Villa Borghese is the green lung Romans escape into, the cardinal's old pleasure-grounds turned public park — and it holds the best small art gallery in the city and the best free view in it, a few hundred metres apart. Do it in the afternoon and let it end at sunset.
About three and a half kilometres, best later in the day. From Flaminio, climb the ramp out of Piazza del Popolo to the Terrazza del Pincio, where the square, the rooftops and St Peter's line up — arrive a little before the sunset crowd. Cross the gardens to the Galleria Borghese if you've booked (you must; they cap the numbers), for Bernini's marble that seems to breathe.
Then the gentler middle: the laghetto with its temple on the island, where you can row out, and the formal lawns. The modern-art gallery sits on the northern edge for a cool hour, but you don't have to go in.
Cut south through the pines past Piazza di Siena and out at the top of the Spanish Steps, where Metro A waits at Spagna.
