The Borghese Gallery is at Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, 00197 Rome, inside the Villa Borghese park, in the Pinciano district near Porta Pinciana. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 to 19.00, with last entry at 17.45, and closes on Mondays, on 25 December and on 1 January. The simplest way there is Metro line A — Spagna or Flaminio, then 15-20 minutes on foot through the park — or a bus to the Pinciana/Museo Borghese stop. Booking is always compulsory, free tickets included, and the visit runs for two hours in slots capped at 180 people. Bookings on +39 06 32810 (Mon-Fri 9.30-18.00), switchboard +39 06 8413979, official site galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it. The audio guide costs €5 on site and the cloakroom is compulsory for backpacks and bags.
Where it is, exactly
The address is Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, 00197 Rome. The museum stands inside the large Villa Borghese park, in the Pinciano district, just beyond Porta Pinciana and on top of the Pincian Hill. The coordinates are roughly 41°54'51"N, 12°29'32"E, useful if you are navigating the last stretch on foot.
Villa Borghese and the Borghese Gallery are not the same thing
This is the commonest mix-up, and it changes how you plan the day. Villa Borghese is the public park, roughly 80 hectares, free and open to everyone. The Borghese Gallery is the museum inside it — the seventeenth-century casino nobile — and getting in needs a ticket booked in advance. The building went up in the early 1600s for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, to designs by Flaminio Ponzio and then Giovanni Vasanzio. The park around it has a guide of its own.
Finding the door in the last five minutes
The park gate closest to the museum is the one on Via Pinciana. From there a short avenue, Viale del Museo Borghese, leads to Piazzale Scipione Borghese. The museum entrance is at the back of the building, on the side that opens onto the sculpture floor: if you find yourself in front of the main facade with no queue in sight, walk around the building.
Other experiences in Rome worth your time
Once you are up here, half of northern Rome is within walking distance. The park itself holds the lake with the Temple of Asclepius, the Pincio Terrace looking down on Piazza del Popolo, the Bioparco zoo and the National Gallery of Modern Art. Down the Trinità dei Monti steps you come out at the Spanish Steps, and in the other direction Via Vittorio Veneto runs towards Piazza Barberini. Anyone staying with the Baroque carries on with Bernini at Piazza Navona and the Quirinale, or the two Caravaggios in the Cerasi Chapel at Santa Maria del Popolo.
Getting there: metro, bus, tram, car
Start from this: there is no metro station outside the museum, and no tram reaches the square either. Whatever you take, the last stretch is a walk through the park — anything from a couple of minutes to twenty, depending on where you get off.
| How you arrive | Where you get off | What is left |
|---|---|---|
| Metro A | Spagna | 15-20 min walk through the gardens |
| Metro A | Flaminio | On foot via the Pincio Terrace |
| Metro A | Barberini | Handy for continuing by bus |
| Bus 52, 53, 63, 83, 92, 223, 360, 910, 495 | Pinciana/Museo Borghese | A few minutes on foot |
| Bus 61, 89, 160, 490, 495, 590, C3 | S. Paolo del Brasile | From the Porta Pinciana side |
| Tram 3 and 19 | Bioparco | About 11 min on foot (roughly 800 m) |
| Tram 3 and 19 | Galleria Arte Moderna | From Viale delle Belle Arti |
| On foot from the centre | Spanish Steps or Pincio | 20-25 min, mostly uphill |
| By car | Saba Villa Borghese car park | Outside the ZTL, linked to the park |
By metro
The nearest station is Spagna, on line A: from there you climb into the Villa Borghese gardens and walk 15-20 minutes to the museum. Flaminio, also on line A, is a good alternative, crossing the park by way of the Pincio Terrace — longer, and far prettier. Barberini makes sense if you plan to finish the journey by bus.
By bus
The closest stop is called Pinciana/Museo Borghese and it is on Via Pinciana, a few minutes' walk from the entrance. Routes 52, 53, 63, 83, 92, 223, 360, 910 and 495 stop there, plus the night bus N92.
- From Termini station the useful routes are the 910 and the 92, both running to Pinciana/Museo Borghese.
- From the Flaminio or Barberini side there is a second convenient stop, S. Paolo del Brasile, near Porta Pinciana, served by 61, 89, 160, 490, 495, 590 and C3.
- The electric 116 no longer runs. It used to cross the park and still appears on plenty of out-of-date travel sites: do not plan around it.
Rome's ATAC network changes, and these are the most stable routes to work from. Check the current route before you leave anyway, because a diversion costs you the connection, and the entry slots at the museum do not wait.
