Good Morning
We are in the midst of planning our next trip for mid May 2018. Rome has made its way on to our list. My hesitation is the crowds. We just returned from Florence last month & were exhausted by the crushing amount of tourists.
My question is: would we experience peak season crowds or moderate? I know it's a hard question bc crowd size varies from person to person. I just hate the idea of dodging people again with every step I take
Thanks!
Amanda
I think you have two levels of crowds in Rome -- very crowded and very, very crowded. We have been in Rome in May, June, and October over the years. About the only difference we have noticed is that it is more crowded in June BUT it didn't seem to that much more crowded - just very crowded. We enjoyed Oct the best but that was mostly for the weather but still crowded. Rome is the mecca for the Christian world and it just attracts a lot of tourists and most are non-Americans. I am not sure that there is an off season to Rome. But -- I am not sure what Rome would be if the crowds were not there. Good luck.
I spent four days in Rome in late May 2015. It wasn't my first visit. I experienced busy sidewalks in the "downtown" area, the typical market crowds at Campo de' Fiori, and tourist mobs at the Pantheon. Otherwise, I wouldn't say the city was exceptionally crowded. That's because--with the exception of the Pantheon and the market--I didn't go to places at the top of every tourists' list. Instead, I wandered around Trastevere, I went to the non-Catholic cemetery, I visited churches that were not St. Peter's, etc.
In any city that's home to millions of people, you'll be sharing the sidewalks in the central core with lots of other folks, but with that proviso I think you can craft a visit to Rome that doesn't make you feel like a sardine. It requires not trying to pack four (or more) days' worth of Class A sights into a four-day visit. If you can bring yourself to select just a few Class A, big-name sights, the trip will not be so hectic. This is actually easier to pull off in a big city like Rome, because there are so many back streets to explore. Where I run into problems is the extremely small towns where it's nearly impossible to escape the tourist shops.
While your impression may differ, I've found Florence to be more suffocating than Rome. The eternal city just seems to have more space, not only in the greater size of the city but also in the more spacious streets. It was possibly just my mood during the days we were in Florence, but the streets seemed more narrow, the buildings closer together, and the sun less likely to find us. I started to feel claustrophobic. Even with the crowds, I've never felt that way in Rome--except of course inside the major tourist attractions, such as the Vatican museums. But even St Peters is so huge that I've always been able to find a quiet spot to simply stand and breathe in its history and meaning. Of course, as I said, mood can play a big role in perception of a city and your mileage may vary.
As acraven said, there are areas that are less crowded. But if it is your first visit, you will want to go to the sites everyone goes. A few ideas based on lessons learned while living in Roma for almost 5 years.
If you can go in March or April (at least a week before Easter) you will have reasonable weather and lighter crowds (except at the Vatican).
I just hate the idea of dodging people again with every step I take
How much of that you'll deal with depends on what you intend to do in Rome? If your agenda is to hit the top attractions, you'll be in the thick of the masses all the time. If you can allow enough days to explore some of the less mobbed corners, you can alternate those tourist magnets with some breathing room. Also, Galleria Borghese - while a top attraction - exercises strict crowd control so you won't be overrun there as you will at the Vatican Museums. Pre-reservations are mandatory.
But even the Vatican can be managed. If your visit falls over a Friday, you can get ticket for a later-evening visit; available only over the warmer months. Only parts of the museums are open but that includes the Sistine and some other interesting sections. We ambled up to the Aventine to the municipal rose gardens on our last May trip and found them to be blissfully tranquil and in full bloom. Lovely Santa Sabina and its next-door orange garden are up there too as well as some very impressive views of the backside of the Palatine and the Roman skyline. The nice thing about Rome is that it's large enough to handle lots and lots of bodies, and the majority of those will be at the Colosseum, Forum, the Vatican, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, etc. Go elsewhere (and there's many fascinating elsewheres to go to) and you will likely not be tripping over much of anything but your own feet...if you're a klutz like me. HA!
