Roman Villa del Casale guide (Piazza Armerina): truly fabulous mosaics in Sicily

Villa Romana del Casale is worth the effort to get to. Our guide Maria was excellent. Offering great insights and a good overview.

This roman villa - Villa Romana del Casale - covers a large area and all the rooms and mosaics are brilliantly preserved. It is a stunning example of a late-imperial Roman luxury villa and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mosaics cover some 3,500 square metres, with depictions of heroes and gods, scenes of hunting, games and everyday life. Parking on site, open every day from 9am - 6pm, 17 Euros per adult (as at September 2025). I would allow at least 2 hours to look round the site, if not more.

Fabulous tour. Having a private guide was expensive, but well worth it. The mosaics are absolutely amazing, and the guide was able to highlight things we would never have seen for ourselves. Highly recommend.

Stefania was an extremely knowledgeable and kind guide. We were 15 minutes early and she was there waiting. She started immediately since it was a private tour. It was really nice having just having Stefania to ourselves. It was more relaxing and intimate. We weren’t rushed around and she described every room, column and corner of Roma Villa del Casale. Amazing place to visit out in the middle of nowhere. We learned that in 300 AC a river used to run nearby and that’s why this wealthy Senator of the Roman Empire built this elaborate getaway.

Maria Grazie is a very good tour guide. However, she needs to slow down and give her tour guests a chance to process what she’s saying (which was extremely informative!), and enjoy the experience. She steamrolled thru what easily could have been been 3-4 tours worth of information (mostly about the mosaics). We were definitely interested in the mosaics. She NEVER mentioned that the house has running hot & cold water in the house. I missed so much of just enjoying the house & it’s antiquity b/c she LITERALLY NEVER STOPPED TALKING in a semi-manic manner! I finally just took pictures and ignored her so I could enjoy the whole experience. She IS the tour guide for mosaic affictionados, which is not everyone. Having said all that; she REALLY knows her stuff. As a teacher I am aware that often we become obsessed with getting all the material out there. People, especially adults maybe want a bit more time to enjoy, process, take photos, etc during the experience itself!

We had a fantastic tour with Stefania. First of all, she was very professional, touching base via WhatsApp the day before. Because she reached out, I had her contact info and was able to let her know we running a few minutes late. So helpful!! She was also extremely knowledgeable and her love of Villa Romanna came through the tour. She was fabulous!! The Villa left me speechless. Three people suggested that we see it so we changed our plans to accommodate a stop. I am so glad that we did. It was beautiful and Stefania’s explanations made the history so Interesting. Highly recommend!!

Very informative and passionate tour guide ... She was extremely knowledgable and brought the history of the place to life .. Very enjoyable!

We toured this place with Stefania and it was fascinating and she was wonderful. She was clear and funny and had tons of information and was very friendly and warm and kind. She gave us a recommendation for lunch. She was quite knowledgeable. You would not understand this place without a guide so definitely get one.

Bring water and comfortable walking shoes, particularly on hot days. Allow at least two hours to see it properly - longer if it is crowded which it will be during the tourist high season. Try to read a little about the history of the villa as well as Romans in Sicily beforehand as you will receive a lot of information about its history which will be easier to follow. Our guide was excellent as she knew her subject matter.

The villa is a very interesting site with beautiful mosaic floors. It’s amazing how little is known about this villa. The drive to the villa was beautiful. There is a town near the villa with restaurants and shops but not very touristy. We had a delicious lunch there.