Liberation Day

We were in Rome on Liberation Day a couple of years and didn't notice anything until some one told us. Did notice the tail end of a parade but just assumed it was a routine parade for something. And I am not a dude !

You should be fine. Today was a holiday and most closures were just those of a usually museum-less Monday. Make a list of sights and sites you want to see, noting days and hours open and closed. (Consult Rick's guide or the site's website). You can consult this list for your daily planning. Use a sharpie on a laminated map to mark places you want to see so when you are wandering about you don't miss something. If you are going to the Vatican Museums, make a reservation before you fly. Ditto the Galleria Borghese. Consider a guided tour of the Colosseo, Palatino, and Foro Romano. We like Walks of Italy.

There is actually an important travel lesson to be learned here. We learned it more than 15 years ago, when we landed in Milan on April 25, Liberation Day. Who knew? Since we were on the road around 9 A.M. we thought the heavy traffic was routine rush hour; however, it got heavier, the further we got from Milan. Vehicles with surfboards on their roofs were a definite indication something else was going on. It took us 9 hours for what should have been a 4 or 5 hour drive. Now we know to check for holidays, local festivals, trade fairs, etc. when planning a trip. The internet has made all of this kind of checking much easier than it used to be.

We were in Rome on Liberation Day in 2009. All the stores shut down, including the tobacco stores - so if you need public transport tickets, get them before 6 p.m. that day. Also, there is a lot of traffic and parades in the area of the Coliseum. Lots of crowds, lots of people. Sometimes traffic has to be re-routed. The good thing is that entrance to certain attractions, such as the Roman Forum, are free; however, you still need to go to the box office and get a ticket to turn in at the gate, even though entrance is free (hey, this is Italy!).

Thanks guys! Tom, was just the Roman Forum free, or is the normal combo ticket group of the forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum free? That was the day I was thinking about hitting up all three. Would it make the most sense to take the metro to the Colosseum stop instead of dealing with the buses and traffic? Or should we do that area on Wednesday, the 24th? That's the day we get in, and I'm not sure when we'll get in - I would say noon to be conservative, but I would like to think we could get in earlier (coming in from a train from Orvieto.) If we should just avoid the Colosseum area that day, what would be other good options? We're doing the Vatican on that Friday (the day after Liberation Day) because that's when our necropolis tour is booked. We also want to visit Ostia Antica, the National Museum, the Baths of Diocletian, maybe the Borghese Gallery and the Church of San Clemente.