By tram
Routes 3 and 19 stop at the edges of the park, at Bioparco and Galleria Arte Moderna, on Viale delle Belle Arti. From the Bioparco stop to the museum is about 11 minutes on foot, a little under 800 metres. No tram stops at the museum itself.
From Termini
The quickest route is Metro A to Spagna or Barberini, finishing on foot or by bus. Otherwise take the 910 or 92 bus straight to Pinciana/Museo Borghese, or a taxi, which takes 15-20 minutes in normal traffic.
By taxi and by car
The nearest taxi ranks are on Via Pinciana and on Via Vittorio Veneto. If you are driving, allow for two things: the ZTL restricted-traffic zone, and how few street spaces there are. The simplest answer is the Saba Villa Borghese car park, an underground garage entered from Viale del Muro Torto and from Piazzale San Paolo del Brasile, staffed 24 hours a day, outside the ZTL and connected on foot to both the park and the city centre. The alternative is metered blue-line parking on Via Pinciana and the streets around it.
On foot from the historic centre
From the Spanish Steps you climb to Trinità dei Monti and carry on through the park to the museum: 20-25 minutes, almost all of it uphill. From the Pincio and Piazza del Popolo you walk straight into the gardens. This is the approach we would recommend if you have the time: you reach the museum having already seen half of Villa Borghese, and the Cerasi Chapel with its two Caravaggios is on the way.
Skip-the-line ticket with audio guide
Escorted entry in your booked slot with an audio guide included: it solves the part that costs most time for anyone who turns up without a reservation, which is finding a free slot at all. Rated 4.6 from over 2,700 reviews on GetYourGuide.
Opening hours and closing days
- Museum: Tuesday to Sunday, 9.00-19.00, with last entry at 17.45. Closed on Mondays, on 25 December and on 1 January.
- Ticket office: opens at 8.30 and closes an hour before the museum. It is on the basement floor.
- Villa Borghese park: free and open to all, from dawn to dusk, every day — Mondays included, when the museum is shut.
- Special evening openings: the museum runs these from time to time. In the past they have meant Friday and Saturday evenings until 22.00, with last entry at 20.45, or evening slots tied to a particular exhibition. The current calendar is always on the official site.
Monday is the classic trap: the park is open, nothing at the gates tells you otherwise, and people walk all the way to the square to find the museum closed.
The slots, and how long the visit lasts
Visits run in two-hour slots, each capped at 180 people. Entries are at 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 16.00 and 17.00, plus a final 17.45 slot that is shorter, around an hour and a quarter. When your slot ends, you leave.
Two hours are enough to see the collection properly — Bernini, Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Canova — as long as you already know what you are looking for: our room-by-room guide splits the time between the two floors.
Turn up about 30 minutes before your booked time. You need them to collect the ticket, clear security and leave backpacks and bags at the cloakroom, which is compulsory. Anyone arriving at the exact time printed on the voucher walks in with the slot already under way.
Contacts, audio guide and app
- Ticket bookings (call centre): +39 06 32810, Monday to Friday from 9.30 to 18.00.
- Museum switchboard: +39 06 8413979.
- Information and accessibility: +39 06 6723 3753.
- Official site: galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it. Tickets go through the concessionaire Gebart (gebart.it).
- Collection online: collezionegalleriaborghese.it, the digital catalogue work by work.
- Audio guide: hired on site at the desk behind the ticket office, for €5. The languages available are English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Ukrainian.
- Official app: the Borghese has one, with an audio guide, a map and indoor positioning, on Google Play and the App Store.
If you would rather have a live voice than a recorded one, the comparison between the formats is in our guide to the guided tours.
Rules, services and accessibility
What you cannot take inside
- The cloakroom is compulsory for medium and large bags, backpacks, shoppers, umbrellas and selfie sticks. Only small belt bags and clutches get through, no larger than 21 × 15 cm.
- Not allowed: food, drink — water included — and animals, guide dogs excepted. Pushchairs are only admitted for children up to two years old.
- Photography is allowed without flash and without a tripod. No eating or drinking in the rooms.
Accessibility
The entrance to the sculpture floor has a stairlift, to the left of the staircase. A small lift serves the upper floor. The museum has wheelchairs available, entry is free for a disabled visitor and a companion, and there are tactile maps outside. For the details, call +39 06 6723 3753 ahead of your visit.
Café and bookshop
The ViVi Bistrot and the bookshop are open from 8.30 to 19.00 and you can use both without a ticket. If you go in for those alone, though, you have no access to the cloakroom or to the museum's internal toilets.
