Avoiding Lines and Crowds

Lines are still long ,, although Americans may not be travelling quite as much,, most other nations still are ,, remember tourists are from everywhere,, even in their own countries,, and places like London, Paris and Rome are always hopping busy in the summer. While there may be a slightly lower number of tourists,, it will not appear so to any of us,, waiting in the lines,, in the heat.. LOL
August being particularily busy as it holiday month for most Europeons..

Yes, plan carefully, get up early in am to be at certain sites,, and in Paris ,, consider buying a Museum Pass that allows you to skip lines, in Italy you can pre purchase some tickets too,, I am not as familar with that. Even in London you can online buy tickets for Tower of London, Hampton Court, and a few other places.

I don't nind lines that much anyways,, I will be in Paris( and London) in 4 days and have made plans to avoid the worst of them anyways,. I bring a small paper back to read in lines..

Yes, there are still many tourists around, just like Pat said. We were in Italy (Rome, Florence, and Venice) last week and still very long lines. If you read the tips from Rick's books, such as when to avoid the crowds or using passes, you should be fine. We're in Paris right now and we've managed to not wait in any lines for the sights since we went the opposite times of the crowds.

Good luck and happy travels!

I think this is when Rick's books pay for themselves. Use his tips and hints. In Paris for the Louvre buy the passes and enter thru the subway enterance. We saved two hours over our friends that had to wait and buy tickets to the Louvre.
To other places, buy tickets ahead of time whenever possible. Then you can just walk by everyone else in line and go in, my guilt lasted 5 sec and I thought I was the smartest guy on earth for a couple of minutes.
Standing in line is a horrible waste of time in my opinion and I will do what I can to avoid them.

Youll get lines whenever you go.

I went to London in December and it had lines. Long lines. Mostly english people(not many americans or other foreigners around) but remember people still travel locally during certain months so there is no real way to avoid them, it is just all part of what you have to endure, i.e. waiting in line for a ride at Disneyland, etc.

It just goes with the territory.
I didn't mind because I am social so I end up talking to my "line mates" anyhow.

If you get the museum pass in Paris, for instance, you can go to the head of the line. I would have thought people who go there often would know that.

I have to admit, though. At the Musee D'Orsay and the l'Orangerie, when we did this and passed huge groups of people, I had a twinge of guilt - for about ten seconds.

Only go to the Uffizi or the Acedemia in Florence with reservations. This is not even a debate, in my mind, as the lines are ridiculous to get in otherwise.

Mark,

In August it's likely going to be hot and crowded wherever you go, so there will probably be lines and crowds to some extent.

In Paris the Museum Pass would definitely be a good idea. If you're planning to visit the Louvre or other major Museums, try to get an early start. The lines at the Eiffel Tower can sometimes be a bit shorter at dinner time, but no guarantees.

Happy travels!