It's been remarked frequently on the forums that many visitors who came away with negative impressions of the Eternal City probably acquired those because they didn't give it enough time. If you spend all of just a few days fighting your way through the most crowded places, you probably won't enjoy it nearly much as if you'd stayed a little longer, slowed down a little more and gave yourself some unstructured adventure time.
Kathy wrote: because they didn't give it enough time
That is my own experience. I didn't really warm to Rome until my third visit. Even in off-season, the Vatican Museums are crowded. But St. Peter's early in the morning (opens at 7) is quiet and the security line won't delay you then. There are tricks to avoiding crowds at other sights, especially by paying a premium for online tickets and/or taking guided tours. There are lots of lesser sights that don't attract huge crowds and as others have pointed out, it's a big city so the tourist crowds are more dispersed than in central Florence, for example.
LOL! It's November 25, 2017, and I'm still dodging people at every step, and I keep a low profile, just go to work and go grocery shopping.
I leave for work before 2:30 pm and the Metro subway is so packed nobody can move and they stampede to get off. Just a few days ago the crowd behind me pushed me into the guy in front of me who turned around and hit me! WTF! I mean it's not a soccer game, it's a frickin' train. A few minutes later some big guy runs up behind me, clamps down on my shoulders and pushes me out of the way so he can pass. I screamed, scared everyone around who heard me, cops swarmed the area, and I ran for my life!
Now I rarely venture out to tourists areas but family in the US want some items from the Vatican and environs so I took the 64 bus EARLY and made it there OK, did my business and took the 64 bus back to Termini while it was still EARLY. The bus at the Vatican stop was OK but it didn't take long for it to fill up to frozen state where nobody can move. I'm a very small person and so am always able to scoot in the corner to allow other people to share my seat on the bus, but something odd happened to me on this bus. The crowd was pushing against the person next to me on my seat and so I couldn't move either for the half hour it took to reach Termini and then I couldn't get off the bus! It's like I was frozen in the corner! Some guy pulled me to the aisle, helped me off the bus and got me walking again. Talk about Weird!
Just this morning I went shopping Early to Todis thinking I'd beat the Saturday crowds, right? So I stop at the banana pile which is not in the best spot to begin with just long enough for one banana and the next thing I know some guy is rubbing Butts with me from left to right with HARD pressure!!! I'm small and he was BIG! Now I didn't know he wanted the same space I was occupying OK, he decides it's Ok for him to pass me even though there is No space to do so by squeezing my Butt into the banana box!!!!
That really got me talking High English and no other man dared venture near that banana box until I left with my one banana!
So I don't know what to say, it's NUTSO in Rome!
I think you have two levels of crowds in Rome -- very crowded and
very, very crowded. We have been in Rome in May, June, and October
over the years. About the only difference we have noticed is that it
is more crowded in June BUT it didn't seem to that much more crowded -
just very crowded. We enjoyed Oct the best but that was mostly for the
weather but still crowded. Rome is the mecca for the Christian world
and it just attracts a lot of tourists and most are non-Americans. I
am not sure that there is an off season to Rome. But -- I am not sure
what Rome would be if the crowds were not there. Good luck.
To respond to Frank's above quote--yes, we experienced what one would call 'off-season' in Rome, and that was February 26 - March 4 of this year, in beautifully temperate weather, 50's & 60's during the day, 40's at night, only once a sprinkle of rain.
We stayed at an apartment above Campo de' Fiori, and while the market was busy every day, it never got too bad at all, and by the late afternoon the vendors had left and it was gloriously quiet. The buses we took every day were routinely crowded/full, but I expected that. Made restaurant reservations, some on the day of, some in advance, with no problem. Many nights we walked right into a place and were one of maybe two or three occupied tables for our entire meal.
