Steves: Tivoli is still Rome’s great escape, 2,000 years later

When travel dreams take people to Europe, Italy is often their first stop. There’s something seductively charming about this country, its people, and la dolce vita. I always feel at home in Italy, whether struggling onto a crowded bus in Rome, navigating the fun chaos of Naples, sipping a cocktail in a Venetian bar, or sitting on the banister of Florence’s Ponte Vecchio for a midnight street-music concert.

But I also seek escapes from Italy’s urban intensity. When I’m in Rome, I like to travel about 20 miles east to the hill town of Tivoli, a popular retreat since ancient times. Today it’s famous for two very different villas: Hadrian’s Villa, a Roman emperor’s countryside getaway, and Villa d’Este, the lush and watery 16th-century residence of a Catholic cardinal.

Hadrian (ruled AD 117–