Rome's second largest and historically unloved northern park, Villa Ada, was once the official residence of the royal Savoia family who left when the country voted out the monarchy in 1946.
We've found it usually unkempt, with tall weeds where there should be playfields and picnic areas. Last year we were pleasantly surprised to see a fair amount of it had been mowed, that it was in use by many people--runners, children, and organizations, and that its signs had mostly been restored--a long way from what it was when we walked to it in 2018 (post here) and many times before and after.
Above, amazing! mowed grass!
But not everything is pristine, witness the bench below
One of our Italian friends noted she liked to run in the "wild" part of the park, and wild much of the southern portion is--though you can also encounter horse facilities, and the stables we assume once belonged to the King. (Wild enough it has been home to wild boars; see Bill's 2022 post here.)
Egypt now owns what was once the King's residence--and you can't get near it. But you can frolic in the outbuildings, once gardens, now the denizen of graffiti artists.
At one time, you also could tour the bunker under the villa, where Mussolini and the King hid out until they could be spirited away from Rome after the fall of the Duce. We posted on our 2017 tour here. We've never been able to find the entrance on our own - it's deep in the vegetation - and we now understand the tours are "suspended."
If you are looking to get away from tourists, explore some history, exercise, or just enjoy a day in the park, Villa Ada is an excellent choice.
We once enjoyed coffees and lunch at the outdoor "park" cafe, Bar Panama (first photo below). When we went back last year, it was closed. Apparently it was abusivo--not operating legally on park land One of those abusivi we like! We settled for the rather tony Parioli Bar Lima.
Dianne
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