Hello, We will be in Rome (in June) on a Friday (arriving 9AM), Saturday, and half of Sunday (leaving around noon). Ideally we'd go to the Vatican on Saturday (I'd like to start with the Colosseum and Forum on Friday), but Saturday is a day Rick mentions it is especially busy. My question, if I pay for a reservation, will that alleviate the wait, or will it still be super packed inside (more so than usual) and a longer-than-normal security line? Would you go Friday (don't like the idea of starting my visit to ROME with the Vatican - just me being silly) or Saturday like I want to? I'm thinking Sunday would be too tight, right? Thank you!
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11513 posts
Doesn't matter whether you have a reservation or not in regards to the crowds inside, it will be crowded inside, accept that and make the best of it.
I would make a reservation if I could.. waiting in hours to get in, then dealing with crowds can be a double whammy of overload,, and the heat..
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23661 posts
It is a dice roll. No way to know for sure but you might check with a TI to see if anything special is being scheduled on certain days. With the new pope a lot of special activity is going on. We were there last Saturday along with an estimated 300,000 or few more and could not get anywhere close. Will catch it next time.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
I assume you're talking about the Vatican museums since you mention reserving tickets. The Vatican museums are not open on Sundays, except the last one of the month when they are free and horribly crowded. This means that you can go on either Friday or Saturday. With the museums being closed on Sundays, Saturdays and Mondays are the busiest days there. It doesn't matter if you reserve tickets or not, the museums will be crowded. Reserving tickets means you get to bypass the line which at times can be over 2 hours long. It has no bearing on the crowds inside. That being said, if you wish to go on a day that will be the least crowded you should go on Friday. Check to see if the "Friday nights at the Vatican" are available while you're there. This tends to be less crowded than during the day. The downside is that not all of the rooms are open and you only have a few hours inside the museums. If the rooms you wish to see will be open I would book the night hours on Friday, if not, I would go during the day on Friday. Donna