Holiday in Rome

You will probably like to spend the day visiting the remains of the ancient Roman empire, walking for hours through secret alleys and streets congested by the traffic of Rome, admiring enchanting monuments and palaces. But do your kids feel the same?

Is there a place that satisfies your desire to enjoy the beauty of Rome and, at the same time, entertain your children? Yes, there is.

During one of my short holidays in Rome I visited Villa Borghese with my family and took my kids to its Bioparco, which is a zoo. We had a great day and both adults and kids were happy.

Villa Borghese is the fourth largest public park in Rome and it has an ancient history behind.

The Borghese family, a noble family, already owned the main estate in the early 16th century. Then they expanded the property aiming to create a “villa delle delizie”, a place full of wonders like no other in Rome.

And actually Villa Borgese is a wonderful place.

There are historic buildings, fountains, ponds, both Italian and English gardens.

Walking in those 80 hectares of nature and beauty was quite weird, since it seemed impossible that we were in the middle of a chaotic city like Rome!

Its position makes the park easy to reach. It has 9 entrances. The most popular are the monumental entrance at Piazzale Flaminio, the one at the staircase of Trinità dei Monti and the one at the Pincio ramp in Piazza del Popolo.

The park hosts some museums. The most famous is Galleria Borghese, which collects artworks by Bernini, Canova, Caravaggio, Raffaello, Perugino, Rubens, Bellini, Tiziano. Regardless of these works, the rooms of the villa are stunning and are worth a visit.

Another thing that’s worth a visit at Villa Borghese is the Cinema dei Piccoli, the smallest movie theater in the world. It has only 63 seats.

I bet that your kids probably won’t be enthusiastic about the artworks of Galleria Borghese. If you are lucky they will appreciate the open spaces of the park but they probably will get bored soon. On the contrary they will love the zoo of the Bioparco!

You, as an adult, may have a negative opinion about captive animals but, be sincere, which child wouldn’t be happy to go to the zoo and see all those animals seen on tv?

The zoo of Rome is home to 1144 animals of 222 species. My kids went crazy for the VIPs like elephants, tigers and lions, but they were also fascinated by less common animals like the guanaco or the Philippine sailfin lizard.

Actually, I was fascinated too. And the best attraction were my kids. I loved to watch their reactions in front of the wonders of nature.

I think that the Bioparco of Rome is a pleasant park to visit. There are large green areas and, where possible, there are no barriers but only canals and ditches to delimit the territory of each animal.

Obviously it is also a reserve for exotic vegetation and many activities, events and workshops are organized every day, especially for children.

In conclusion, Villa Borghese is the right choice if you are trying to make the whole family happy during your holiday in Rome.