Borghese Museum, Italy--Booking advanced tickets to avoid lines

You must prebook your tickets. Tickets are issued in two hour time slots. Admissions are limited.

http://www.tosc.it/

As the previous poster indicated, you are required to purchase ahead and pick a time slot. When you show up, you stand in line with everyone else that reserved that time slot.

I have been trying to book tickets for April as well, however the website only is selling tickets through March 17th. When more tickets come available, you can book a guided tour through them directly. Just keep watching to see when they open up another block of tickets.

Lisa, you will (hopefully) love the Borghese! In my opinion, it's one of the finest museums in Italy, if not Europe. We were there last October. I purchased our tickets through the website noted above on 8/17 for our timed-entry slot of 1500 on 10/26. It was a very easy process. They actually let us in 10 minutes before our 1500 time-slot! I only noticed one tour group when we there. ENJOY!

The reason "tour group" may be associated with this museum is that visitors who don't do enough advance planning have to buy marked-up tickets from Vinnie's Tours. That's also why the tickets are sometimes released in waves, to reduce ticket hoarding by professionals. Entry time is a brutal crowd anyway, walking up a long stairwell to the galleries in a scary mass.

You definitely need advance timed entry tickets. Also, check the schedule during your time in Rome for a free day (usually an afternoon) to the museum. Same procedure to get timed entry tickets, just cheaper. A good museum to do on your own - just wander around until you see something interesting. We love that museum, especially the Bernini & Canova sculptures.

The only thing I'll add is that the Borghese strictly controls the size of purse you can take in. I knew ahead of time and used the very small purse I wear on the airplane so I never have to leave my passport/money/CCs at my seat. It's about 5x7 and worked fine. Their official dimensions are 21 x 15 cm or 8 x 5 inches (rounded down). If you have a purse or day pack larger than this you have to check it in their cloakroom. I just hate to check my purse so I made sure I had an alternative for that afternoon.

I thought my Tom Binh small café bag would pass muster at the Borghese, but, alas, it didn't. Their bag check system, though, is very well organized and secure, so I knew it was in good hands.

Yep, that Small Cafe Bag is over the Borghese limit. From the Tom Bihn site:

7.8" (w) x 10.2" (h) x 5.7" (d) / 200mm (w) x 260mm (h) x 145mm (d) (20 x 26 x 14.5 centimeters as I'm metrically challenged)

I'm sure their bag check is secure, I just don't want to check my money/cards. If I can anticipate and have one of my bigger purses I'll just have all my important stuff either in my moneybelt under clothing or in a small pouch I can pull out.

A good idea is to go upstairs first and work your way back down.
That way you will hopefully be going the opposite way to everyone else.
There is a pretty garden at the back that you can have a look at after your visit.

The other thing I'll add is that you are limited to 2 hours. And you are given a colored sticker upon entry corresponding to the time of entry, so they do know when you entered. While you are not forcibly removed after 2 hours, they will make gentle reminders over a loudspeaker. So I would do the first floor first, where all the best and famous statutes are , and then use your remaining time to visit upstairs.

Also, the cafe in the basement is a typical Italian set up. You can look at the food behind the counter and decide what you want, but then you have to go to the cashier line, pay for it, and then go back and give the receipt to someone behind the glass counter who will prepare your food.