Feeling Disheartened, Stick to the Plan or Start Over?

How much time do you have?

By Sept the summer crowds will have abated, but there is never going to be a time of your being the only tourist there.

If you fear the Jubilee crowds are going to be 'too much', then put Italy out into the farther future.

These are purely in the "thoughts to help you work through it" category:
You have to trust your gut, and I find it really sad that you are not excited about your trip and it has barely even begun to be planned yet. While I would personally really like to experience Venice, my husband is even more put off by crowds than I am and is convinced he will hate it. I am still working on that, but I'll get there one day with or without him. There are so many places to see, so even though Italy is really exceptional in so many ways, it would also not be the end of the world if you flipped to something different.
Then again, the main sights in the big three are never going to not be crowded. I get around this easily, as I have gone to Italy eight times and not set foot in the big three. If you really have your heart set on experiencing Rome in a non-Jubilee year, then maybe you should save it but keep the rest. It would not be difficult in any way to fill those days.

As has been pointed out, the big 3 tourist cities in Italy are always crowded; it's just a matter of degree. If crowds bother you that much, then perhaps those cities aren't for you- at least not in high season which now is from April through October. If you are willing to put up with some crowds, and can plan around them with timed tickets, then pushing back to later in October might help. Perhaps leave out Rome for a future trip.. A mid winter trip would certainly see lighter crowds, but you would also have the likelihood of cold, possibly wet weather and short daylight hours. And of course you wouldn't want to be in Lake Como in the winter.

By Sept the summer crowds will have abated, but there is never going to be a time of your being the only tourist there.

I certainly wouldn't expect that anywhere or anytime.

We would be there for just over two weeks.

As has been pointed out, the big 3 tourist cities in Italy are always crowded; it's just a matter of degree. If crowds bother you that much, then perhaps those cities aren't for you- at least not in high season which now is from April through October. If you are willing to put up with some crowds, and can plan around them with timed tickets, then pushing back to later in October might help. Perhaps leave out Rome for a future trip.. A mid winter trip would certainly see lighter crowds, but you would also have the likelihood of cold, possibly wet weather and short daylight hours. And of course you wouldn't want to be in Lake Como in the winter.

The crowd level in London did not bother me at all other than the day at Westminster Abbey. I get the impression that the big 3 in Italy are more crowded than London, would you say that is true?

For Venice, we planned on staying in one of the neighborhoods away from the main area, we have no major sites there we want to see, just the chance to see and experience Venice.

Would October still allow us to enjoy Lake Como?

I was there at the start of October '24 and while there were plenty of people out and about I didn't feel like it was wall to wall people jostling each other on crowded sidewalks. YMMV.

My first reaction to reading your post is to encourage you to go on and go, because you never know what the future will bring. In early 2018, I was about 3 years away from retiring and trying to decide whether to go to Italy for the second time then or wait until I retired. Well, I decided to go and am so glad I did because Covid happened a year or so before I retired. So many times I said to myself and others that I was SO glad I went when I did.
I understand your concern about crowds though, and perhaps the suggestions that others gave to concentrate on smaller cities would help you and your family to decide to go to Italy and maybe save Rome for another trip. Even though the planning isn’t as fun for you right now, I truly believe you will enjoy enough of Italy to make it worth the trip. Good luck!

I stayed in Varenna 3 nights this past mid-October and it was not at all crowded. Rainy weather part of the time may have worked in my favor. I encountered good numbers of tourists but not anything I would call over crowding (or even dense crowding) in Milan, Ortisei, Padua, Bologna, Ravenna and Parma. Late September and into October may be better for you. Bologna and Ravenna from your original list should be ok. I hope some other people will have suggestions for you for navigating crowds in Florence and Venice.

