Two years ago we booked the same tour and it rained from the beginning to the end and so we decided we should try our luck and make a second attempt to see the sights in the sun. We got up early to clear blue skies so as to enjoy our breakfast without rushing things because we were to be picked up by a representative at 7.45 am in the lobby. He were taken to the main tourist office near the Via Nationale where we had wait for almost three quarters of an hour for a coach. We realised that had we walked from the hotel it would have taken us no longer than 10 minutes! About twenty tourists - mainly elderly ones from the United States of America joined us for the four hour's tour.

After an hour's drive, we reached Hadrian’s Villa. During the drive, our guide explained that Hadrian's villa had been continually stripped over hundreds of years. It was generally regarded as being abandoned and so a Pandora’s box for all and sundry who planned to build. Many stones were taken to build the Villa d'Este about 1,400 years later! Upon arrival, we were shown the scale model of the villa. We could see that it was the largest and most luxurious residence in the countryside ever made with its fabulous and impressive array of imperial palaces, thermal baths, temples, theatres and pools. Hadrian was the emperor who built the Pantheon. The villa was intended as a retirement home for the emperor but illness drove him to warmer climates. He only enjoyed the villa for a short while between its completion and his death three years later.

It is said to be very difficult these days to get an idea of the original grandeur of this villa but Hadrian re-created buildings that had impressed him during his travels like the Stoa Poikile of Athens, and the Canopus, the one in Alexandria in Egypt. We only saw primarily substructures, stripped of marble facing, frescoes, or other decorations. Some of these can be seen today in the museums of Italy and Europe, many were destroyed.

The guide took us to the so called Teatro Marittimo, a small colonnaded palace, ringed by Ionic columns, built on a private island in the middle of an artificial lagoon in which we saw several tiny turtles swimming. It was believed to be Hadrian’s private retreat where he could indulge his love of music, poetry and painting. We then visited the Canopus, a pool representing a branch of the Nile. It was used for summer banquets and then the Piazza d'Oro, a perist<x>yle garden which was richly adorned with fountains and statuary.

It seems unfortunate that most of the sculpture from baths, theatres, libraries and apartments was removed from the site during renaissance excavations but enough remains for visitors to appreciate what would have been the magnificence of a Roman imperial garden.

The next stop was Tivoli, a small picturesque historical town situated in the Monti Tiburtini hills where the climate is fresher and cooler than in Rome For this reason, the area was popular from ancient times onwards with Rome's wealthy classes, who built summer retreats in the area to escape from the stifling summer heat of the city.

Across the main town square stands the Villa d'Este, which was built in the 1550's for Cardinal Hippolyte d'Este who had previously unsuccessfully attempted to become Pope. The villa used to be a former Benedictine convent and is known first and foremost for its worldwide famous Renaissance gardens. Italian gardens and fountains have been seducing gardeners since the 17th century, and continue to do so today.

We entered the villa via an unassuming entrance at the back of the villa but directly at the far end of small square and it was not long before we descended a flight of stairs and passed through ornately decorated rooms to the front of the building. From here we could see a number of paths and steps leading down to the beautiful and amazing football field sized garde

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Janet, 2010/06/29

The gardens at Tivoli were lovely but I would have liked longer to explore Hadrian's villa. Overall it was a very good trip.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Tiffany , 2010/06/06

First our guide. She seemed very rushed and overwhelmed at the beginning, leading to her lecture being very rushed and overwhelmed, so it was somewhat hard to understand everything initially. This was also unfortunately a multiple language group (beware of this, it kills the momentum of the tours and really slows things down), so our guide had to repeat everything in both French and Spanish, in addition to English obviously.

We were unfortunately disappointed with Hadrian's Villa, mostly because there isn't much left to see. It is here that a guide becomes crucial to really help your imagination, and ours was more concerned with her translations than anything else. However, the second, less publicized part of the excursion was to the Ville d'Este in Tivoli, which was incredible. They let you tour the gardens and house on your own, and this is fantastic. Definitely exceeded our expectations here, but still only giving 3 stars because of our so-so guide and slight disappointment with Hadrian's Villa.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: John, 2009/12/07

Acess at Villa Adrian was a bit of a climb, some people dropped out of the tour.

The many stairs at Tivoli make it difficult to appreciate the entire site. It would be better to have bus pick-up at the bottom of the stairs to appreciate the gardens in their full.

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Reviewed by: Mark, 2009/07/09

Our guide was excellent...very energetic and funny. Great tour!

Rating:
Was this comment helpful? [Yes]

Browse by Rome