Borghese Gallery, Canova’s Masterpieces Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
Description
Enjoy the Borghese Gallery and Villa Borghese Gardens in Rome with skip-the-line admission and a guided walking tour limited to 15 people. This popular attraction often sells out in advance, so by pre-booking a ticket, visit one of the world’s most beautiful art museums hosting the works of extraordinary artists. Admire Caravaggio’s most important paintings, among which “Young sick Bacchus” and “Boy with a Basket of Fruit”; Bernini and Canova’s magnificent sculptures’ collection, boasting works like “Apollo and Daphne”, “David”, “The Rape of Proserpina” and “Paolina Bonaparte”. Of course the tour won’t miss out on Raffaello’s “Entombment of Christ”. The guide will lead the tour through the marvelous rooms of Casina Borghese, with its splendid frescoes, disclose the secrets, the stories and the painting techniques concealed behind the masterpieces of one of the world’s most beautiful art museum. Villa Borghese gardens and gallery, you cannot miss it when you visit Rome.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The best way for us to describe the Villa Borghese gardens is: As the keeper of the Villa Borghese Pinciana, I publicly declare: whoever you are, providing to be a freeman, fear no hindrance here; go where you like, ask what you wish; leave when you want. Everything you see was made more for the guest than for its landlord. In the golden century, when peaceful years made any thing splendid for the refined ones, the landlord forbade all iron rules for the guest. Let good faith be the only rule for our friend. But if someone, consciously and purposely, by wickedness and deceit, was to break the golden rules of courtesy, be alert, the angry keeper may break these friendly words on your head. (Latin inscription carved on marble plate at Villa Borghese).
We will visit one of the world’s most beautiful art museum hosting the works of extraordinary artists such as Bernini, Caravaggio, Canova and Raffaello. The gallery’s most important sculptures and paintings are from Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s collection (1579 - 1633). We’ll admire Caravaggio’s most important paintings, among which “Young sick Bacchus” and “ Boy with a basket of fruit”; Bernini and Canova’s magnificent sculptures’ collection, boasting works like “Apollo and Daphne”, “David”, “The rape of Preserpina” and “Paolina Bonaparte”. Of course we won’t miss out on Raffaello’s “Entombment of Christ”. We will lead you through the marvelous rooms of Casina Borghese, with its splendid frescoes, we’ll disclose the secrets, the stories and the painting techniques concealed behind the masterpieces of one of the world’s most beautiful art museum. To end the tour, we’ll walk through the Villa Borghese gardens, enjoying its beauty and calm far from the roman chaos.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Dress code is smart casual
- Travelers with excessive sized bags will have certain problems, please note that small or large bags are not permitted inside the Borghese Gallery, and will need to be checked in at the cloakroom before the tour to be collected afterwards.
Reviews(1,220)
Your guide Dimitri was very clear in his tour and and made the tour much more enjoyable
The tour guide was incoherent. First her English was not the best for an English speaking tour. She never introduced herself and showed up late. As this is a timed inside tour was disappointed that it did not start on time. Then the guide spent 20 minutes talking about the outside of the building. Once inside she would go on tangents about certain paintings or sculptures. Would spend a lot of time in one room to the point no one was paying attention. Majority of what she was saying was often repetitive and at points completely unrelated to the art. Majority of the members of the tour left before the tour ended. What was really disappointing is that we did not get to see the entire gallery due to time restriction and the guide not moving purposefully room to room. Would not recommend, actively seeking a refund!
I absolutely love a guide that is confident in her knowledge and ability to help us understand the magnitude of gorgeous art in this museum. Highly recommended!
We had the most wonderful guide! She was so knowledgeable and really made sure we got as much out of our visit as possible. She was awesome. I was worried we wouldn’t get enough time to see the collection but we got to really go in depth on key works, which was actually great. Would highly recommend.
This was the best paid tour we’ve ever taken! Our tour guide, Clarissa, was exceedingly knowledgeable, friendly with a touch of humor. She really made the gallery come alive!
Virginia (genie) is fabulous. Vivacious, engaging, knowledgeable, fun and just a great person. My 6 year old, 12 and 15 year old all enjoyed the tour tremendously.
Clarissa was excellent and in the two hours, we saw the highlights of the gallery. Her interesting facts and interpretations made the tour so interesting. We wouldn’t have been able to garner that on our own, or via an audio guide. Well worth it!
Our guide was passionate and extremely knowledgeable. Very impressive gallery. I would highly recommend a visit.
Spectacular venue appreciated by the adults more than the children! Either you appreciate art and culture or you don’t- and age can significantly contribute to appreciation of the role and value of preservation. Educate the young before visiting.
Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and even went back to find a guest who had gotten separated from the group. However, the experience didn’t match the advertised two-hour tour; it lasted only about an hour. There was very little history about the Borghese Gallery, Gardens, or the surrounding area, and we weren’t given any tips on what to explore afterward or how to navigate the site. If afternoon tours are shortened or certain areas are no longer accessible, that should be communicated in advance.
