Castel Gandolfo

Tours

Escape the vibrant bustle of Rome and journey to the idyllic Italian countryside. Await you the sapphire waters of Lake Albano, cradling the picturesque village of Castel Gandolfo. This historic gem grew around the Pope's summer residence, a true treasure chest brimming with art and history. Step back in time within the Papal Apartments. Explore 500 years of history as you wander through the Pope's private sanctuary. Imagine quiet moments in the library, reflection in the private chapel, and the view from the balcony where the Angelus resonated every summer Sunday. Gain exclusive access to the Secret Garden. Immerse yourself in this haven, a hidden gem within the Papal Palace grounds. Explore the heart of the residence – the Pope's summer offices. Delve into seven unique rooms, each whispering tales of papal history. Enrich your experience by adding the option of visiting the Astronomical Domes of the Papal Palace. Choose a particular combo and enjoy the complete and niche visit.

Explore the 55-hectare gardens of the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo by open minibus. Listen to the audio guide as you roam the gardens to learn all their secrets. Meet your greeter in the Palazzo before starting your tour. Climb aboard the eco-friendly minibus to discover the Castel Gandolfo gardens. See tree-lined avenues, flowers, fountains, and statues. Admire views of the sapphire blue and emerald green waters of Lake Albano. Take in the remains of Emperor Domitian's residence. Find out all there is to know about the Popes, including which pontiff installed a swimming pool and which one laid low in Castel Gandolfo for months after handing in his resignation. Enrich your experience by adding the option of visiting the Astronomical Domes of the Papal Palace. Choose a particular combo and enjoy the complete and niche visit. Enhance your experience by adding the option to visit the Papal Villas aboard a comfortable minibus with an audio guide, and enjoy a delicious porchetta sandwich in the picturesque town of Castel Gandolfo.

Save up to 50%* on Rome experiences with Go City's Rome Explorer Pass. Choose from 2 to 7 attractions, experiences and tours from a list of over 45 popular activities. With a full 30 days validity, you can explore Rome at your own pace - there's no need to rush. Visit the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums, enjoy a pizza dinner in the Prati District, go to a classical music concert, bike ride among ancient Roman ruins, and experience the best Rome has to offer. Avoid the hassle of buying individual attraction tickets. With your pass, everything is right on your phone. Get a digital guide packed with attraction information and instructions on booking your visits. The Rome Explorer Pass includes entry to any 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 Rome and Vatican attractions or activities including the following: • Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel with Escorted skip the line tickets (R) • Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with audio tour and multimedia video (R) • Big Bus Rome Hop-On Hop-Off 1-Day Discover Ticket • Big Bus Rome Catacombs guided tour with bus transfer • Pantheon: Reserved Entrance with Audioguide • Castel Sant'Angelo (R) • St. Peter's Basilica and Cupola Guided Tour with Breakfast + audioguide of the papal tombs (R) • 1-Hour Pizza-cooking Experience • Capitolini Museums with Skip Line Entry • Espresso, Gelato and Tiramisu Tour • Altar of the Fatherland Panoramic View (R) • Imperial Rome Walking Tour (including Colosseum exterior) • Hop-on Hop-off River Cruise Ticket (24 Hours) • Sunset pizza tour near the Colosseum • Pizza Terrace Menu in the Prati District (R) • and more! (R) Reservations required. Follow the instructions on the digital guide for each attraction or tour. *Savings based on sample itineraries on Go City website.

Slip into the past as you glide across Lake Albano on a guided kayaking tour from Rome. Admire the stately villas perched on the hills as you paddle by, including the Pope's summer residence. After a brief lesson on paddling, set off on your journey across Lake Albano. Pick up kayaking tips from your guide and enjoy insightful stories about the lake’s history. Visit gems, such as the Village of the Millstones, the Roman Port of Domitian’s Villa, and the Pope’s Trampoline. Then, stop at a secluded beach, accessible only by kayak, where you can take a refreshing swim if conditions allow. Enjoy the soothing sounds of wildlife and the gentle rhythm of the water, making for a truly unforgettable experience so close to Rome. Climb aboard your kayak and head back into the lake. As you paddle, gaze at the summer residence of the Pope, perched atop the hills of Castel Gandolfo and surrounded by lush natural scenery. Finally, circle back to the starting point where you can freshen up with a shower before returning to the capital.

Explore the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo on a self-guided visit. Top off your experience with a walking trough the Secret Garden and Moro Garden. Included in your ticket an audioguide available in Italian and English. Arrive in Castel Gandolfo and discover the treasures of the Papal Palace at your own pace. Admire the palace that served as the Pope’s summer retreat, designed by Swiss-Italian architect Carlo Maderno between 1624 and 1626. The first Pope that visited this residence was Urbano VIII. Inside the palace you can find frescoes of Simone Lagi and Zuccari. Discover the gardens and admire Rome from the terrace.

Explore the Vatican Museums' art collection with a trip that includes an optional visit to Castel Gandolfo. Getting into the museums before the general public allows you to see them in all their glory. You’ll walk around the vast galleries in peace and quiet, with plenty of time to admire all the classic statues, Renaissance masterpieces and more. You’ll also be able to spend some time in the Lapidary Gallery, the Borgia Apartment and Raphael Rooms before you make your way to the Sistine Chapel to bask in Michelangelo’s famous ceiling fresco. You’ll have flexible time to admire all the sculptures and paintings in this amazing collection. See all the major artworks and you’ll also be able to spend time in the Borgia Apartment, the Sistine Chapel and of course St. Peter’s Square.

