Borghese Gallery Rome: Visitor Guide to Galleria Borghese

What the Borghese Gallery is

The villa was built from 1607 for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), the favourite nephew of Pope Paul V. Flaminio Ponzio directed the work until 1613 and Giovanni Vasanzio finished it. It was redecorated from 1770 under the architect Antonio Asprucci. In the early 19th century Napoleon forced Camillo Borghese to sell the ancient sculptures, which were replaced later that century; the story is told in our guide to the Borghese Gladiator. Today the museum has 20 frescoed rooms with ancient sculpture and mosaics and paintings and sculpture from the 15th to the 19th century: Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Bernini and Canova. It counted 544,290 visitors in 2022 (Wikidata). For the family behind it, read about Scipione Borghese.

Which ticket for which visitor

Every visitor needs a booked slot, free tickets included. The official ticket is the cheapest; partner tickets cost more but come with free cancellation and often have dates when the museum is full.

• On a budget, dates fixed — Official ticket, €18 (about $20), non-refundable; see the full price list
• Official dates sold out — Partner reserved entry from $46 or ticket with audio guide from $44, free cancellation up to 24 h
• Want the stories behind the works — Guided tour from $55, 4.8 from 2,258 reviews of this tour on GetYourGuide
• Want the park as well — Gallery and gardens tour from $60, 2.5 hours
• EU visitors under 18 or 18-25 — Free + €2 fee, or €4 (about $4); booking still required

How the two-hour visit works

Entry runs every hour from 9 am, with at most 180 people per slot, and everyone in a slot enters together at the start of the hour. You have two hours, or 1 hour 15 minutes on the 5.45 pm slot. The ticket office, cloakroom, bookshop, café and toilets are on the lower floor. The ground floor is sculpture: Canova's Pauline Bonaparte in Room 1, Bernini's David in Room 2 and Apollo and Daphne in Room 3, then the Room of the Emperors and four more rooms to Room 8. The first floor, the Pinacoteca, holds the paintings in Rooms 9 to 20. Split your two hours between the sculpture downstairs and the paintings upstairs. See the highlights in the Borghese masterpieces.

• Lower floor — Ticket office, cloakroom, bookshop, café, toilets
• Ground floor — Sculpture, Rooms 1-8 and the entrance hall
• First floor — Paintings (Pinacoteca), Rooms 9-20

Rules: bags, cloakroom, photos

Only small pouches and handbags up to 21 x 15 cm go into the rooms. Backpacks, medium and large bags, shopping bags and luggage go in the cloakroom at the entrance, which partner listings describe as free. The cloakroom takes only cabin-size trolleys, for the length of your visit and only if there is space, so leave big suitcases at your hotel. Photos for personal use are allowed without flash, tripods, stands or other lights, and without touching the works; the museum can ban photos in a temporary exhibition with loaned works. The museum publishes no dress code. More on the dress code and rules.

Getting there

The gallery is at Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, inside the Villa Borghese park; the nearest park gate and bus stop are on Via Pinciana (stop Pinciana/Museo Borghese). From Termini, bus 910 or 92 stops there. From the Barberini metro stop (line A), buses 63, 83, 52 and 53 go to the same stop. Taxis wait on Via Pinciana and Via Vittorio Veneto. Step-by-step routes are in how to get to the Borghese Gallery.

Around it: Villa Borghese

The gallery stands in the Villa Borghese park, which the Italian state bought in 1903 and opened as a public park. The park is free; only the gallery and the other museums in it charge. Leave time before or after your slot for the gardens, the lake and the Pincio terrace over Piazza del Popolo. See Villa Borghese for the park and things to do in Villa Borghese for the zoo, Villa Giulia and Villa Medici.

Book

Book the official ticket on the museum's site or by phone on +39 06 32810 (Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 6 pm); it cannot be refunded. If your date is sold out or you want flexibility, compare reserved entry, audio guide and guided tour options on the Borghese Gallery tickets page; all of them can be cancelled free up to 24 hours ahead.