Side Trip To Tivoli: Villa d'Este & Hadrian's Villa

In all my visits to Rome, I'd never made the day-trip northeast to Tivoli.  Tivoli is only 22 miles away from Rome, and I'd wanted to go.  But I never got around to it.  As luck would have it, Yonkel had it on his "wish-list" for his visit.  We went on Thursday.

My verdict is that, if at all possible, you should go to Tivoli on your next trip to Rome.  It is definitely worth it.  The train+bus ride takes about an hour each way.  And spending the day at Tivoli's 2 main sites is well worth the travel.

The 2 sites to see are Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este.  They make for a superb contrast.  Hadrian's Villa is about seeing the splendor of ancient Rome via the ruins that remain from the Emperor Hadrian's suburban retreat.  The Villa d'Este jumps forward to Rome in the Renaissance.  Cardinal Ippolito d'Este had a stunning 16th Century villa that remains stunning to this day.  The villa is filled with gardens and fountains that are down-right beautiful.

Villa d'Este:

Yonkel and I agreed on this one: the Villa d'Este is one of the most fantastic set of grounds either of us has ever seen.  These spacious and perfectly manicured gardens reminded both of us of Versailles.  The fountains throughout the villa were incredible to look at -- and, more than that, they are technologically incredible too.  According to the audio guide, all of the hundreds of fountains at Villa d'Este function without pumps.  They all work purely through water pressure and gravity.  Regardless of how the cascading fountains work, the gardens, fountains, and sculptures combine to dazzling effect.  This is truly one of the most soothing and majestic palaces you'll ever see.

Hadrian's Villa:

Hadrian's Villa is ancient.  And massive.  I've never walked through such an immense set of ruins.  These 2nd Century ruins are what remains of Emperor Hadrian's theme park.  They do not have the beauty of the Villa d'Este, but you will marvel at the sheer size and scope of these ruins -- especially how in the world they could have been built 2000 years ago.