Villa Adriana (and Tivoli)

After a big day on Rome yesterday we decided to have a slow morning. A sleep in, some reading, some sorting, then out for lunch in Tivoli and to see several sights.

Lunch, pizza of course, then off to Villa d’Este, which sadly being a Monday, was closed. Appears many museums are closed on Mondays … So change of plan and off to Villa Adriana, otherwise known as Hadrian's Villa.

Roman Emperor Hadrian starting building his retreat in AD117, Back in the day, it’s must have been unbelievably impressive, lots of marble, 30 buildings, many pools and baths, with a fabulous outlook. However with decline of the Roman Empire, the property fell into disrepair, and at times was ransacked for building materials.

Today it’s a network of ruins, but you can guess at the grandeur and with the audio guide it helped us understand what it was like, and how they lived. Was more interesting than I thought and even the kids appeared to enjoy it!

Back to the apartment, which has been great value (100 NZD night) and in a great location to explore the area. Tivoli is around a 50 minute train ride from Rome (7.80 euro for the family one way) and a pretty good base for a family, as it’s low key and not too busy. I think ideally you’d stay right in Rome, especially as a couple, but ad cost and complexity …

We considered staying another night, and heading into the Vatican again tomorrow, but it’s time to move on, so Venice bound tomorrow. Airbnb to the rescue again, and we’ve got an apartment booked right in Venice (160 NZD per night). Going to be an interesting day of travel.