Rome in January - how bad are the lines?

[CruisinEurope]

question for those of you who have been to Rome "off season" - - I'm hearing from some private tour guides that prebooking tix to the Vatican isn't necessary in January since it will be essentially dead there (except the cruise ships).

 

The LOOOOOOOOOOOONG lines into the Vatican were the main reason for looking into a private/pre-booked tour - - but if this isn't the case, then we'll just do Rome on our own.

 

Thoughts???

[cruisemom42]

I haven't been to Rome in January but have been there in November, December, and February. I have found that, particularly since the Vatican did away with the shorter winter hours for the Museum, there is not much of a line on most days. I was there on December 2 and walked right in at about 9:30 am.

 

It's better to avoid going on a Monday -- always more crowded because most other museums in Rome are closed on Mondays. Also, early afternoons are supposedly less crowded than mornings.

 

I very much enjoyed doing the museum on my own. I've been several other times and have always felt rushed through certain areas in which I am more interested.

[ab0si]

Early January is CROWDED. School Holiday, so "all" the locals are trying to go to the same places the tourists want to see. Note: this is not just for the Vatican, it applies to the rest of Rome, Florence, etc. The crowds last at least through what used to be called the Feast of the Circumcision and is now Epiphany (6 Jan) but probably to the end of that week.

 

Late January it is much more reasonable.

 

If you are interested in classical, Renaissance, or Baroque art (and some decent medieval art, also), consider taking a guided tour. The museum is huge with an amazing amount of purely trivial works which makes it hard to see/find the many masterpieces. A good guide can really help. At the very least-- unless you are just walking through to get to the Sistine Chapel-- do your homework.

[CintiPam]

I haven't been to Rome in January but have been there in November, December, and February. I have found that, particularly since the Vatican did away with the shorter winter hours for the Museum, there is not much of a line on most days. I was there on December 2 and walked right in at about 9:30 am.

 

It's better to avoid going on a Monday -- always more crowded because most other museums in Rome are closed on Mondays. Also, early afternoons are supposedly less crowded than mornings.

 

I very much enjoyed doing the museum on my own. I've been several other times and have always felt rushed through certain areas in which I am more interested.

 

I have been in Rome in November, and the line at the Vatican was very long. However, I too have heard that now that the Vatican did away with the shorter Museum winter hours, you should not have a problem going on your own.

 

I always am happy to take a one-hour or so art museum guided tour when I know I also will be able to tour on my own afterwards, but with a collection as vast as the Vatican's, I really prefer to take my time and focus on my particular interests. The guided tours I have seen there go way to fast for me!

[texancruzer]

Have not been in January....but we did the VERY END of November last year.

 

On a Friday morning the line was quite long....however our private guide told us in "season" it can stretch completely around the complex. We're talking Vatican City !!! :eek: Since we were booked with a private guide - we went to the front of the line and walked right in :)

 

I can't imagine doing the museums, the Chapel and St. Peters without a guide. At least for the first visit. There is so much it is visually overwhelming...... without her I would have missed half of it. Just my opinion. If I had a couple of days just for the Vatican complex - then on my own.

 

The Coliseum line was not so bad. Maybe 100-150 people. But again our private guide (same one) took us to the Palantine Hill ticket office and there was NO ONE in that line. We then did the Forum and afterwards walked over to the Coliseum and bypassed the line again :D

 

All in all - Europe is much less crowded in off season. Our day at Pompeii was really nice. People -yes but crowded - NO. And traffic on the Amalfi drive was nothing. Allowed us to see so much more in a short amount of time.

 

We will cruise in Nov. again in the Med. !

[Mim Lloyd]

Is it right that if you buy your Coliseum ticket at the Palatine hill, you can then just walk right into the Coliseum and not have to join the queue there?

[CathyCruises]

That is correct.

[CoralReef]

Is it right that if you buy your Coliseum ticket at the Palatine hill, you can then just walk right into the Coliseum and not have to join the queue there?

 

Pretty much. You still have to go through the security line, but it moves very fast. The ticket line is the one that eats up time when there are lots of visitors. Just move to the left, to the line marked "Ticket holders".

