How crowded is “crowded” in Rome, Florence, & Venice in June?

I was in Rome in mid-July last summer. Yes, it was crowded, but it wasn't horrible. The Pantheon was quite pea-soup-ish but other than that, everything was manageable. Even St. Peter's only took 20 min to get thru security, despite there being probably 300-400 people in line in front of us. The key is just to buy as many tickets in advance as you can.

I was in Rome and Venice in June 2017, and they can be crowded in some places. I saw a huge queue for St Peter's Basilica, but chose not to revisit since I had already been. Every other attraction I visited did not have queues at all. For example, I visited the Castel Sant'Angelo, which is just a short walk from the Vatican, and there was no queue, and it was not crowded. However, I should note that I did not visit the Colosseum, which is the other big attraction which gets queues.

In the case of Venice, the worst crowds are around San Marco's Piazza and the Rialto Bridge. Since June 2017 was not my first visit, I avoided those areas during the day time. I have found they can get unbearably crowded at times, even away from summer. During the day time I spent a lot of time in less crowded parts of the island such as Castello.

I have to point out an important difference between Rome and Venice. Rome is more like Paris and London in the sense that they are all big cities. Some individual attractions can get overcrowded, but the city as a whole is able to absorb a lot more people. Venice is just a medium sized city, and most of the attractions are on the main island. The crowds can become more unbearable in some parts because they are in such a small area.

Venice's crowds, and the city management's responses to this situation, have been particularly well publicized in the last year or two.

Perhaps your best bet then is to visit some of the out of the way places first and save the usual suspects until a time you can visit them in the shoulder or off seasons.

My wife is an educator (professor) and has a pretty long Christmas break. We had a wonderful time in Tuscany just before Christmas. Normally crowded locations like San Gimignano and Siena were delightful. We had the charming hill town of Radda all to ourselves for a morning.

Crowded.....and very hot. If you can still smile after sitting in 405 traffic during rush hour you should be okay with the crowds.

Most likely very crowded, but also keep in mind that people are a bunch of sheep. They will happily follow the herd and crowd the top 10 sights listed in the guidebooks. By all means check out the top sights, but also try to Extract yourself from the herd and seek out some of the lesser known sights. A place like Rome has such an incredible Rich history and amount of ‘secondary’ sights, that would be a top sight anywhere else. For example if you are into Roman ruins, check out the baths if Caracalla or taka a trip down Via Appia Antica.
In Venice simply try to get lost in the maze of canals.

Thank you everyone for your input! This is a great message board as I’m learning a lot from you all.

Last year my friends and family (6 of us total) were in Venice, Rome, and Florence in late May through mid June. Each of these cities have more than their fair share of tourists and it will be crowded with perhaps Venice being the most crowded. However, like you, this was the only time that we could travel. Here were some of our tips for reducing the impact of the crowds, especially if you are like me and hate to stand in line in the hot sun.

Venice:

• Stay close to but not too close to St. Marks and the Rialto. We stayed in a flat in the Cannaregio sestiere (district). We were a ten minute walk from the Rialto, but a world away from the crowds. Our square was filled with the local school children in the morning playing before class and families in the evening. The local bar around the corner did not have a single English speaking tourist. We really felt at home here.
• Wander, especially early in the morning and in the evening. The bulk of the tourists are between 10-4 and St. Mark's area is especially crowded. In the early morning, the girls and I had the Rialto bridge to ourselves (and a few other hardy souls)
• Take a tour or at least skip the line tickets for St. Marks and the Doge's palace. We loved our Secret Passages tour from Walks of Italy which took us to the prison in the Doges palace, the palace itself, and St. Marks. We skipped most of the lines and our guide knew how to navigate around the crowds.
• Take a Gondola tour (without the singing). This was a highlight of the trip. We picked up the gondola just on the other side of the Rialto and went down some of the side canals. We were often the only ones there and it was like going back in time. My husband and friend who vehemently opposed taking the gondola thought it was one of the highlights of Venice.

