Rome in April O.M.G.!!!

If you visit one of Italy's "top 3 destinations" between Easter Monday and April 25 you can't be surprised because of the crowds.
The international crisis doesn't help: many Italian tourists who would normally spend this week abroad may have decided to visit Rome, Florence etc.

Just arrived in Amalfi Town via the ferry from Salerno. Ferry wasn't full but still many many people and the dock in Amalfi was mobbed with people going out. We are here for four nights in an apt away from the chaos. Plan to do hikes and try to lose the crowds. After 4 nights here we will spend 4 nights in Sorrento so I do hope after the 25th there are less crowds.

The Italians never fail to entertain. That made me laugh. Yep, it's a very fun place so hoping next time you can go back in mid winter. A forum friend who visited Florence & Rome in late January told me an Italian said, 'We take back our country in January."

You've been so generous with your time about Budapest, thought I'd add some ideas. (We've been to Rome a few times recently over NYE, and I've been going for 3 decades to visit Italian relatives.) Suggest getting out early, take a taxi to as far away from your accommodation as you can get and walk back. Don't recall if you're a museum type, but the 'Museo Nationale Romano' has 2 museums with a combined ticket of E14 (as of Dec 2023). Seriously fabulous museums & the Baths of Diocletian, devoid of crowds. (I seem to recall we saw 3 people at Palazzo Massimo, or was it 4?!) https://museonazionaleromano.it/en/. We loved our morning tour of Testaccio with Eating Europe, starts early and in a neighborhood far from the crowds. Our other fav was taking a taxi to Basilica of Saint Sabina, one of the oldest churches in Rome, see the views of St Peters in the Giardino degli Aranci next door, walk down via a cobblestone pathway to the Jewish ghetto via Teatro di Marcello & have lunch... Hope you have fun!

October 2010 - Taormina (Sicily), Florence, Rome.......Taormina tame, Florence very busy, Rome OK comparatively

February 2015 - Florence, Salerno/A.C.........Florence very busy, Salerno/A.C. off-season and wonderful

February 2017 - Rome, Sorrento..........Rome tolerable (except St. Peter's), Sorrento fine

April 2025 - Florence, Rome, Salerno/A.C., Taormina.........Florence overrun, Rome busy (Vatican insane), Salerno/A.C nice (except Ravello), Taormina too busy

That's how off-season travel in Italy has changed over 15 years. I think Rome handles crowds--in most areas--better than Florence or the Amalfi Coast does. Taormina was a total change. Lines everywhere, we had to get up on Etna to escape it. Looking forward to a long stay of 2 weeks in Rome next March...I know what to expect but trust it won't be that bad. I love Rome!

Sandancisco, thank you for the suggestions. kcdav, jay; thank you as well.

I'm happy with it. Like I said, this is my 4th or 5th visit. Just none in this century LOL. The trip was a gift for a friend and she is loving it. We have to stick to the tourist circuit. I have two canned tours, Vatican tomorrow and colosseum Sunday. We fly back to Budapest Monday.

Now we eat our way across Rome. A giant sea bass for two for lunch complete with the dancing and singing waiter. Tonight a family place outside the tourist zone. More seafood.

And I saw a place that sells Spam!! I'm buying a few cans to bring home.

Enjoy!
Is Spam not for sale in Budapest?

No Spam in Budapest 😒

We were in Rome in March and although it's been years it did seem kind really crowded. The area outside the Pantheon was crazy with lines but it was reasonable inside. Early morning in the Forum was pleasant but by early afternoon we were ready to get out.

Piazza Venezia is a complete work/disaster zone making traffic worse and the cab from the train station to Trastevere was very slow and expensive. We got stuck at the light at Venezia for 3 cycles and I though the taxi driver was going to lose it.

The 8 bus stops were moved away from P. Venezia to a nearby street out of sight and there were no trams running that we ever saw but City Mapper thought they were. And then on Sunday there was a marathon through the center of town that disrupted all bus schedules, routes and core city access.

So all in all Rome was very much being Rome. I saw a sticker a couple of places in the city that read "Love this confusion" and that's 100% my motto for Rome. You have to or it will make you crazy.

I forget who said but paraphrasing someone "I used to think Fellini was a surrealist filmmaker. But the longer I live in Rome the more I come to believe he was a documentary filmmaker."

=Tod

I saw a sticker a couple of places in the city that read "Love this confusion" and that's 100% my motto for Rome. You have to or it will make you crazy. Question - Were those stickers in Italian? I want one! On our first trip together to Italy, something immediately went wrong. I just laughed and said, 'Welcome to Italy!'

Mr E - So how was the Vatican today?? LOL, gosh you really are willing to brave the crowds!

Sandancisco, im doing this for someone who's total European experience has been Budapest, a few days in Austria and a few days in Milan.