Ticket prices
The €2 booking fee applies to every ticket type, free ones included.
| Type | Entry | Booking fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full price | €16.00 | €2.00 | €18.00 |
| Full price, final 17.45 slot | €11.00 | €2.00 | €13.00 |
| Reduced, EU citizens aged 18-25 | €0.00 | €2.00 | €2.00 |
| Free (under 18 and other categories) | €0.00 | €2.00 | €2.00 |
Booking is compulsory for every category. Prices can change while temporary exhibitions are running, so check the official site before you travel: the full picture, free entitlements included, is in our tickets guide, and the rules for the free first Sunday are tighter still.
When to go, and what to allow for
- The quietest slots are the first one of the morning, at 9.00, and the late-afternoon ones. Weekdays are less busy than weekends.
- Book well ahead. With 180 places per slot, weekends and exhibition periods sell out weeks in advance.
- Bring valid photo ID if you qualify for a reduced or free ticket: they ask for it when you collect.
- Allow for the weather. Almost the whole approach is outdoors, inside the park. An umbrella is useful in summer, but it does not come into the rooms with you: it goes to the cloakroom.
What to add to the day
The ticket covers two hours and the park around it is free, so it pays to arrive early or stay on afterwards. Inside Villa Borghese you have the Pincio Terrace, the Giardino del Lago with its Temple of Asclepius — where you can also book a rowing boat on the lake, rated 4.7 from just 15 reviews, a high score on a small base — the Carlo Bilotti Museum in the old orangery, and the Bioparco zoo, which you can book online with direct entry (4.6 from over 1,600 reviews). If the park looks too big to cover on foot — and it is, at 80 hectares — there is also a Villa Borghese e-bike tour, from about $62 and rated 4.9 from over 120 reviews.
Borghese Gallery and gardens: small-group guided tour
Two and a half hours that put the two halves of this address back together: the museum and the park around it, with a guide who explains why they share a postcode. It also solves the orientation problem, since you start in the gardens and arrive at the right door. Rated 4.7 from over 2,800 reviews on GetYourGuide.
For the collection itself there are the dedicated guides to Bernini, Caravaggio and Canova, along with the complete guide to the museum and our comparison of Rome's museums.
Bus routes, opening hours, prices, phone numbers and evening openings are the details on this page that date fastest. Everything above follows the museum's official sources — galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it for hours and rules, the concessionaire Gebart for tickets and bookings — but the ATAC network reroutes at short notice and fares can rise while temporary exhibitions are on. A look at the official site the day before costs two minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Borghese Gallery?
At Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, 00197 Rome, inside the Villa Borghese park, in the Pinciano district just beyond Porta Pinciana. The entrance is at the back of the building, on the sculpture floor, and you reach it along Viale del Museo Borghese.
How do you get there by metro?
Take Metro line A to Spagna or Flaminio, then walk 15-20 minutes through the park. Barberini is a third option, from which it is easier to continue by bus. No metro station stops outside the museum itself.
Which is the nearest bus stop?
Pinciana/Museo Borghese, on Via Pinciana, a few minutes' walk from the entrance. Routes 52, 53, 63, 83, 92, 223, 360, 910 and 495 stop there, along with the night bus N92. Rome's ATAC network changes, so check the current routes before you set off.
What are the Borghese Gallery's opening hours?
Tuesday to Sunday, 9.00 to 19.00, with last entry at 17.45. The museum is closed on Mondays, on 25 December and on 1 January. The ticket office opens at 8.30 and closes an hour before the museum.
How long does the visit last?
Two hours. Visits run in capped slots and you have to leave when your slot ends. The one exception is the final 17.45 slot, which is shorter at about an hour and a quarter. Arrive around half an hour before your booked time.
Do you have to book?
Yes, for every ticket type, including reduced and free tickets. Each slot takes a maximum of 180 people and places often sell out weeks ahead, especially at weekends and while temporary exhibitions are running.
What is the Borghese Gallery's phone number?
The booking call centre answers on +39 06 32810, Monday to Friday from 9.30 to 18.00. The museum switchboard is +39 06 8413979, and for general information and accessibility there is +39 06 6723 3753.
Is there an audio guide?
Yes. You hire it on site at the desk behind the ticket office and it costs €5, in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Ukrainian. The museum also has an official app with an audio guide, a map and indoor positioning, on Google Play and the App Store.
Can you park near the Borghese Gallery?
Yes, at the Saba Villa Borghese underground car park, entered from Viale del Muro Torto and from Piazzale San Paolo del Brasile. It is staffed 24 hours a day and sits outside the ZTL restricted-traffic zone. The alternative is metered blue-line parking on Via Pinciana and the streets around it.
Are Villa Borghese and the Borghese Gallery the same thing?
No. Villa Borghese is the public park, roughly 80 hectares, free and open to everyone. The Borghese Gallery is the museum inside it, the seventeenth-century casino nobile, and getting in needs a ticket booked in advance.
