Great trip! - Enjoyed Hadrian's Villa as it relates to a great deal of the art seen in Rome. Our guide was very well informed. Loved Villa D'Este!! Walking through the tiered gardens are a must!!

Wonderful experience - Walking through the ruins of Hadrian's Villa was wonderful as was Villa D'Este. The van was comfortable and the young lady that coordinated keeping us together was very sweet. Our guide David was amazing and very patient.

Good Tour, Good Value - This is a good tour, good value for the price. . . Easy to reach & find the assembly spot for a well-organized departure (approx 30 persons). Bus ride to Hadrian's Villa (HV) was safe and straightforward, but simply that - no commentary, just a bus ride (approx 50 min). The guide for HV, who joined us at the entrance, was enthusiastic and very good. Time spent at HV was about right. But note: There is no bathroom break between getting on the bus until reaching the HV museum late in the morning tour (over 2 hours), so be prepared. Also, an extra 20 min to tour the HV museum would have been nice. Then off to Tivoli and Villa d'Este (VE). A separate dedicated guide joined us there. She, too, was enthusiastic and very good. The tour of the estate building itself was awfully quick (too little time for some great frescos) in order to be at the organ fountain in time for its performance, but whatever. The gardens below were delightful. But note: They are arrayed on a relatively steep slope, which requires walking down and then eventually back up. Keep this in mind if you are at all mobility challenged. We visited VE two years ago, and the gardens at that time were not well maintained, perhaps due to the pandemic. It was worrisome to see it in disrepair. But the maintenance standard is back, and the gardens looked great! All the fountains were operating. It was a good day.

2 great sites - Hadrian villa for history Viila d’Esté for fountains but the guide left us a few times and hard to find path back in this garden labyrinth.

Beauty coupled with history - The grounds were beautiful and the tour guide was outstanding. Her knowledge of the history of the Villas was excellent!

Take the tour but DO NOT get the lunch - We really enjoyed visiting the 2 sites as they were beautiful. The guide Giuseppe was informative and it was a nice day away from Rome. There are lots of steps so wear comfy shoes. DO NOT waste your money on the lunch. The food was not good and it took a very long time to be served. I would have preferred spending that time exploring the town. The poor waiter had to serve the four courses to the 34 people in our group all by himself while the owner/manager talked on her phone and worked on her laptop. Plus, we don’t drink wine, which is included with the lunch, and they charged us extra for a Coke. Another big turn off for me- the shop owners pounce as soon as you walk in the shops. They are very aggressive. I might have bought something if I could have browsed a little. Instead, I turned around walked right out

Beautiful sights....Crappy service! - Although both Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli were amazing, unfortunately the MOST memorable parts of the tour were the supposedly English speaking guide who had such a HEAVY Italian accent that nobody could understand a thing he was saying. He seemed to be a wealth of knowledge as he talked a lot and very quickly. We finally removed our ear buds as it was pointless trying to understand him. Those of us that bought lunch included were ushered into a restaurant, given a couple choices, none of which was tasty and wine that was just a cheap house wine. Those that found their own lunches had WAY better experiences in Tivoli. Next, we had walked about 7 blocks to the meet-up place to catch the bus. However, upon returning, police had several streets blocked off for a protest parade. The bus pulled over, had us all get out and left, not offering any assistance. Nobody knew where we were or how to get back to our respective hotels. GPS told me we were about 2 miles from ours! We walked for about 15 minutes (after the tours that required tons and tons of walking) and finally flagged down a cab to get us the rest of the way. We can't understand why the bus was not able or willing to drive around the closed roads to get us nearer to our original starting point. I give the tour sites 5 stars. I give the tour fiasco 1 star, and that's being generous.

Tivoli 2 trips - The time permitted for the two trips combined was not enough. Blink twice & it was over. This should not detract from the fact that both places are thoroughly worthwhile visiting but one at a time. A full day for Hadrian’s Villa (5-6 hrs) & Villa D’Este (2.5. -3 hrs) in order to immerse oneself & fully appreciate the history & beauty.

Significant improvements required. - Bus and bus driver were terrible. Not clean, bus very old and driving was very sharp and short breaking (not a smooth driver). Driver did not speak English. Tour guide was very hard to understand although he was very knowledgeable. Tour guide did not travel with the group and did not introduce himself (appeared very shy).

Poor tour - The guide did not speak good English and it was very difficult to understand him. He was completely unengaging and did not make the experience enjoyable.