 

You can also buy your combined Colosseum/Palatine/Forum ticket at the Forum. The lines were a bit longer at the Forum than at the Palatine, but I would recommend this if you are not interesting in touring the Palatine, since it's about a 5-minute walk from the Palatine entrance to the Colosseum. The Palatine is well worth touring for Roman history buffs, but it's probably not as much of a must-see for most people as the Forum and Colosseum.

[ToddinVA]

How busy is it in late May?

[Mim Lloyd]

Thank you both for your replies. One less queue to worry about! I've just found out that you can buy your Vatican tickets online so we'll do that too to avoid lines there. Can you hire audio guide headsets at the Vatican does anyone know?

 

Mim

[Pat.bz]

We were in Rome in late November for a week prior to our cruise. The only thing we had to prebook was the Borghese. There was a 15min wait for the Vatican and no wait anywhere else (including Pompeii). We did it all on our own and the best tip we got was to do free Rick Steves downloads from itunes. These were each 45 min audio tours (with pics); we did St.Peters, Sistine Chapel, the forum and Colessium. These tours were worth their weight in gold.

[cruisemom42]

Thank you both for your replies. One less queue to worry about! I've just found out that you can buy your Vatican tickets online so we'll do that too to avoid lines there. Can you hire audio guide headsets at the Vatican does anyone know?

 

Mim

 

Yes, you can hire an audioguide at the museum. A word of warning though. There is a short-cut from the Sistine Chapel (the end of the Vatican Museum) right into St. Peters. This saves you a considerable amount of time and walking, because otherwise you'd have to walk all the way back to the museum entrance (20 mins at least) and then around to the entrance of St. Peters, then a possible wait to get through their security.

 

However, IF you rent the audioguide, you lose the opportunity to take the shortcut, as you have to return it at the front of the museum.

 

If the shortcut sounds appealing to you, consider downloading the Rick Steves' podcasts (free) for your Ipod. Or you can just use the well-described walking tour through the museum in his Rome book.

[Mim Lloyd]

Thanks for the Rick Steves tip. I downloaded the podcasts and pdf maps - really good.

 

As for the Sistine Chapel - when you enter it after going through the Vatican, where is the shortcut exit into the square?

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for the Rick Steves tip. I downloaded the podcasts and pdf maps - really good.

 

As for the Sistine Chapel - when you enter it after going through the Vatican, where is the shortcut exit into the square?

 

 

From where you enter the chapel, it is at the other end and to your right.

[CathyCruises]

And it looks very nondescript--just a small door in the back right corner and I think it has a sign that says tour groups only--but use it anyway!

 

There was kind of a crowd in front of the normal exit door, which is on the left, and as we milled and looked around I spotted that door and BINGO the light went on and I remembered reading that tip on these boards--it's a huge help!

 

Cathy

[Mim Lloyd]

Thanks for the tip!

[carlmm]

Just realize what using the "short-cut" implies for your visit.

Roughly spoken, the Sistine Chapel is half way on a round tour through the Vatican museums. Thus if you leave the museums there, you miss quite a lot. Even more so, if you use the most direct way to the Chapel.

Certainly, if you are not interested in the other sights, directly existing there is quite comfortably.

But if you are interested in the museums, you should plan ahead and make sure you saw what you want before going or returning to the Sistine chapel and using the exit there.

[Mim Lloyd]

Thanks for that. I think we'll probably wait until we're there and then decide whether or not to use the shortcut. It will depend on how tired we are and how much else we've to see on the day.

[cruisemom42]

Just realize what using the "short-cut" implies for your visit.

Roughly spoken, the Sistine Chapel is half way on a round tour through the Vatican museums. Thus if you leave the museums there, you miss quite a lot. Even more so, if you use the most direct way to the Chapel.

Certainly, if you are not interested in the other sights, directly existing there is quite comfortably.

But if you are interested in the museums, you should plan ahead and make sure you saw what you want before going or returning to the Sistine chapel and using the exit there.

 

The Rick Steves self-guided tour makes you aware of this and provides an alternate route so that you can see everything (well, everything that you want to see....) before you get to the Sistine Chapel.