We're going to Venice, Florence & Rome at the end of April. I just tried calling the Accademia museum in Venice to make reservations (@ 9am), I get thru & when I press 2 for english I get a strange sound. Do I have to call during certain times to allow for the time difference? I also tried going on line as Rick suggested in his book and the website is not taking reservations. Does anyone know what's going on or can anyone tell me if I'm just calling at the wrong time?
Thanks,
Betty
It looks like the website noted above charges about twice the price you pay at the door. Granted at some places the lines are long, but when you can phone ahead and pay only about e3 more at places like the Uffizi and Accademia, I'd encourage you do go that route. As far as paying double the price for the Colosseum, don't do that. Just go to the booths at the bottom of the Palatine hill. They're never crowded.
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 our five must see 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.
One tip if using tickitaly.com - have all your dates and times organized so you can navigate efficiently through the site. Also, there is a booking fee which some have argued stinks. But I was willing to pay the fee to be assured entrance. I haven't spent all this time and treasure planning this trip to miss our must sees!
Hope this helps.
You do have to call during their business hours. Last year I went through the automated responses and was on hold for a while before I realized a person was not going to answer. I had called too late in their day to reach anyone. I tried earlier the next day and was able to get through fine. It was definitely worth the effort to not have to stand in the lines.
I think that there is a six or seven hour different between them and EDT, which is the zone you are in. Try calling at 7:00AM your time and see if you get through.
Thanks everyone for your advice!!!
I got thru this morning to the Accademia in Venice and got a reservation code. I was surprised that they said I would have to call back two weeks before the visit to give a credit card #. In Rick Steves book it didn't mention anything about that. I thought you just paid when you got there. Anyone know???
I doubt that you need a reservation for the Accademia in VENICE. But since you have one, I'd probably just show up at the appointed time and pay for the ticket. At the Accademia in FLORENCE, you get a reservation number and pay for your ticket plus a few extra euros for the reservation when you arrive at the museum. In VENICE, I arrived at the Accademia when it opened and had the place to myself for most of an hour. It gets crowded later. Late April/early May should not be peak times for the crowds. In FLORENCE, at both the Accademia and Uffizi, I showed up about an hour before closing time and walked in. Of course I had to buy a ticket, but there was no line at that time. You can also get reservations for these museums if you want to visit earlier in the day.
Thanks Swan!
I was a bit worried about crowds and having to stand on a long line. How long would you say it takes to see these museums? Could play it save by setting aside two hours at each or should we leave more time set aside for these visits?
