The best time to visit the Galleria Borghese and the park

Monday is a park day

The single most common wasted morning in this part of Rome is a Monday walk to a closed museum. The Galleria shuts on Mondays. The park does not shut at all, costs nothing and is ten minutes of walking away from where you were going anyway. If Monday is your only day, spend it outside — the park has enough in it.

Which shift to book

Shifts start hourly and each one runs two hours, so the practical question is what you want to do with the rest of the day. An early shift leaves the afternoon open. The 5:45 p.m. entrance is the cheap one, at €11 plus the €2 fee, and it is the exception to the two-hour rule rather than a shorter version of the same visit. Whichever you pick, book it before you travel: 180 places an hour go quickly, as booking ahead sets out.

First Sundays

Italian state museums admit free on the first Sunday of the month, and those slots are the hardest of all to get, because free does not remove the compulsory reservation. Details on free Sundays.

Pick a day and an hour

Timed entry with an optional audio guide, €35 — above the museum’s own €18, and the quickest way to lock a shift that the official calendar has already given away.

Frequently asked questions