Villa Borghese is the large public park in the centre of Rome: about 80 hectares of umbrella pines, avenues and gardens north of the Spanish Steps, free to enter and open at all hours. Laid out from 1606 for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the villa was bought by the Italian State in 1901 and opened to the public by the City of Rome in 1903. People come for the view from the Pincio terrace, the lake and its small temple, bike rides, and several museums including the [Borghese Gallery](/fr/attractions/galerie-borghese). Allow an hour for the Pincio and the lake, or half a day if you add a museum or the Bioparco.
Highlights
The Pincio terrace
In the south-west of the park, the Pincio lookout overlooks [Piazza del Popolo](/fr/attractions/place-du-peuple-rome) and its obelisk, with the dome of St Peter's on the horizon. The Pincio gardens, linked to the rest of the villa by a bridge since 1908, are lined with busts of Italian figures and have a water clock. It is the busiest viewpoint at sunset.
The lake and the Temple of Aesculapius
The Giardino del Lago, redesigned from 1786 by the architect Antonio Asprucci, surrounds a small lake where a neoclassical temple to Aesculapius, god of medicine, stands on an islet. Rowing boats are hired out at the water's edge in the warmer months.
Bikes and rickshaws
Rental stands in the park, especially near the Pincio, hire out bikes, e-bikes and "risciò" (pedal cars for several people). The avenues are wide and mostly flat: it is the quickest way to get round the villa, especially with children.
The Bioparco
Rome's zoo takes up the north-east of the park, at 20 viale del Giardino Zoologico. It opens every day except 25 December; until 24 October 2026 from 9:30am to 6pm, last entry one hour before closing. Admission is charged (free for children under one metre tall); online prices vary by date, while prices at the ticket desks are fixed.
The Casa del Cinema and the Globe Theatre
The Casa del Cinema, largo Marcello Mastroianni, runs film screenings and talks; in summer its open-air Ettore Scola theatre shows a free film every evening at 9:30pm, without booking (from 8 June to 6 September in 2026). Nearby, at largo Aqua Felix, the Gigi Proietti Globe Theatre Silvano Toti, a wooden replica of Shakespeare's theatre opened in 2003, stages Elizabethan plays during its summer season.
The park's museums
Besides the Borghese Gallery, which requires booking, the villa contains or borders the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Etruscan museum of Villa Giulia and the Carlo Bilotti museum, housed in the former orangery.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Entry to the park is free; only the Bioparco, the museums, the boats and bike hire are charged. To visit the Borghese Gallery, book your time slot in advance: you cannot just walk in. Take water in summer: the avenues are shaded, but the distances between the Pincio, the lake and the Bioparco are long on foot. The park is not fenced: at night, stay on the lit avenues.
How to get there
Main entrances: piazzale Flaminio (metro Flaminio, line A, at the end of Piazza del Popolo), the Pincio steps from Piazza del Popolo, via Pinciana, piazzale San Paolo del Brasile (top of via Veneto) and via di Valle Giulia. From the Spanish Steps (metro Spagna, line A), climb the steps to Trinità dei Monti and follow viale Trinità dei Monti to the Pincio (about 10 minutes). Buses 61, 89, 160, 490 and 495 to the San Paolo del Brasile stop; buses 52, 53, 63, 83, 92 and 910 to the Pinciana/Museo Borghese stop.
Opening hours
Nearby
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