From that perspective, we, and the 300,000 other tourists had a blast. Well done tour with 10 in the "semi private" group. 3 hours. My feet hurt. Drinking now.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4xwXWyqZuEipGJkk7?g_st=ac

Excellent seafood. Excellent service. Few tourists, mostly Italian families.

AND!!! They have seats on the toilet!

hey hey Mr E
LOL LOL finding cans of spam and you buying a few.
growing up on the big island of hawaii (hamakua coast, sugar plantations/ranches), that was a staple for all the of us. spam was a "yucky" to many and how could you eat that!!?? now it's a phenomenom with "spam musubi" not only in hawaii but others states on the mainland.
couple local ideas for you:

sliced long ways, fry (oil or teriyaki sauce), rice & scrambled eggs (hawaiian breakfast)
slice into cubes, fry, scramble eggs mix together and we made small omelettes or patty"s
slice long ways, cut in long way strips, dip in egg wash, roll in flour or bread crumbs, fry up or bake like "spam strips" for appetizers with you drink/cocktail.
OMG moment, did you count by hand 300,000+ people? :) with europe getting so overcrowded for years now, travels really have no idea how crazy packed it will be in big cities. i thank the lord i went 6 years ago to florence & venice then to amsterdam, another busy city. no matter what you advise here on the forum about the crowds they still go and enjoy, eat gelato & pastry, wine.
friends are leaving june 1st for 8 days to rome (vatican-tour booked) florence, lake como for nephews wedding. this is really my OMG-O SH__T moment LOL for them. never been to europe or rode a train, wear comfy shoes, pack patience (she hates crowds), bring suntan lotion, sunglasses, short or no sleeves, sit with her wine/his bourbon and people watch at outside cafe/bar to be entertained. thanks Mr E for keeping us up to date.
aloha

AND!!! They have seats on the toilet!

I had to chuckle at this, it is like seeing a unicorn! I have only ever seen one at a restaurant in italy and that was last year. So now we know, they do exist lol

My first trip here was about 1979 and holes in the floor were not uncommon. Now at least, well .....

Its the charm of the culture.

They have seats on the toilet!

(Faints dead away) 🦄

Toilet seats are primitive and over rated. Next trip: https://www.brendon.hu/ingenuity-foldaway-travel-potty-seat-wc-szukito-18072101

We havent had a bad meal yet.

Lovely trip.

But I remember when the Colosseum was in the center of a traffic circle. A busy traffic circle and the forum and Trevi Fountain were free. Even the Colosseum was a few euro and you bought it at the gate. New world.

Final thoughts.

I have met the enemy and he is Over Tourism. I have been traveling Eastern Europe almost exclusively for the last 15 years. So its a little like seeing a grand child every 5 years and being shocked at the growth.

Despite this the Italians remain gracious hosts. I dont see how they can live like this and maintain their attitude towards the tourists. Pretty special.

I have been telling people for years that a first trip to Europe should be London, Paris and Rome. Maybe I still believe that but this trip has been good evidence of the newest experiences are the most valid in these discussions. My last time here, my 3rd time here, was 2009. This is not the same place. My last trips to London and Paris were 2010, I doubt they are tge same. My revised suggestion for a first trip to Europe is to take an organized tour of London, Paris and Rome in October.

If you were to take the 100 most stylishly dressed people off any sidewalk, It would surprise me if at least 90 of them were not Italians.

If you take 100 slobblishly dressed people off the sidewalk, I would be surprised if 50 of them were not American or Canadian.

FreeNow taxi App works good. Flat rate Taxi to airport cost more than the flight to Budapest. 😅

I bought 2 "semi private, skip the line" tours from Viator vendors. Vatican and Colosseum/Palentine/Forum. Each about 3 hours. One tour 12 people, one tour 8 people. So, semi private? Skip the line means skip the ticket line, but not the entrance line, but the group entrance line was substantially faster than the individual line. Both tours worth the investment. No regrets.

Sounds like a successful trip!

TTM, only one word to describe it; brutal. The most brutal trip in 20 years. I walked 40km fighting off street vendors all the way. Lines for tickets, lines for entry, filthy toilet rooms ..., no toilet seats (LOL) when there were toilet rooms, expensive food (or more walking to avoid it), in accurate bills, no front desk, no second B in B&B. Thats just beng honest. Otherwise I enjoyed it ... a lot actually. But I will be so happy to return to Eastern Europe where tourism is still secondary to life in general.

May: Thinking about 3 or 4 days in Albania ... dont know yet. Taxes are due on the 20th so I have to figure that out first.
June: A week in Montenegro
July: My son wants me to meet him in Spain for a few days, I want to go to Moldova and Odesa. We will see.
August: Stay home
September: Maybe D.C. to see my daughter
October: any place but here (just kidding).
November: Here for the markets or Thailand (? not crazy about that idea).
December: Deportation