Rome in Late February

We arrived Rome February 26 a couple years ago and had purchased in advance Skip The Line tickets for St. Peter's, on a weekday. I think it cost about 18 Euro apiece. There was a fairly long line when we got there, and we thought that the Skip The Line tickets saved us about 60-90 minutes of waiting, well worth the price in my estimation.

Sites like the Vatican Museums and the Colosseo/Palatino/Ford Romano are always busy and skip the line tickets will save you some time. You still have to go through security but at least you do not have to wait in a long line just for tickets.

If you are there in a weekend, see if the Domus Aurea will be open. Advanced tickets mandatory and well worth your time. Also Palazzo Valentini is marvelous. https://www.palazzovalentini.it/domus-romane/index-en.html. Again, advanced reservations imperative.

The Borghese Gallery also requires a reserved time for your visit and they limit how many people can get in for each 2 hour visiting time. It's best to buy those tickets a couple of weeks before you go, in order to choose the time that best fits your schedule.

I was in Rome at the end of February 2 years ago. The line for Vatican Museums security (tickets are after security) was not only long but also not moving, so said those in line. Note that there is a separate line for those with ticket reservations. There was a long line for Colosseum/Forum tickets too.

I think it is a great time of year to go. We were in Rome the last week of February two years ago and are planning to go again this year. We bought Vatican museum tickets in the TI in St. Peter's square (they cost a few euro more than buying them at the museum entrance.) Once we went through security, it turned out that there was no need to have bought them in advance--the line was short. The price difference is fairly small, however, so it might be worth it to walk around to the museum entrance and see how it looks. All depends on your flexibility--we don't try to cram too much into a day and would have returned the following day if it seemed impossible. As a general rule, RS books have saved us a lot of time. We follow his suggestions for the time to do various things and for info about when things are closed and he hasn't steered us wrong. Have a great trip!

Cath--

So you caught the good weather in Rome 2 years ago like we did? Not only was it relatively uncrowded--except at the usual suspects like the Vatican, Spanish Steps, Trevi, etc.--but it was consistently 55-65 during the day, and 40-50 at night & early morning. I'd put on my stocking cap & gloves and go for an brisk sunrise walk along the Tiber River. Just fantastic!

'Course, the other side of the story is that we proceeded south to Sorrento, where it was sideways rain, wind and about 40 degrees for 3 days before it cleared up.

Can't never tell that time of year!

Jay--

We just got back and got that same wonderful weather. We also traveled over to Pesaro and Urbino by car and the weather held.

Great trip!

We are leaving on Saturday...already have tickets for Vatican, Domus Aerea and Colosseum. Those are the only ones we decided to get skip the lines. For the Vatican, we went ahead and did the lunch option. I know it appears to be just cafeteria food, but one less thing we have to think about. We are excited and are hoping for a good time, good food and weather :)