Info & Advice for Planning an Awesome Xmas Vacation to Italy/Vatican
September 2, 2015 12:00 PM Subscribe
My family has decided to spend the holidays in Italy and at the Vatican. I'm doing all the planning and booking and I need some advice both in general, and specific to the holidays/closures etc. We will spend about 2 weeks and plan to see Rome/the Vatican, Florence and Venice.
The plan is to leave shortly before christmas (probably the 21) and come back January 6 or 7. I will be travelling with my mom and two aunts. Their ages range from 68-73, though all relatively healthy in and in relatively good shape. There is one person with well-controlled rheumetoid arthritis and one with a bad knee.
Two of us have been to Rome and Venice before, though don't remember it will enough to answer these questions. None of us have been to Florence. We will stay in AirBnB apartments. We will fly into Rome, take the train to florence then the train to venice then fly home from Venice.
In addition to the usual tourist-y stuff we want to go to midnight mass at the Vatican. My mom and two aunts are pretty religious and are HUGE fans of the Pope Francis, whom they see as very pro-social justice/poverty issues etc.
Here is a list of things we plan to see:
Rome:
Colosseum
Pantheon
Forum
Catacombs
Pompei Day Trip
Trevi Fountain
Nativity Museum
That church where they have the steps from Pontias Pilate's castle that they plundered from Israel.
Vatican
Museums
Sistine Chapel
St. Peter’s Square
Necropololis Already booked for early afternoon on Dec. 23
Other Necropolis
Florence
The two big meseums, Uzzie and Academia, I think they're called. Would we be crazy to do both on the same day? Or maybe spend a couple of days, do one each day and do some more unstructured church exploring the other days?
Venice:
San Marco square and church
Dogge’s Castle
Murano
Cemetery
Casino
The Questions
1. What is a realistic number of days to spend in each place to get these things done, taking into account holiday closures. I'm especially interested in this for Rome, where we will be for actual Christmas.
2. Related to number 1: Which Rome items does it make sense to combine into one day. For example, the day trip to Pompei will have to be its own day. But can we do the Vatican Museums, Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica all in one day? I seem to recall this taking us two last time, but I don't remember why or if that's right.
3. Related to 2: What else can we do on the day of our necropolis tour? The tour is at 1ish will take up about 2 hours. We should be a little early because apparently the place is hard to find and we absolutely don't want to be late and miss this. But it breaks our day in two! Are there any things on the list that would work to do before or after this or are we just going to have to set one day aside for just that even if it leaves us with wasted hours?
4. I don't remember how the vatican museums work: Is there a way to pay to skip the line without doing a tour? Should we do the tour anyway for the explanations?
5. Will tours be running on the 24th? The 26th? Not just vatican tours, but for example, could we go to Pompei on the 26th?
6. What else is worth seeing in Florence?
7. Where can I eat the best eggplant parmagiana in Rome, Florence, or Venice?
8. Remind me how I buy the train tickets between cities? I was looking online and couldn't find anything for december. It seems unlikely the trains shut down in december.
9. What else do I need to know? What other advice can you offer? Is there anything I haven't listed that we should absolutely see?
The plan is to leave shortly before christmas (probably the 21) and come back January 6 or 7. I will be travelling with my mom and two aunts. Their ages range from 68-73, though all relatively healthy in and in relatively good shape. There is one person with well-controlled rheumetoid arthritis and one with a bad knee.
Two of us have been to Rome and Venice before, though don't remember it will enough to answer these questions. None of us have been to Florence. We will stay in AirBnB apartments. We will fly into Rome, take the train to florence then the train to venice then fly home from Venice.
In addition to the usual tourist-y stuff we want to go to midnight mass at the Vatican. My mom and two aunts are pretty religious and are HUGE fans of the Pope Francis, whom they see as very pro-social justice/poverty issues etc.
