Borghese Gallery: Canova’s Masterpieces Small Group Guided Tour
Description
Our Small-Group Borghese Gallery Tour offers art lovers an exclusive experience in one of Rome’s most sought-after museums. Located in the serene Villa Borghese park, the gallery houses a world-renowned private art collection, accessible by reservation only. Skip the line and explore with a small group of no more than 15, ensuring a personalized, engaging experience. Marvel at Bernini’s lifelike “Apollo and Daphne,” uncover Caravaggio’s dark genius in “David with the Head of Goliath,” and delve into the mysteries of Titian’s “Sacred and Profane Love.” Our expert guides bring each masterpiece to life with captivating stories and insights, making this tour an unforgettable journey through art, history, and culture in the heart of Rome. After the guided tour of the gallery concludes you're welcome to remain inside of the museums, but we also recommend taking a relaxing stroll through the surrounding gardens of Villa Borghese at your own pace.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide at the museum entrance and bypass the long queues with our prebooked skip-the-line tickets. During this 2-hour tour, limited to just 15 participants, you'll explore the breathtaking highlights of the Galleria Borghese. Admire Bernini's stunning "Apollo and Daphne," where marble seems to transform into delicate leaves before your eyes. Discover the intense drama of Caravaggio's "David with the Head of Goliath," where the artist portrays himself as the fallen giant. Uncover the mysteries of Titian’s "Sacred and Profane Love," a masterpiece that continues to intrigue art historians. Each piece comes to life as your guide shares captivating stories and fun facts, making this an unforgettable journey through one of Rome's most exquisite art collections.
After your guided tour of the Borghese Gallery, we recommend you to take a leisurely stroll through the surrounding enchanting Villa Borghese Gardens. Once the private grounds of the Borghese family, these breathtaking gardens offer a serene escape from the city’s bustle. Don’t miss the panoramic Pincio Terrace, where you can enjoy stunning views overlooking Piazza del Popolo and Rome’s historic skyline.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- We regret that we are unable to accommodate guests with wheelchairs or any walking impairments that require special assistance on our group tours. We are also unable to accommodate strollers or baby carriages.
- The Borghese gallery has a strict visitor policy to protect its artworks. Only small fanny packs and purses (max 21 x 15 cm) are allowed in the museum. Larger bags/personal items must be left in the wardrobe.
Reviews(62)
Won’t let me choose the correct tour we did but we did the trastevere hidden gems food tour. Mario was a great host. Very knowledgeable of the food and wine. The group we were in were was a great mix and we had an amazing time
Excellent experience with great detail of art and history. Fascinating architecture.
Our guide Elena was a delight! She explained the paintings and scuptures with interesting stories and niche details. Loved the tour!
Very good and knowledgeable guide - so many details and stories for a deeper understanding of the art. A very rich and pleasant experience🫶
Our guide went into great depth regarding the sculptures and painting. She was passionate about art!
The tour of the Gallerie Borghese was spectacular. Our guide Dilara was so knowledgeable and passionate, while ensuring the comfort of all participants. We spent 2 hours on this wonderful experience. Highly recommend this tour. Not recommended for wheelchairs or strollers as they have an incredibly tiny round elevator that is only 3.5-4.0 ft in diameter built in 1907.
Hi HollyLynn, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us. I am absolutely thrilled to hear that you had such a spectacular time at the Borghese Gallery and that Dilara made the masterpieces truly come alive with her passion and knowledge. She always goes above and beyond to keep everyone comfortable, and I will be sure to pass along your wonderful compliments to her. I also really appreciate you mentioning the historic 1907 elevator. That is incredibly helpful advice for future travelers, especially families with strollers or anyone with mobility needs. Thank you again for recommending our tour, and we would love to welcome you on another art adventure the next time you are in Rome.
The Borgheses Gallery is an amazing museum. My tour guide Marco is not only knowledgeable but passionate about the art here. I would recommend this tour to friends and family.
Lisa was incredible guide. She was very knowledgeable and detailed on much of the art work. Well worth the time
Hi Maryna, Thank you for the wonderful review! I am so happy to hear that Lisa made such an impression on you. The Borghese Gallery is home to so many intricate masterpieces, and having a guide like Lisa who can dive deep into the details of Canova’s work really makes the art come alive. It’s a special collection, and we’re glad you felt it was well worth the time! We’ll be sure to pass your kind words along to Lisa. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Rome!
Outstanding from beginning ! Convenient meeting place and very efficient check in with tour guide. Elle was our tour guide and she was fantastic - she was an expert on all things Borgehse and talented in the way she wove history with the art. She ensured we made the most of our full time in the museum. Definitely recommend this tour.
Marco is the greatest tour guide in my life 🫂
Fantastic tour, our guide Dimitri was so knowledgeable and genuinely enthused about the things they were educating us on. By far our best tour guide of our week in Rome, thank you Dimitri
If you love enthusiastic, knowledgable guides - you’ll love Marco!
Our guide was Lisa. I definitely recommend her because it was unique and exciting. Thank you, Lisa!
Guide was very knowledgeable and interesting.
Very knowledgeable great personality. I would definitely do it again.
Dimitri was an excellent guide, who brought each work of art to life with stories of the artists and their place in history.
Thank you for sharing! We are so glad you had a perfect afternoon at the Borghese Gallery and that Dimitri’s excellent storytelling successfully brought each masterpiece and artist to life.
Dimitri pur Guide was amazing.Very kindly and professional .I recommend him The best Guide in Rome for us .Very well prepared and His explanations easy to understand .
Thank you for the high recommendation! We are thrilled to hear that Dimitri was your best guide in Rome and made the Borghese Gallery masterpieces so easy to understand.
Starting with the Galleria Borghese which is one of the most important and most beautiful museums in the world. In addition, the guide was extremely well prepared, fluent, technical, historical and artistic knowledge.
Obrigado pelo seu excelente feedback! Estamos muito felizes que a Galeria Borghese—um dos museus mais lindos do mundo—tenha sido um destaque para você. É maravilhoso saber que a guia era extremamente bem preparada, fluente, e demonstrou grande conhecimento técnico, histórico e artístico. Essa paixão e preparo são essenciais para apreciar as obras-primas de Canova! Esperamos recebê-lo novamente em um futuro tour de arte em Roma.
Borghese Gallery is beautiful and worth a visit. Our guide was great, very knowledgeable and engaging. I highly recommend this tour.
mfergie5, thank you for sharing your positive experience at the beautiful Borghese Gallery! We are delighted that you found our guide great, very knowledgeable, and engaging. Providing an insightful small group experience focusing on masterpieces like Canova's is what we aim for, and your high recommendation means a lot. We hope to see you back in Rome for more unforgettable art tours in the near future!
This experience was well worth the cost. If you can’t get tickets from the gallery, I highly recommend this tour with The Tour Guy. Having a knowledgeable tour guide take us through the rooms and tell us the history of the place, the art works and the artists brought everything to life.
Amazing Tour! We are thrilled to hear this experience was well worth the cost! We agree that having a knowledgeable tour guide brings the history of the place, the artworks, and the artists to life. Thank you for the high recommendation!