Rome (and especially Romans) can be very noisy and stressful, so at a certain point you will probably feel the need for quiet and rainbow riding unicorns shooting out of flowered trees, well I do at least. In those cases I nearly always opt for Villa Pamphilj, a huge park of almost 190 hectares (2 million square meters!) and probably my favourite place in the eternal city.

Villa Pamphilj used to be the main estate of an aristocratic family, and you can still see the “Villa” and the chapel built by the Pamphiljs in the park. Nowadays the huge park is divided into three main “areas”: The giardini (the palace and surrounding gardens), the pineta (pine forest) and the tenuta agricola (huge meadows covering most of the park). I really can’t stress enough how magnificently beautiful all 3 parts are and what an unexpected, green surprise Villa Pamphilj truly is.

So get your picnic basket, sunglasses and frisbee and prepare for some hardcore park…ing, ehm… well you know what I mean!

You’ll find Villa Pamphilj on the Vatican’s side of the Tiber and there are about a hundred different entrances, but I recommend you take the one on Via Vitellia 102 (you can get there by taking tram number 8), because it’s a central access point and you will also find a nice little café there just inside the park.

P.S. please DO NOT stop at the 4-lane boulevard, about a third of the entire park is on the other side of that monstrosity!