Individual visits

Guided tour in English:
Monday to Sunday (except Tuesdays): 11am / 3pm

Guided tour in French:
Monday to Sunday (except Tuesdays): 10.30am / 11.30am / 2pm / 4pm / 5pm
Friday and Saturday : 10.30am / 11.30am / 2pm / 4pm / 5pm / 6.30pm

Guided tour in Italian:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: noon / 3.30pm / 6pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11am / noon / 2.30pm / 4.30pm / 6pm

Due to the specific nature of the tour, we kindly ask visitors to arrive 10 minutes before the time indicated in the booking confirmation e-mail.

Guided tours start in the reception hall, next to the ticket office, where visitors are invited to wait the tour guide.

Villa Medici’s tour includes the following itinerary: the Loggia, the Piazzale with a view of the internal façade of the palace, the Niobides square in the gardens, the Gypsotheca, the Studiolo of Ferdinando de’ Medici (Stanza degli Uccelli), and the Loggia Balthus. The tour ends with the historical appartment of Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici (The Elements Room, the Muses Room, the Jupiter’s Lovers Room) with its Renaissance décor, its ceilings painted by Jacopo Zucchi at the end of the 16th century, and its furniture designed by Balthus in the 1960s. Since recently, it also includes the passage through the roman cistern.

The tour addresses the historical aspects of Villa Medici as a heritage site, but also its role as a laboratory for contemporary creation through the hosting of artists, researchers and art historians in residencies for experimentation and research.

This guided tour is also an opportunity to discover the temporary installation by the Italian artist Giuseppe Penone, on display until 19 June 2022 in the historical appartment of Cardinal de Medici. This installation is part of the Art Club cycle of temporary exhibitions (curator: Pier Paolo Pancotto). Villa Medici regularly hosts interventions by contemporary artists in its historic spaces, inviting us to renew our view of artistic and architectural heritage and to foster a dialogue with the most current artistic production.

From the fragrant explosion of the bigaradier trees in spring to the flamboyant colours of autumn, discover the exceptional flora of the Villa Medici through an original visit to its gardens. Visitors will be able to enter areas that are usually inaccessible to the public, such as the Bosco, a wooded area of the garden and the holiday home of the Villa Medici’s most unusual residents…its 120,000 bees!

The guided tour includes the following itinerary: the alley of orange trees, the Bosco, the garden squares and the private pavilion of Ferdinando de’ Medici (also called “Stanza degli uccelli”).

The visit will cover the historical context of the gardens, which have largely retained their 16th century layout, as well as their current role within the Villa Medici: an invaluable living heritage, a place for experimentation and sharing, the gardens have been the subject of an innovative eco-responsible management policy for more than 10 years and are at the crossroads of the fundamental missions of the Académie de France in Rome.

– Young people under 25
– Persons over 65 years of age
– Jobseekers on presentation of a receipt (registration with Pôle Emploi or Iscrizione nell’elenco anagrafico del Centro per l’impiego)
– Residents and members of other foreign academies based in Rome
– Partners of the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, whose list is determined by the Academy’s management
– Holders of the Roma Pass
– Holders of the FAI card

– Young people under 18 years of age
– Disabled civilians or victims of war and one accompanying person per person, on presentation of a disability card
– Journalists holding a valid press card
– Teachers and students of art history
– Members of the International Council of Museums – ICOM or of Monuments and Sites – ICOMOS
– Staff of the French Ministry of Culture
– Professional artists in the graphic, plastic and photographic arts cited in Article L. 382-1 of the Social Security Code, on presentation of the annual certificate issued by the French organisation responsible for their affiliation
– Boarders, residents and staff of the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid and the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto
– Members and staff of the École française de Rome
– Partners of the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Medici, whose list is determined by the Academy’s management.