Florence

• Visit the Uffizi on the first entry. Get there early to pick up your tickets as there is a line for the ticket pick-up, but then we just walked in. We left at 10:00 and it was crowded. Early in the morning, you have room to really relax and enjoy the museum. If you can split your days, would also recommend early entry for the Accademia, but if you can't try to get there by mid morning (that is what we did) or later in the afternoon.
• Duomo, Climbing the Dome, and the Duomo museum. You will need timed tickets for climbing the dome and I would recommend an early ticket. We went on a Sunday, so we had the first ticket in the afternoon and it was hot (line was okay). I would highly recommend that you visit the Duomo museum, this was one of our favorites on the trip. It combines art and architecture along with an outstanding film on the Duomo.
• Again, try to avoid the main tourist areas as much as possible mid-day. We found that Florence was not as oppressive with crowds as Venice.

Rome

• For us Rome felt like any big city. There are a combination of tourists, business people, and locals and it is a hustling place. This was the place were we felt the least impact of the crowds except in the Vatican area. I would highly recommend an early Vatican tour (we did a combo with the Colosseum and Vatican on the same day (not recommended). The Vatican museum is an absolute zoo and I was very happy we had a knowledgeable guide to help us navigate and minimize lines.

Hope this helps. Despite the crowds, we had a fantastic time.

Sandy

I’m from L.A, so used to the 405 freeway and Disneyland during summer
weekends.

So take DLR on Saturday afternoon and ramp up the humidity on top of the heat. But if you are a DL vet, you know how to navigate the park to minimize the effects of the crowds. Same with the Italian cities. With enough research you can plan your itinerary so that you can see what you want and avoid or manage the worst of the crowds. Rick's books and these forums are invaluable in helping with this.

Thanks for including the Disneyland reference; it gives some of us an idea of your reference point (and your crowd tolerance). On our first trip to the Vatican, I thought I was going to be trampled, so this visit we booked a guide, mostly so the guys could be sure of hearing. At 3:00, on what had been a packed-with-people day, we walked through the security line with maybe one group in front of us. By lagging a bit, by 3:15 the crowds had disappeared. We had everything but the Sistine Chapel to ourselves. We visited St. Peter’s Basilica next and the place was empty (5-5:30ish). It was a totally different experience. If you can’t go first thing, then go late.

Sandy, CJean, and Patty,

I appreciate you taking the time and effort to respond. Your tips and insight are helpful and appreciated. Sounds like I DO need to approach Italy similarly to Disneyland - be at the gate before it opens to hit the major attractions, go to less popular attractions during the day, and go back to major ones at night.

And, so-to-speak, Disney Fastpass = buying Italian museum tickets in advance.

By Jove I think she's got it. :-)

The mention of Disneyland/Disney World got me thinking. There seems to be a couple of philosophies regarding European travel.

The first, the "Disneyland" approach, is to see as many possible "attractions" in the time allotted. I see a number of posts that say something like this: "Hi, we're planning a trip to Italy and want to see Milan, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Siena, Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi coast. We have 5 nights. Can you help us with our itinerary?" Sometimes that's followed by: "When we are in Florence, we want to visit the Accademia, the Uffizi, climb to the top of the Duomo Dome, shop on the Ponte Vecchio, visit the Piazza della Signoria, go to the Pitti Palace Boboli Gardens and overlook the city from the Piazzale Michelangiolo. We have a day and a half." Finally they may throw in: "BTW, we want to relax and spend time getting to know the residents."

The other philosophy is to slow down, plant yourself in one place for a week or so and pursue La Dolce Far Niente (the sweetness of doing nothing . We spent a week in Loches, France in May before heading to London. London was a work trip for my wife and she know she'd be facing 10-12 days. We tried to throttle back in Loches and struck a good balance between sightseeing and just being in the moment. We sat for over an hour outside at a café, content just to be in the center of a charming French town. We set aside an entire day with absolutely no plans. We tootled around the countryside, eating a wonderful picnic lunch of cheese, bread and wine we bought on market day. We then just wandered around the tiny village of Chedigny, known for its rose covered cottages.

I guess we now have the luxury of saying "we've been there and done that" regarding the big sites. While seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Pantheon should be on just about everybody's bucket list, slipping in a little "La Dolce Far Niente" also makes for a rich experience.