Day trip to Tivoli from Rome

[pompeii]

We'll be in Rome for a week in November prior to boarding a transatlantic.  We want to spend one of our days in Tivoli, mostly to visit Villa d'Este but also Hadrian's Villa if we can figure out how to get between the two.  I've tried to research the best way to get to Tivoli, but some websites say the bus and others say the train...

 

Can someone who's done it let me know if the bus or the train is better to get to Tivoli.  We thought about taking a tour to simplify things but they limit the time spent at the villas and we'd rather wander as long as we want.  If including Hadrian's Villa adds too much confusion, we're happy to just stick to Villa d'Este.  TIA.  

[euro cruiser]

It somewhat depends on where you want to go first, and how much walking you are comfortable doing.

 

Trenitalia has made this somewhat easier by offering a bus connection to Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana, making the train less of a hassle than it used to be.  The two biggest downsides of this option are that most of the trains depart from Roma Tiburtina, not Termini thereby requiring an extra step, and that sometimes there is a long wait between the train and the bus.  

 

The Cotral bus is the other option.  This requires first using the metro to the Cotral depot at Ponte Mammolo.  From there you can get a bus to either Villa d'Este (requires very little walking) or Villa Adriana (requires a walk of 1.7 km/1 mile).

 

 

[euro cruiser]

You can make the walk to Villa Adriana shorter but it requires changing buses en route, which may be challenging for those who don't know the area/don't have a lot of experience with public buses.

[WorcesterPear]

A vote from me for taking the Metro to Ponte Mammolo and going down the stairs at the terminal station/ shopping centre to catch the local Cotral bus to Tivoli. You get off the bus very close to the entrance for Villa D’Este    

 

We we spent about 3 hours exploring Villa D’Este which is magnificent but the gardens do involve ascending and descending sets of sometimes slippery steps between the various levels.  But well  worth it! 

 

After an excellent lunch we we took a local taxi to Villa Adriano but we were very rushed as we were afraid of missing the return  bus which we wanted to catch back to Mammolo, so we didn’t do it justice. Husband says that means we have to make a return visit to Tivoli and start at Adriano next time! 

 

The local buses take a pleasant scenic route and are an experience in themselves, and everyone we met was really helpful in directing us to the appropriate bus stops. 

 

[pompeii]

2 hours ago, WorcesterPear said:

 

After an excellent lunch we we took a local taxi to Villa Adriano but we were very rushed as we were afraid of missing the return  bus which we wanted to catch back to Mammolo, so we didn’t do it justice. Husband says that means we have to make a return visit to Tivoli and start at Adriano next time! 

 

I thought about taking a cab from Villa d'Este to Adriano.  Would we have to take a cab back to d'Este to catch the bus or train back to Rome?  Or could we get a bus from Adriano directly back to Rome? Thanks.  

[euro cruiser]

You can get a bus from nearby, but not right at the ruins.  It's about a 1.3 km/eight-tenths of a mile walk to the bus stop on Via Nazionale Tiburtina (near the intersection of Via della Serena).

 

The buses are fairly frequent throughout the afternoon:  Percorso e tariffe (cotralspa.it)