I was also really concerned about crowd reports in Rome prior to our trip in May 2024. Even without Jubilee visitors it sounded awful. However , I am happy to report that I absolutely LOVED our 6 days in Rome!!!!! Here are some strategies that worked for us:
Many mornings we got up and out super early. We visited the Trevi Fountain at 7:00 a.m, then returned to our hotel for breakfast. For the majority of our walk between campo de Fiori, where we stayed, and Trevi Fountain, we had the streets of Rome to ourselves. Some shops were getting deliveries, a few locals were already at work, but that was it. It was magical! We didn’t escape crowds at Trevi Fountain, but there were fewer than 100 people there and it was easy to see the fountain and get right up close to toss in a coin.
We scheduled the first visit of the day to the Pantheon, and got there at 8:30 for the 9:00 opening. Only a handful of people were there. We were among the first dozen people who walked into the building. Another magical moment. Even when we left it was still not crazy crowded.
We had a fantastic private guide at the Borghese Gallery. After our tour we walked across the grounds with her, and she suggested we walk all the way back via the Spanish Steps. Again, the majority of the time we were walking things weren’t crowded at all — only the area immediately around the steps was crowded, and as luck would have it just as we arrived it started to rain quite hard and suddenly we were the only ones there! The rain let up after about 10 minutes.
We spent one morning on the Eating Europe Taste of Testaccio food tour. It was a fantastic tour and Testaccio is not at all crowded. After the tour we visited the Protestant Cemetery to see John Keats grave, then walked back to central Rome via the Orange Grove and Rose Garden— no crowds in sight.
We walked from Campo de Fiori to Vatican City at 6:00 am. We chose a lovely route and once again had the city to ourselves. The line to get through security was quite long, but moved pretty quickly and we had no line at all to climb St Peter’s dome.
The colosseum was very very crowded. Palatine Hill was not crowded at all.
Timing and planning will help make Rome manageable. I can’t wait to return!

My recommendation is to leave out Rome and make the trip a northern Italy adventure. Or, you could substitute Tuscany for Rome.
When we go to Venice, we stay in Cannaregio area, and never see any crowds. I can take sunset pix without anyone in the frame. We rarely go near St Mark's Square , except to view from the vaporetto. We usually go to Murano, where we haven't found crowds.
So I'd say go, just modify the itinerary, so get excited and start planning!

”I’m not sure that I can enjoy the trip if it is massively crowded.”

Hi Maryellen, do you have a different country you would consider for 2025 if you don’t go to Italy? I have had itineraries I planned in the past, and they just didn’t click as I was working through them. As you mentioned, I just didn’t get excited as I was working on the specific details. One of them was Spain. I shelved the itinerary, and we went to Germany & Austria that year and had a great time. The following year, I brought out that Spain itinerary again, and that year it just seemed the right time & we enjoyed it so much. Maybe Italy in 2026?

Another alternative is to plan to not hit The Big 3, but for a first trip to Italy, that’s hard to give up.

I was in Rome a few times during the month of May, and it seemed like a zoo in the popular locations - much more than in 2022 and before! My taxi driver & I had a conversation about how bad the traffic is now in the center when he took me from Roma Termini (train station) to a boutique hotel near the Pantheon. The cities beyond Rome were much calmer.

Maybe give us some specific ideas of what you’re wanting to do and see in Italy without naming a city. I’ve stayed in almost 40 cities in Italy; there’s options. : )

Focus on northern Italy...consider October for a better shot at less crowding...September can be crowded and hot in Italy.

I agree with October for less crowds, we almost always travel then for that reason, plus I dislike hot weather in Europe.

The problem with October in a place like Varenna though, is that hotels and restaurants shut down after the first week or two, and that is also the case with many smaller places.

We have been to Varenna and Bellagio twice, both times in the last few days of September. The last time was literally a couple of months ago. On the sunny days, Varenna was packed with day trippers, but we avoided them by hiring a boat one day, and visiting Bellano, a far less crowded day on the other. The other couple of days were drizzly and cloudy, and the upside of that was that the day trippers from Milan and Como weren't there. We were able to enjoy Varenna to ourselves, along with the others staying there, which was lovely.

