I will be in Rome for a full day and night on Sunday May 1 prior to a cruise and just found out it's Labor Day holiday there. I am trying to find out how to visit the major sites - what's open/closed and general advice on what do see and do given I'm there on a holiday and understand there are crowds and closures?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15244 posts
Most sights will be closed, including the Vatican Museum, which is closed every Sunday anyhow. You need to go to the website of the places you'd like to visit to find out the opening hours and closing days. However there are beautiful sights and monuments that are in the open (Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, St. Peter's Square, etc.) and you will be able to see those, at least from the outside.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15848 posts
Yes, most of the bigger attractions will be closed but you should be able to visit any number of glorious churches in between masses. The piazzas and fountains will be possibilities, and you might take a spin around the ruins in the Jewish Ghetto (Teatro Marcello and Portico Octavia):
http://www.turismoroma.it/quartieri/ghetto-circomassimo?lang=en
You can also peer down into the scavi of Area Sacra at Largo Argentina; Julius Caesar was assassinated here at Pompey's Curia. The website notes that it's closed but that only means that you can't walk around IN it but you can see a lot from the surrounding sidewalks, and there was signage to tell us what we were looking at.