Attractions were the same. We got advance 'skip the line' tix to St. Peter's but had we not done so, I estimate we would have only waited about an hour. Through Roman friends, found some under the radar places like the Baths of Diocletian--right next to Termini--that was pretty much deserted, and we had the run of the place. Villa Torlonia (the wartime residence of Mussolini) was similar. Walked by ourselves around the perimeter in the quiet dusk and imagined Il Duce standing on the portico. I will say that once we exited the Metro right near Spanish Steps and promptly got the heck out of there, away from the throngs. A few minutes later we skirted Trevi Fountain & exited there in short order as well.
That's the thing about Rome that's unlike Florence--if you see a crowd you can always get around it and go somewhere else that's decidedly quieter, at least the time of year we were there. Kathy & Chani can attest to this.
I see Sandra's downright scary post above and the only answer I can give is that finally the cheap dollar to Euro ratio has caught up to American tourism. I can truly say that I lived a wonderfully chill existence, thank you, for a week in Rome, and it was done cheaper than I could have in my own suburb north of Chicago, and absolutely way cheaper than the city of Chicago itself.
Enjoy your planning!
Jay I'm with you, why I'm here and not southside Chicago. These are locals crowding the buses and subways. It's interesting how many Europeans come to Rome for jobs, internships, and university. And many Italians from other parts of Italy come to Rome for jobs.
Amanda I wish I could say that there will be no crowds in Rome when you come but I can't say that. But many replies have given you best advice on how to minimize impact of crowds. You can do it. There's a new guesthouse near the Vatican owned and operated by Americans, this may make a positive difference for you.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/144784345569818?view=permalink&id=1515325031849069
San
The unique vibe of Rome is unlike anyplace I've been in Italy. Lots of residents working and living their lives, out & about doing their business in what seems like every different language on the planet. In its own way, similar to New York. As Sandra says, at least when we were there now that I think of it, I didn't see that many Americans--far less than in Florence, where even in March the whole central area seemed to be inundated with tour groups from every part of the universe. That got old real quick.
Sure, the buses were full, but we had bought a weekly pass (24 E) meaning that once it's validated the first time entering the bus for the week, you're free and clear to enter by any door from then on. I found it no more annoying than here in Chicago, which means not at all, as part of the deal of being in a big city. Kathy has said that sometimes it's faster walking than taking the bus--which is 'almost' true--but then you don't get the experience, in traffic, of looking at the guy standing next to you on the bus, raising your eyebrows in a universal 'what're ya gonna do?' expression, and having him respond in kind.
At our tiny apartment for a week, my wife and I couldn't help but imagine how we'd like staying longer, assimilating over the course of, I don't know, a couple months. And the answer was, absolutely. We hope to winter in Rome upon our retirement in a few years--take it a year at a time, live relatively frugally but I think it can be done without sacrificing any creature comforts. That's what being in one of the world's great cities allows you.
Amanda, mid-May in Roma may be crowded, but it's way better than not going at all! Enjoy your planning!
Amanda, mid-May in Roma may be crowded, but it's way better than not
going at all!
And THAT, Jay, is really the tall and short of it! 👍
Funny, we even found breathing room in Florence in May. Ponte Vecchio and the street leading onto it was a nightmare but the bridge is best appreciated from anywhere but ON the thing anyway, IMHO.
Thank you all for your advice/input.
The reason we were looking at May is because my husband is retiring from the Army in mid May. His orders have been issued so he's not able to take time off before his leave start date as new orders would have to be issued.
However, he realized the other day that the Army owes him 14 days, so once that is confirmed, we will move our trip to Feb, our preferred travel time :)
Im okay with crowds & appreciate Rome having more open areas, just wanted to avoid those summer crowds. I like off season travel when you have a feeling the whole city is yours.
Amanda
Oh Wow! Amanda the American owners and operators of that new guesthouse near the Vatican are also Military!
https://www.facebook.com/MoonlightInnRome/
They have very affordable promo specials. US Military get a 10% discount on standard rates. This info is from the first link I sent you.