Evenings were always perfectly uncrowded and very enjoyable.

We were in Rome in late October a few years ago, and I didn't find it any busier than London or Paris. Well known cities are always busy. I found Florence more crowded than both.

We stayed right near St. Marks in Venice, in early October. Again, we tried to visit the islands and get out of the main sites during the day. Evenings again were wonderful, we had St. Marks pretty much to ourselves and were able to sit and listen to the orchestras with no crowds whatsoever.

You never know what is around the corner, so my advise would be to push the trip back to late September, early October, and just plan around the crowds.

Try hard to enjoy the planning, to me it is half of the fun.

It's all about the expectations, I think. Been to Florence & Rome twice each on previous trips, but in October, and twice in late Feb/early March, partially because I'm anti-crowds & partially anti-heat. 2010, 2015, 2017. And even then, before any talk of a Jubilee 2025, there were pockets of crowds or...the bane of my existence...large walking tour groups, guide with a flag in the air, minions with selfie sticks, blocking the walkways. Argh...if only for a cattle prod, I'm thinking...

And I let it get to me once, in Florence. Could not wait to get the heck outta there. And I realized as soon as I left...I let them win.

Our upcoming early April trip has both Florence & Rome on the agenda, and we're staying right in the central districts. But I think I know what I'm in for. Pre-arranged tours, 'skip the line', cooking classes, restaurant reservations are going to be a big part of the plan. Pure spontaneity will have to wait for another trip at another time, I'm afraid.

Yes, absolutely, getting up super early and walking these beautiful but quasi-deserted neighborhoods goes a long way towards preserving sanity. Watching the vendors set up at Campo de' Fiori at 6AM, hearing their catcalls in the quiet morning air ricochet off the buildings, you absorb this sight & think 'This is why I've come...' And then I'll walk to a nearby cafe for a quick espresso. Then maybe to Forno Bakery for some pastries before it gets crazy busy.

I'm traditionally a wanderer, knowing the rabbit warren streets by heart through research & past experience, and now I'll have Google GPS to back me up--can't wait. Dammit, it's going to be harder to get lost! And once the rest of my party gets up and out & about, I can watch them freak at the crowds while I say...should-a got up early...

Our itinerary also has Salerno then Taormina, Sicily on the docket, and I think as long as I avoid public transportation on the Amalfi Coast, I'll be fine. But to avoid Italy altogether? No way, can't let them win...

Plan correctly, and enjoy!

The future is not guaranteed. Whose to say Rome won’t be more crowded the following year. I’ve been on this forum long enough to know, Rome always seems crowded (although haven’t yet been myself). If you want to see it, Go!
Btw, I share your thoughts on Westminster Abbey. We were there last year. It was crazy crowded, but still glad I braved the crowds and saw it.

Italy, Italy, Italy, on and On. Italy is a major player for discussion. By those numbers you can see why crowds in Italy are what they are. Yet, there are so many other
countries that are out there to see and maybe without such crowds. You should cast your net wider and perhaps your enthusiasm will uptick.
I would not put off A trip and waste a year, but go forth into a different place.
Italy is good, but come on, it is not the end all and be all out there.

One thing to keep in mind is the bulk of the increased tourist crowds are big tour groups and cruise ships, both sectors that have exploded in recent years. They don’t travel like you do, or when you do. You have much more flexibility as independent travelers, and you’ll need to take advantage of that. Many sights and museums have discovered that timed entry is a really good deal for them, and a massive advantage for you. You can get tickets for everything ahead online now. Yet, somehow you’ll still pass by a massive queue of people waiting to buy tickets. In short, they’re “bad travelers.”

