Italy attraction reservations needed?

The only site where a reservation is required is at the Borghese gallery. You cannot get inside without a reservation as the space is extremely limited. The other two sites you may want to book in advance are the Vatican museums and the colosseum. These are the two sites in Rome that have very long lines. By buying tickets in advance you get to bypass the lines and go directly inside. You can also book tours of these two sites on the official websites. Other than that you may want to book any tours that you plan to take. May is a busy month in Rome so waiting until you get there may not be the best thing to do. http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?aaaamm=20136&numeroPartecipanti=2&step=3&action=booking http://www.coopculture.it/en/ticket.cfm?office=Colosseo&id=2 Donna

Thanks so much, Donna! Would you suggest tours over regular admission and self-touring? We've heard great things about the Rick Steves mobile app that "guides" us through cities and cites, but we haven't used it before. Is there anything in particular you think we should book a tour for versus do on our own, and vice versa?

Personally, I don't like guided tours. I like to do things on my own. I really like audio tours as I can visit the sites when I want and stay at exhibits for as long as I like, where as when on a tour you're on the schedule of the guide and really have no freedom. There are some really great audio guides available on the web so before booking any guided tours I would check them out to see if they may be something you're interested in. I found some really great walking tours of Rome and Venice on Pocketvox.com. I really like the ones for the forum in Rome. The ones for the different areas of Venice are great also. Check out the ones for the Dorsoduro area. When the Hubby and I took our first trip to Venice and used this audio guide we were the only ones in most of the area covered by the tour. It was great. We were there in early march a few years ago. If you have an ipod or similar you can download the guides and take them with you. It's very easy. Donna

Can you buy just the tickets or do you have to buy the tour aswell?

Luke, As mentioned, you will definitely need time-specific reservations if you plan to visit the Borghese Gallery. Be there well in advance of your appointment time, as if you're late they will sell your tickets to "standby" customers. For visiting the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum, the Guidebook suggests buying a Combo ticket at the office on Palatine Hill, as there are usually no queues there. That makes entry to the Colosseum much easier and quicker. Local Guides have told me not to accept offers from Guides out front soliciting people for "English language tours", as they categorized them as scammers. After entry to the Colosseum, you can use either Audio Guides or take their in-house tour. I'd recommend their tour as it's very thorough, and it's really nice to be able to ask questions of the Guide (and not that expensive as I recall). If you're planning to take the Colosseum Underground tour, you'll have to book in advance for that. There's not enough room here to cover all the sites. Your best bet would be to pack along a copy of the Italy 2013 Guidebook (also available as an E-book) as all the information is there for ALL the major sights in the places you mentioned. Happy travels!