I took Rick's advise seriously about making reservations for some of Italy's most populars sites. My husband and I are visiting Rome, Assisi, Florence and Siena in June 2008. We used tickitaly.com to reserve dates and times for five sites: Borghese Gallery, Colosseum, Vatican, The Academia and the Uffizi. It was so easy! We received vouchers confirming the reservation, the reservations are paid for (one less bit of travel funds we'll have to jam into the money belt!), and no time will be wasted standing in long lines. It also forced us to build an itinerary while keeping enough time in between for moving about at a leisurely pace. The next test will be when we arrive to claim our reservation. Wish us luck!
Posted by
XXX
1170 posts
You will be in Italy around the time we plan to be there!
I am a little nervous about booking and paying for some things online, so I was thrilled to see this post.
How long will you be in Florence?
Posted by
OP
Pittsfield, MA, United States
103 posts
We'll be there for 4 days (June 26 to 29) with a day trip to Siena. Can't wait!
Posted by
XXX
1170 posts
We will be there earlier so I'll have time to come back and post my experience for others.
Posted by
OP
Pittsfield, MA, United States
103 posts
One other point - if you use tickitaly.com to make reservations, be sure to read carefully how it works before you start and then have your dates and times organized so that you can move efficiently through the process.
Posted by
Bel Air, MD, USA
261 posts
I saw in Rick book, that there is a pass that gives you a discount to several sites, including Borghese gallery. Do you know if you still get the discount if you book tickets online? Thanks for the tip on the site, I was looking for a way to do that too.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2335 posts
Re: Margaret's post - I believe you're referring to the Roma Pass. It is good for the Borghese, but I think you still have to reserve a time slot on line (easy to do - go to Here and click on Reservations).
You can see what the Roma Pass covers Here and it appears you can also purchase it online.
Posted by
St Louis
411 posts
You can buy or book reservations at any of the major museums of Florence at this Official museum website
http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/english/Default.asp?
You can book the Academia and Uffizi (and several others) with one phone call (they have an English speaking operator) Just have all your info date times and full names for each member of your party. Academia and Ufizzi are 6.5 euro each plus a 3 euro handling fee for each ticket--- which is till much less than the 15.5 euro per ticket that tickitaly.com charges. You go at your scheduled time (arrive early) bypass the lines and pay for your tickets when you present the reservation printout. The major advantage--- beside saving almost ten dollars per ticket--- is that if for some reason you don't make it there you aren't charged.
Posted by
St Louis
411 posts
Vatican Museum
This site details reserved tours through the Vatican itself http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html
The cost including museum admission is Euro 22.50 and was an excellent tour. Note that the website indicates you should fax your request HOWEVER you can use this email address instead
visiteguidate.musei@scv.va .
The Roma Pass is 20 euro and a wonderfull value. You get two free museum admissions from their list (Borghese and Colosseum are two on the list) and three days of free metro and bus rides. You will have to call and make a reservation for the Borghese at least one day in advance but you don't need to pay in advance.
Ticket services are convenient but VERY expensive. It's really not that much effort or trouble to book it yourself and those six and ten euro service charges add up quickly.
Posted by
OP
Pittsfield, MA, United States
103 posts
These are all great ideas, too. And I considered many of these options. In the end, I found using one website much more efficient than trying to make phone calls or sending e-mails to each individual site that I wanted to visit. I'm way too busy to spend hours on end making calls and responding back and forth to emails so I didn't mind paying the fee at tickitaly.com. I've got printed confirmation vouchers that I will turn in at the site as opposed to nothing to show for a reservation made via phone call.
Posted by
XXX
1170 posts
Don't take this the wrong way, but if one is paying 20 euros for the Roma Pass, how can you say that getting into the museum or transport is free? You are paying 20 euros after all. Has anyone figured out the transport fares and museum entrance to see how much you can actually save? This was a question put to me by my daughter. She's quick like that, lol
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
A lot of the value of the Roma Pass is probably related to how much public transportation you use. I didn't have the pass on my December trip (RS tour gives you multiple 1 euro metro/bus tickets to get around for 'tour stuff'), but between the ones I was given and the ones I bought to use in my free time, I probably "spent" about 20 euros just on transportation. So if you ride the metro/bus 20 times, the two museums end up being "free". Plus the discount for the remaining museums.
If you walk everywhere, the pass has obviously less value.
Posted by
OP
Pittsfield, MA, United States
103 posts
I'm still considering the Roma Pass for the public transporation benefit and the discounts at the sites where I don't have a reservation. I just like the idea of not having to stop and buy a ticket for every bus trip we'll take. But I'm still unsure if we'll actually use 20 euros worth of bus rides and other sites.
Seriously, about making advance reservations for your must see sites - I say - why take the chance of not getting in or wasting time in line. After all the time and treasure in planning this trip I do not want to miss the Sistine Chapel!
Happy Travels