Pre-booking

Hi Breinne, can you elaborate on which museums and attractions you were speaking about? There are some (for instance, the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence and the Borghese in Rome) where it is advisable to get a reservation time in advance instead of waiting in line (Uffizi and Accademia) or hoping for an open spot once you get there (Borghese). Other places you don't necessarily need to book in advance. But instead of speculating, could you share which places you had in mind? This way you may get more pertinent information in the responses.

If your schedule is pretty well set or you will be going during a busy time, pre-book for the Uffizi and the Academia in Florence, and the Borghese in Rome. I think you can now book for the Vatican museum as well. If you will be off-season, it worked for me in florence to hit the Academia first thing, before the crowds, then stop by the Uffizi and pick a time for later in the day. In Rome, the Borghese is really sort of out of the way, so always book ahead, even in off-season.

I meant to also add, that aside from special sites (Vatican Scavi, the Last Supper in Milan, climbing the tower in Pisa) that are pre-book only, very few other museums warrant prebooking.

Hi Angela. A couple of the places that I plan to visit in Rome are St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican museum, and Colosseum. Thanks for your response.

Hello again... I'm afraid I don't have any pre-booking advice about the sites you listed, as we were there in March 2007 and didn't pre-book those sites. We did, however, use some sort of a pass for the Colosseum that allowed us to by-pass the line for tickets. Others who are much more knowledgable than I (and with better memories) should be along shortly to fill in the gaps. Have a great trip!