Castel Gandolfo Day Trip from Rome: Papal Palace & Wine Lunch

Highlights

• Papal Palace
• Borgo Laudato Si' Gardens
• Wine Lunch

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Rome

   1h

   Private pickup from your hotel for the short, scenic drive into the Alban Hills.

2. 2

   Palace Of Castel Gandolfo

   1h 30min

   Your driver-guide takes you inside the Pope's historic summer residence for a guided visit through the papal apartments, staterooms and terraces overlooking Lake Albano. Popes used the palace for nearly four centuries until Francis chose not to and opened it to the public in 2016, so you walk through rooms that were private for generations.

3. 3

   Giardini di Villa Barberini - Borgo Laudato Si'

   1h 30min

   A walk through the former private papal gardens, now open as an ecological centre — manicured planting, working gardens and Roman ruins from the villa the Emperor Domitian built on this ridge in the first century. The grounds sit on the crater rim, with views down to the lake throughout.

4. 4

   Lake Albano

   Pass by

   The road skirts the volcanic crater lake that gives the Alban Hills their shape, with your driver-guide explaining why Romans have escaped here since antiquity and why the Popes followed.

5. 5

   Castel Gandolfo

   2h 30min

   Lunch in one of the town's traditional underground taverns, cut directly into the volcanic rock, with a tasting of Castelli Romani wines from the surrounding hills. Afterwards you have free time to walk the town at your own pace — it's small enough to cross end to end — with the papal square, the lake terraces and the local shops all within a few minutes.

6. 6

   Rome

   Pass by

   Enjoy the ride back to Rome

Before you go

Location

Italy