I was ‘warned off’ travel to Italy in 2025 during a Monday Night RS forum last winter because of huge crowds expected due to it being a Jubilee Year.
Is there any visitor/crowd expectation information for 2026?
Posted by
Prior Lake, MN, USA
431 posts
My wife and I are planning on going there, so we're warning off people - - we want the place to ourselves!
Oh, you ask, "where are YOU going?'" If i tell you, you may want to go there. And I'd have less space for myself!
I hope you don't mind my humor.
You didn't say it but I assume you were avoiding crowds in Rome due to the celebration.
We watch / follow the YouTube channel RomeWise and would not say that the crowds looked TERRIBLE. I'd buy tickets in advance for entry.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
9862 posts
Expect that there will be crowds, particularly at key sites that people feel are “must sees.” I’ve learned to go to the most crowded locations either first thing, right when it opens, or later in the afternoon. The only place in Italy where the crowds were more than I could deal with was the Vatican Museums.
Posted by
Chicago
2283 posts
Hah. We heard the caveats. And we still went in April of this year. At times in Florence, Rome, Ravello, Taormina...it was crowded, kind of a PITA, especially near The Vatican. Was it expected? Yes. Didn't stop us. We had a marvelous time.
Bottom line is that you'll have crowds in various places from April through October, and around Christmas. It was Jubilee in 2025, and I fully expect at least the same volume of crowds in 2026. Americans & Asians are spending much money in Europe, period.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17183 posts
It will depend on where in Italy and when.
Florence, a city in Tuscany, in July: crowded and hot
La California, a town also in Tuscany, in January: not crowded and not hot (cool, like in California USA)
Casa del Diavolo (Devil's House), a town in Umbria, in January: not crowded but maybe hot and on fire (the devil likes it hot)
Posted by
9561 posts
We did a great Road Scholar tour called The Hidden Villages of Tuscany and Umbria the early Spring of 2025 and it was great.
Yes, there were crowds, especially at place like Assisi and San Gimignano. but still wonderful.
We visited several small cities and towns in those areas, crowds were manageable. Not sure how it was in large cities like Rome and Florence.
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
839 posts
I'm planning to spend two weeks in Lucca in late September/early October 2026. It's been very very hard finding lodging inside the wall, which is surprising. But then I found that there is a major festival called Lucca Comics and Games happening about that time. So I expect the city to be crowded.