On Friday we decided to be ambitious and go one a day trip to Tivoli. Tivoli is a rustic town an hour to the east of Rome with beautiful gardens and great Roman culture to see. Seeing we went out the night before, we were a little late at starting, but I'm organized enough that I got us going and on a train by 2. As we arrived into Tivoli we started weaving through the mountains where the town is located. There was a beautiful view of the waterfall, but as luck would have it I miss the picture, but here is my attempt.
It was a beautiful ride and then when we arrived, it obviously started raining. We first tried to find a tourist information booth to get a map, and when we finally found it I'm not sure if she was out to lunch or what but no one was there. But there was an enormous castle in the middle of the city so we figured we would try to go there...Tivoli was not feeling that either because it was closed for renovations.
So we asked a native where to go next and he said Villa D'Este which is a Renaissance villa located in town and is renowned for the beautiful gardens, especially its water fountains. At this point it had started torrential down pouring so we stopped for a crepe until it stopped..which it never really did. At Villa D'Este we walked in and it was 6.5 euro for entrance. However, the fountains, pictures of which lined the walls of hte entrance, were not currently running due to technical difficulty, so the man at the desk advised against us going. So two strikes on tourist attractions but we still had the main one left. Hadrian's Villa, which was a 15 min ride from the center of the city. It is the villa of one of the greatest emperors of Rome and is just as grandiose that he probably thought he was. Because we thought it was going to close soon, we called a cab, which happened to be a Mercedes van ( I guess cabbies are loaded in Italy) and made it in time to buy tickets and rent an audio guide. Hadrians villa was very hard to visualize without the guide, because it is all ruins but nonetheless amazing ruins.
We had a lot of fun walking around but by the end we were cold, wet and miserable. I definitely recommend going to Tivoli at some point to everyone but I think you might want to check the weather first, and maybe more in the summer or spring when you can really enjoy the gardens!
It was a beautiful ride and then when we arrived, it obviously started raining. We first tried to find a tourist information booth to get a map, and when we finally found it I'm not sure if she was out to lunch or what but no one was there. But there was an enormous castle in the middle of the city so we figured we would try to go there...Tivoli was not feeling that either because it was closed for renovations. 
So we asked a native where to go next and he said Villa D'Este which is a Renaissance villa located in town and is renowned for the beautiful gardens, especially its water fountains. At this point it had started torrential down pouring so we stopped for a crepe until it stopped..which it never really did. At Villa D'Este we walked in and it was 6.5 euro for entrance. However, the fountains, pictures of which lined the walls of hte entrance, were not currently running due to technical difficulty, so the man at the desk advised against us going. So two strikes on tourist attractions but we still had the main one left. Hadrian's Villa, which was a 15 min ride from the center of the city. It is the villa of one of the greatest emperors of Rome and is just as grandiose that he probably thought he was. Because we thought it was going to close soon, we called a cab, which happened to be a Mercedes van ( I guess cabbies are loaded in Italy) and made it in time to buy tickets and rent an audio guide. Hadrians villa was very hard to visualize without the guide, because it is all ruins but nonetheless amazing ruins. 
We had a lot of fun walking around but by the end we were cold, wet and miserable. I definitely recommend going to Tivoli at some point to everyone but I think you might want to check the weather first, and maybe more in the summer or spring when you can really enjoy the gardens!
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