Giardini di Villa Barberini - Borgo Laudato Si' — Attraction in Castel Gandolfo

Winter is maybe not the best time to visit, but as an avid gardener myself, I’m always keen to see gardens in all their phases. As you would expect, there’s not a heap of colour in the beds this time of year, and things like roses are flowerless but full of maturing rosehips. The long bed at the base of the high wall is full of hydrangeas with faded blooms that tempt you to imagine them in spring and summer, creating a vibrant band of colour against the interest of the “very old wall”. There are also major plantings of gardenias whose heady perfume must make visitors swoon in the warmer months. Despite these echoes of more fecund seasons, the fact these gardens are highly structured (terraces, reflecting pools, fountains, statues, etc) and built amongst some ancient ruins (a small amphitheater, a long and grand seeming cryptoporticus, other excavations, etc) along with other bits of Roman flotsam and jetsam, means winter is still a good time to have a look. I’m not sure if I lucked out on a weekday tour, but in general the garden is only open on weekends. I saw it combined with a visit to the Pope’s summer “cottage” - I would happily drop the palace and focus solely on the garden on a future visit. My only complaint is they’re a bit precious about only allowing a guided tour and when I brushed my hand against an aromatic plant to identify it, I got a swift reprimand 🥺 so it seems to me that the garden is undercapitalised (although not as much as the palace, but more about that in my...

Tour was not tourist-friendly, as the guide only conversed in Italian and spoke only to the first few people at the head of the tour group. As a result, I was unable to appreciate the supposed significance of certain spots and trees in the area. Guide was extremely unprofessional and unwelcoming too. We had to strictly adhere to the predetermined route without any deviations whatsoever. My friends and I stepped off the path by perhaps a few meters to snap a handful of quick pictures and were greeted by scathing sarcasm from the guide. He questioned whether we were the ones leading the tour and thereby what right we had to walk off on our own. This happened on 2 occasions and left a sour taste in our mouth for the rest of the excursion. For a 1 hour tour of such a big garden, the stops were touch-and-go, with only a minute or two to snap a picture before moving on. While the gardens itself were beautiful and well manicured, it felt rather lifeless, since there was a complete absence of birdsong and wildlife. Overall, highly recommend visitors steer clear of this “attraction” in order to avoid a nasty interaction with irate Italian guides and a...

Unpleasant staff and overpriced tour. I had made 4-5 visits so far, each time was a great experience but today. There is a serious problem with the competencies and the attitude of the recent staff (mostly the tour guide). The guide did not try to hide how fed up he is with the people. He showed zero flexibility and imposed rules that had never been in place before (e.g. take a photo with a city view during the break…). Even if these questionable rules were introduced lately, he should have, at least, tried to apply them politely. Instead he was incredibly rude and arrogant. It was disappointing because hey… in the end of the day, tourists pay for your service…Other than this, if the tour is now reduced to a 40-min ride, relying merely on recorded introduction, and the responsible tour guide does not feel the need to even introduce himself and say few words about the tour, this destination is seriously overpriced. This place has smoothly become a simple tourist-machine, from which Rome has already...