The Vatican and Experience Pass is your key to unlocking the Eternal City. Cover all the essentials Rome has to offer by creating your own unique combination ticket to top attractions and experiences. Saving you time and money, the Pass will supercharge your sightseeing plans, with priority entrance and the masterpieces you'll see at each would justify the price alone. Select among the 3, 5 and 7-choice passes available: at the Touristation office the staff will help to customize it! WALKING GUIDED TOURS – 1 HOUR • Navona, Pantheon + Trevi Fountain Walking Tour (English only) • Leonardo da Vinci Museum: Creative Exploration • Rome Underground: A Walking Tour of Navona and Domitian Stadium • Food tasting tour in Trastevere or a Guided Culinary Food Tour • Pantheon Guided Tour (English only) • Trevi District Underground Guided Tour VATICAN AREA • Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Skip the Line ticket • St. Peter's Dome and Audioguide (NO Skip the Line) • Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore audioguide and Dome ticket • Secrets of the Passetto: Vatican's Hidden Path of Mystery COLOSSEUM AREA • Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Reserved Entrance • Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with Super Sites Reserved Entrance • Trajan’s Markets Reserved Entrance • Caracalla Baths Reserved Entrance • Circo Maximo Virtual Reality Experience Reserved Entrance • Largo Argentina Reserved Entrance UNDERGROUND • Navona Underground Reserved Entrance with Virtual Glasses Reality • Trevi District Underground Reserved Entrance with audioguide • Catacombs Guided Tour with transfer FOOD EXPERIENCE • Panoramic Terrace Breakfast/Aperitif next to the Vatican or Colosseum • Pizza Tasting or Wine Tasting at Cicero • Pasta Lovers at Trattoria La Botte Antica MUSEUMS • Capitoline Museums Skip the Line tickets • Pantheon Skip the Line ticket with Virtual Glasses Reality • Leonardo da Vinci Experience with audioguide • The Altar of the Fatherland Elevator Reserved Entrance • Castel Sant’Angelo Skip the Line tickets • Palazzo Valentini Experience Reserved Entrance • Doria Pamphilj Gallery Reserved Entrance • National Roman Museum (Palazzo Altemps, Baths of Diocletian, Palazzo Massimo) Reserved Entrance • Cappuccini Cripts Reserved Entrance • Palazzo Barberini Reserved Entrance • Palazzo Corsini Reserved Entrance • St. Agnese in Agone Church and Crypt TRANSPORTS • Open ticket 1 day Hop-on Hop-off • Classical bike rental 4hours • Public transportation ticket 72 hours • Boat panoramic ticket NIGHTLIFE • A night at the Opera • Light show at the Roman Forum (Summer only) OUTSIDE ROME (trasportation NOT included): • Pontifical Villas Castel Gandolfo minibus • Castel Gandolfo: Vatican Observatory experience • Castel Gandolfo: Papal Apartments and Secret Garden Ticket • Ancient Ostia Reserved Entrance Ticket + Golf Cart • Tivoli Villas: Villa Adriana or Villa D’Este Reserved Entrance • Pompei Skip the Line tickets and audioguide

Your tour will begin with you being helped into all of the safety devices, such as the life jacket. You will then partake in a lesson on the ground which will run you through the techniques of paddling and on the use of the kayak. The first leg of paddling will involve your guide teaching you how to paddle, correcting the posture and the movement of your arms as you go. Your first break will then be at the village of the millstones, which consists of submerged stilt houses that you will see from your kayak. After your break, you will engage in another stretch of paddling through untouched nature where you can admire the summer residence of the Popes on the mountain of Castel Gandolfo. You will then take a second break at the Roman port of the Villa of Domitian. Next, you will pass in front of the old structure of the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where all the kayaking and rowing competitions were fought. Your third stop will then be the Pope's Trampoline, where you will stop to admire the old structure on the lake shore with the ancient papal coat of arms. You will next be invited to continue your tour in a unique way to awaken all your sensory activities, as you paddle in perfect silence and listen exclusively to the sound of nature and the local wildlife. To stay in the theme of wild nature, you will then dock in an uncontaminated beach reachable only by kayak, where if the season allows, you will also dive and swim. Your paddling will then continue to the starting point, from where you will receive another relaxing break.

Borgo Laudato Si' is located in the marvelous Gardens of the Papal Villas of Castel Gandolfo, a botanical and historical heritage of inestimable value. With its 35 hectares of gardens and 20 hectares of agricultural area, it is home to more than 3,000 plants and trees of 300 different species, as well as the archaeological remains of the Roman Emperor Domitian's villa. The beauty of the Gardens becomes the natural setting for the development of a place for training in integral ecology, open to all people of good will. The route - aboard an ecological vehicle - winds through the ruins of Emperor Domitian's villa and along avenues that flank beautiful gardens and majestic fountains.

Discover the Vatican Museums' art collection with an art historian guide on a tour that includes an optional visit to Castel Gandolfo. Walk around the vast galleries, with plenty of time to admire all the classic statues, Renaissance masterpieces, and more. Follow your guide through the Vatican Museums. Admire all the sculptures and paintings amassed by the popes, including several of the most well-known Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. After seeing all the major artworks, explore the Lapidary Gallery, the Borgia Apartment, and Raphael Rooms before you make your way to the Sistine Chapel to bask in Michelangelo’s famous ceiling fresco.