A week and a half before leaving-praying all 3 of us stay negative. Padua- Velo D’Astico, Venice Florence and Rome
Questions:
Should we just test Rapid Antigen instead of PCR - faster ?
Pre Booked Secret Doge’s, Uffizi, Accademia - David, Vatican Museum, Scavi, and Colosseum.
Any other pre-booking?
Anyone with CDC card and passport (Americano Green Pass) have trouble getting in with pre-booked tickets?
Trying to book Scrovegni, but website not sending the code to my cell phone to complete reservation. Trying to call to reserve next.
Should I wait to reserve frecce trains? Venice to Florence then Florence to Rome.
Trip of lifetime- 3 generations to visit town of Great Grandmother.
Thanks to all for advice as I am the planner for the group.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15156 posts
I will address only the question on the Frecce trains.
You should reserve trains only if you plan to secure a discounted fare (Supereconomy fare, or Economy fare). Since you are traveling soon those fares may have been sold out already and you will have no choice but buy a full (BASE) fare. There is no reason to prepurchase a full base fare, because you can buy that on the day you travel at the station’s ticket office or automatic kiosk. Trains don’t sell out their seats, especially nowadays with tourist travel so down due to Covid.
If the discounted fares are still available and you want to take advantage of them, then you should buy them as soon as possible, because those sell out fast.
Just be aware however that a ticket prepurchased at a discounted fare cannot be changed or refunded. Therefore once booked you must travel with the specific train and time of travel you book or you lose your money. So a discounted fare is good only if your travel plans are firm and not subject to change.
Posted by
North Carolina
2448 posts
For Rome, you could pre-book the Borghese Gallery.
Posted by
Western Canada
3109 posts
Just a note about the Scavi tour in Rome.
You will not be allowed to take any bags or backpacks in with you; just the smallest bag, like a crossbody bag.
the bag check place used to be way on the other side of the square, so just take small bags and you won't have to waste time finding that place .
Also, we thought it would be cold deep under the Church....no!
It was just stifling the lower down you went.
It was quite uncomfortable for me, as I don't like humidity.
If I did it again, I would take the iciest water to drink, a hand held fan, and the coolest clothing I could find to wear, with shoulders and knees covered, of course.
We couldn't believe how hot it got down there.
It is very interesting though.
I hope you have a wonderful trip, and let us know how it went!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
288 posts
To weigh in on the train question, although you won't necessarily save money by prebooking at this point, my group of 4 did run into some trouble getting seat reservations close to each other when booking trains more last minute, if that matters to you at all.