My mom and I will be in Rome for 5 nights in early December from the 4th - 9th. We have reservations to tour the tomb of St. Peter at 9 am on Tuesday the 5th. The tour of the tomb is supposed to take about 90 minutes. I was hoping to take a break after that, do a little shopping in Prati and get lunch and then come back and tour the museums and the rest of the basilica in the afternoon. As I'm reading more though, I'm worried about crowds even in early December. How bad are crowds likely to be on a Tuesday afternoon?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23273 posts
That is probably impossible to answer. I find that Rome is either crowded or very crowded. A week later a couple of years ago was very crowded. It is early Christmas season and a lot of people want to be in Rome for the Christmas holidays. Keep in mind that many tourist sites are closed on Monday so there could be surge on Tuesday because of Monday. But I don't the schedule for the museum and Basilica is always open.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15585 posts
Actually, Monday is usually the crowded day at the Vatican Museums because they are closed on Sundays and many other Roman museums are closed on Mondays. But, as Frank says, you just never know.
I reserved for a Thursday (typically Thurs-Fri are the least crowded) morning at the end of February 2 years ago. When I got there, no lines at all. So this past February I didn't book ahead, got there on the last Thursday of February and not only was there a long line but people told me it wasn't even moving. I went somewhere else.
I'd pay the €4 each just for peace of mind.