Rome: the greenest city in Europe
Not just monuments, art, history and culture. Rome is also the greenest city in Europe with 85 thousand hectares of land between historic villas and public gardens. 67% of the municipal territory.
The largest green area in Rome is the Appia Antica Regional Park which is also the largest urban park in Europe with a protected natural area of 4580 hectares.
Then there is the Pineto regional park which occupies 240 hectares in the north-western quadrant of the city between the Balduina, Trionfale and Aurelio districts, and the historic villas of Rome, in order of size: Villa Doria Pamphilj (184 hectares), Villa Ada (160 hectares) and Villa Borghese (80 hectares)
And this without considering the natural area that extends all around the city of Rome, called Agro Romano including natural parks such as the Insugherata Nature Reserve to the North or the Aniene Nature Reserve or the Cervelletta Rural Park to the East.
Bike Paths in Rome
Rome's bike path network spans approximately 331 km across the city, passing through parks, historic villas (approximately 100 km), and along main streets.
Thanks to its interconnection with the public transportation network, it provides access to numerous neighborhoods of the city and allows access to numerous places of public interest.
Among the many cycling routes in the city, we recommend:
Villas and gardens
The villas of Tivoli: Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana
Villa d'Este
It is the villa built by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, son of Lucrezia Borgia, in 1560 in Tivoli, about 20 km from Rome. A masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance with an impressive concentration of fountains, nymphaeums, caves and water features, it is considered one of the most beautiful works of architectural art of the sixteenth century and in 2001 it was included among the UNESCO world heritage sites.
Open every day from 8.45am until sunset, closed on Monday morning, 1 January and 25 December
Free entry on the first Sunday of the month, April 25th, June 2nd and November 4th
Hadrian's Villa
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, it was built by Emperor Hadrian in an area rich in water sources a few kilometers from the town of Tibur near Tivoli (ancient Tibur)
between 118 and 138 AD.
The Villa extended over an area of at least 120 hectares and included residential structures, spas, nymphaeums, pavilions and gardens.
Today the visitable area is approximately 40 hectares including the Canòpo, the large swimming pool surrounded by an elegant colonnade with copies of famous Greek statues, the Maritime Theatre and the Grandi Spa.
Open every day from 8.15 am until sunset, closed on January 1st and December 25th
Free entry on the first Sunday of the month, April 25th, June 2nd and November 4th
Entrance for both villas
Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana Tour from Rome
Villa Borghese
Located in the center of Rome, a few steps from Piazza di Spagna, it is one of the largest and most important parks in Rome, full of monuments, gardens, statues and exciting views whose construction began in 1606 by will of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V.
The pride of the park is certainly the wonderful Galleria Borghese, one of the most important museums in Rome which houses works by artists such as Raphael, Caravaggio and Titian. But in the park of Villa Borghese there are many places of great interest, such as:
as well as the Cinema House, the wooden theater Globo Theatre and the Galoppatoio
The Rose Garden of Rome
The municipal rose garden of Rome is the garden on the slopes of the Aventine Hill, near the Circus Maximus, established in 1931 by the then governor, Prince Francesco Boncompagni Ludovisi, upon the interest of Countess Mary Gayley Senni.
Covered with vegetable gardens and vineyards until the end of the 16th century, in 1645 it became the Jewish Garden with the small community cemetery attached. When, in 1934, the rose garden was established the Jewish cemetery was moved to Verano. In memory of the previous destination, the paths that divide the flowerbeds in the collection area have the shape of the menorah, the seven-branched candelabra, symbol of Judaism.
Today the rose garden occupies an area of approximately 10,000 m2 and is home to approximately 1,100 species of roses from all over the world, even from China and Mongolia.
Every year, on April 21st, on the occasion of the Christmas of Rome, the municipal rose garden opens its doors to the public and, on the third Saturday of May, the Premio Roma competition takes place which selects the best varieties of roses.
Near to the Colosseum: Villa Celimontana
It is the public park of Rome which is located on the western summit of the Celio hill and is all that remains of the original garden of the Mattei al Celio, built in the last decades of the 16th century. Occupied in medieval times by vegetable gardens and vineyards, the villa was purchased towards the mid-16th century by Giacomo Mattei who gave it as a dowry to his daughter Claudia, wife and cousin of Ciriaco Mattei, the true architect of the profound transformation of the place into today's rich park of gardens adorned with statues, modern fountains, and the Egyptian obelisk of Ramses II, coming from the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis and which in Roman times was located in the Sanctuary of Isis Capitolina, which was donated by Senate in Ciriaco Mattei in 1582. Legend has it that the globe placed on its top contains the ashes of Augustus.
The area of the villa develops around the Basilica of S. Maria in Domnica, one of the first Christian temples of the capital, also called Santa Maria alla navicella in reference to the fountain in the shape of a Roman ship built by Leone X based on the model of an older one.
The Botanical Garden of Rome
Located in the Gardens of Villa Corsini (once the residence of Christina of Sweden), in the heart of Rome, a stone's throw from Trastevere, the Botanical Gardens of Rome is an enchanting place, which climbs the slopes of the Janiculum, among rose gardens, palm trees , bamboo forests and medicinal plants.
Inside there are also eighteenth-century fountains, three nineteenth-century greenhouses, the Japanese Garden and the Tropical Greenhouse once again open to the public.
With its twelve hectares of park and approximately 2,000 square meters of greenhouses, the botanical garden of Rome is one of the largest in Italy.
Visiting the Park:
the Botanical Garden is open every day from 9:00 to 17:30 (last entry 16:30), including Sundays and holidays.
It is possible to purchase tickets online or at the ticket office located at the entrance in Largo Cristina di Swedish, 23A
Events
Flowers. From the Renaissance to artificial intelligence
Until September 6, 2026, Chiostro del Bramante, Via Arco della Pace, 5The largest Italian exhibition ever dedicated to flowers. To their beauty and their strength.
The featured works range from the 16th to the 21st century. Paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, tapestries, photographs, site-specific installations, works of augmented reality and artificial intelligence intertwine to tell the story of the encounter between art and nature. In a journey in which the inexhaustible evocative power of flowers emerges, capable of uniting art, science and technology in a universal story that spans the centuries: from the masterpieces of Jan Brueghel and Ai Weiwei to the most recent experiments in contemporary art with digital technologies.
one of the most evocative exhibitions of 2025, a journey between beauty and strength that will excite and surprise the public.
Every day, from 10:00 to 20:00 (the ticket office closes at 19:00)