Of course, there’s no avoiding a collision at a place like the Vatican or Colosseum. This is when it’s worth evaluating whether to brave that situation. Imo, you may have to make a hard decision to skip something like that in favor of something else (and I’ll contend that the inside of the Colosseum is not worth it anyways.) But if you get up early or go very late, you’ll usually miss the big groups. They’re already on a bus headed to whatever far off hotel, ship, or shopping excursion. And there’s no shortage of options, both in the big cities of just outside of them. If you find Venice to be impossibly mobbed in the middle of the day (it usually is) it can be as simple as heading to another island for a couple hours. The evenings are always much better, because again, those crowds aren’t staying in Venice. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself on the Rialto bridge at sunset with barely a soul on the canal.

Bad crowds don’t make travel impossible, they just make it different. Use your travel skills, be prepared, disciplined, and flexible. Stay in a good location, splurge even, so you have an easy out to take a break and stay close to your sightseeing objectives. Get all your work done early and late, enjoy a long midday lunch and watch the crowds shuffle past.

I'd been to Italy several times, but never to Florence and Venice until 15-29 March 2023. We did a 2 week trip, 6 nights in Florence (missed our first night in Florence due to cancelled flight but we were compensated and it all worked out), concentrating on museums and palaces and churches that are considered the most popular, figuring we would be there at a less crowded time. The only real crowds were on the street in front of the Academia waiting for our timed entry reservation (11:30 reservation, negotiating the crowds to find the right line was crazy but it was warm and sunny) once in side, the crowd wasn't so bad. Still though we made reservations at some restaurants 1-3 days ahead and other places we waited to be seated. 3 nights in Venice - we didn't have anything specific pre-planned, mostly wandered the streets, visited the cathedral but not the Palace, and made it to Murano one morning. It was wonderful, some crowds in spots but as others have said, away from the Realto and St. Mark's square, it's enchanting. Then 4 nights in Rome, we'd been there before, and didn't have a lot on the agenda so we did some RS audio walking tours, and wandered around, with one food tour of Testachio that was great. Again near the most popular areas, neighborhoods the crowds were plenty especially for late March, but it was easy to get away from it. The places you have to book, book early enough so that you can get the first morning slots, then enjoy a slower pace the rest of the day.
I guess my point is, if you can go as late in September as possible, or maybe into October, you will find places that aren't mobbed, even in the big 3, but you'll never find those places empty even in offseason (March).

We have been in Italy for 1-3 weeks in each of the past three Septembers (2022, 2023, and this year). We went to the Dolomites, the Lakes (Garda and Maggiore), and northern cities such as Venice, Ferrara, and Bologna. The only place we were annoyed by crowds was on packed cablecars in the Dolomites.

We also went to Rome and Puglia in winter 2023 (February to early March) and that was delightful. But I would never go there in summer, Jubilee or not.

The Jubilee will bring increased numbers of people to Rome, and some will travel elsewhere, but they may not go very far. And I do not foresee the “post-covid tourism boom” letting up anytime soon, so you might as well go in 2025. We ourselves are returning to Italy next July, but will just visit the Dolomites, plus a few days in Switzerland.

My suggestion to you is, “Don’t give up on Italy, but do skip Rome”. And probably Florence as well. Save Rome for a winter or early spring trip, and I highly recommend combining it with Puglia.

For this trip, focus on the north: Venice, Bologna, Lago di Como, Lago Maggiore, Bergamo. Parma, Verona, Ravenna—not all, of course, but there is lots to choose from. Our experience this past September with the lakes in particular was that the crowds were indeed reduced by the last week (but definitely not gone). Everything was fully open— although the lake boats changed to a reduced schedule after October 6.

I believe that once you start planning and looking particular cities and hotels, the joy of planning will come back to you.

Thank you all so very much. All of these replies have given me a lot to think on, and I will be sharing your thoughts with the others in our family.
I'm now feeling like we will still go to Italy, although we will have a conversation about where we want to focus our time.

I truly appreciate all of the thoughtful responses you have given me, it has really helped.

...wanting to just enjoy the area, the food, and not spend all our time in museums.

Conventional wisdom in the past has been to stay in the big places and day trip to the smaller sights. Why not consider doing the opposite. Stay in some smaller places and day trip into Rome or Florence to see specific things, and then get the heck out and leave the crowds. Of course, one really has to stay in Venice to maximize the pleasures of a really unique city.

Since the daughters have been to some of the "biggies", perhaps they would be open to the idea of staying in some of the out of the way places. You mentioned Varenna, but have you considered Verona as a base for a few days. There are lots of others. Just offering food for thought.

Lots of great advice about getting out early to see sites. I would also recommend seeing places closer to the end of the day. It would seem like going late would give you less time, but we did The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of the day and flew through as we were behind the crowds. It gave us a chance to really see and appreciate as opposed to being worried about being crushed. We were traveling in May which is traditionally a busy time. Venice was also wonderful early and late as the day trippers had gone home. Florence was the only place we never saw a significant change in crowds, but we were there over a weekend.

Well, I hate to say it but, there's no guarantee that future years (2026, 2027, etc) are going to be any less crowded in Rome than next year. Personally, if I had already planned a trip there to include Rome I wouldn't change it just because of the jubilee. Just research the best way to avoid the crowds and hope for the best.

The "Bologna corridor" from Ravenna and Rimini northwest through Bologna to Modena, Parma and Piacenza might be a great way to spend time in a less tourist-saturated region (Emilia-Romagna) that still has a wide variety of attractions, cultural, culinary and scenic. We loved the region. And Umbria remains underappreciated but delightful.

There's so much of Italy to enjoy outside of the major tourist cities. Please don't miss it.

My church is organizing a trip to Rome (with possible side trip to Assisi) for next year. This is not something they generally do.

I can't imagine that Rome won't be more crowded than its usual crowded self.

Greetings! We just returned from 19 days in Italy - 14 with RS tour & 5 on our own. We have been to Italy in May, September, & now October-November. I totally understand your hesitancy & concern of the crowds. Regarding your dates, find an Italian “church” calendar & try to avoid big cities in those dates. We had no desire to do Rome so I can’t give much info about that.

However for our first trip, we flew into Bologna & immediately boarded the train for the Adriatic/Marche region. Based in Pesaro for 4 days & then headed to Florence. I was SO glad that our first real intro to Italy was viewing it from a train ride & then staying in a small town, away from crowds but still was Italy. Pesaro is a lovely town on the Adriatic coast - is probably crowded in summer but we were there in late September. Our second trip to Italy was via train ride through the Alps with a base camp in Verona. Verona is a beautiful small city & easy train ride to Venice. That would be my other suggestion - mix up your itinerary with a combo of “busy” places with other smaller locales. Bologna is a BIG foodie town but we had great meals & better sights in Parma & Verona & Orvieto.

I agree with others - you should go! During your time in the touristy places, Rome, Florence & Venice - get out early & avoid the crowds. Come back to your hotel or find an off-beat quiet place during the peak times. & then back out from 7-10. Both Venice & Florence are especially lovely in the evenings. Some of my best visual memories are of Venice & Florence as the sun is setting! You are in Italy - how great is that! Happy traveling!

Just returned on Sunday from 12 day trip to Italy. I have to get my trip report up as a way to "pay it forward" to so many of you who helped me plan our trip. We landed in Rome and took train to Assisi for 4 days (LOVED it) and then took train Sunday back to Rome where we stayed on Vatican side of Tibre for a week. I am not a city girl and don't like crowds. I LOVED Rome. We got so lucky w/ the weather and it was not crowded. There definitely was construction for the upcoming Jubilee, but it didn't bother us. We took busses or walked (averaged 7 miles per day which helped with all the pasta, pizza, bread, gelato, wine and dessert we enjoyed). Anyway, as someone above mentioned, we got up early to go to sites. We had 8am semi private tour of Colosseum, early church tours etc. and it did not feel crowded to me.