Here is a list of things we plan to see:
Rome:
Colosseum
Pantheon
Forum
Catacombs
Pompei Day Trip
Trevi Fountain
Nativity Museum
That church where they have the steps from Pontias Pilate's castle that they plundered from Israel.
Vatican
Museums
Sistine Chapel
St. Peter’s Square
Necropololis Already booked for early afternoon on Dec. 23
Other Necropolis
Florence
The two big meseums, Uzzie and Academia, I think they're called. Would we be crazy to do both on the same day? Or maybe spend a couple of days, do one each day and do some more unstructured church exploring the other days?
Venice:
San Marco square and church
Dogge’s Castle
Murano
Cemetery
Casino
The Questions
1. What is a realistic number of days to spend in each place to get these things done, taking into account holiday closures. I'm especially interested in this for Rome, where we will be for actual Christmas.
2. Related to number 1: Which Rome items does it make sense to combine into one day. For example, the day trip to Pompei will have to be its own day. But can we do the Vatican Museums, Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica all in one day? I seem to recall this taking us two last time, but I don't remember why or if that's right.
3. Related to 2: What else can we do on the day of our necropolis tour? The tour is at 1ish will take up about 2 hours. We should be a little early because apparently the place is hard to find and we absolutely don't want to be late and miss this. But it breaks our day in two! Are there any things on the list that would work to do before or after this or are we just going to have to set one day aside for just that even if it leaves us with wasted hours?
4. I don't remember how the vatican museums work: Is there a way to pay to skip the line without doing a tour? Should we do the tour anyway for the explanations?
5. Will tours be running on the 24th? The 26th? Not just vatican tours, but for example, could we go to Pompei on the 26th?
6. What else is worth seeing in Florence?
7. Where can I eat the best eggplant parmagiana in Rome, Florence, or Venice?
8. Remind me how I buy the train tickets between cities? I was looking online and couldn't find anything for december. It seems unlikely the trains shut down in december.
9. What else do I need to know? What other advice can you offer? Is there anything I haven't listed that we should absolutely see?
The Vatican Museums take forever, and trying to do them and the Sistine/St. Peter's in the same day is a lot to take in if you're at all prone to museum fatigue.
Galleria Borghese is phenomenal -- definitely at the top of my list for Rome. You're so close to the Bernini statues you can literally see the marble leaves quaking on Persephone's fingers. You can (and should) book tickets ahead, and they're available on the 24th and the 26th, or in the afternoon after the necropolis tour. It's near the Vatican, though across the river.
In addition to or even instead of Pompei, consider Ostia Antica. It's a half hour metro ride out of Rome and it's fantastic. I've also heard great things about Ercolano/Herculaneum near Pompei, but I've never been there so I can't speak to it.
Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum can be done in one day pretty easily. They're in close walking distance to each other, and the first two are free and don't require any tickets or admission, so you can fit them in around scheduled events. Alternately, you could put some of them in and around the necropolis tour.
Florence -- the Uffizi and the Accademia. The Uffizi can take a while but the Accademia is mostly the housing for Michelangelo's David. You can do it in an hour or so -- again, buy tickets in advance. It saves you so much time in line.
Also, the Duomo in Florence is a must-see, with Brunelleschi's dome and the Baptistery.
posted by katemonster at 12:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Galleria Borghese is phenomenal -- definitely at the top of my list for Rome. You're so close to the Bernini statues you can literally see the marble leaves quaking on Persephone's fingers. You can (and should) book tickets ahead, and they're available on the 24th and the 26th, or in the afternoon after the necropolis tour. It's near the Vatican, though across the river.
In addition to or even instead of Pompei, consider Ostia Antica. It's a half hour metro ride out of Rome and it's fantastic. I've also heard great things about Ercolano/Herculaneum near Pompei, but I've never been there so I can't speak to it.
Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum can be done in one day pretty easily. They're in close walking distance to each other, and the first two are free and don't require any tickets or admission, so you can fit them in around scheduled events. Alternately, you could put some of them in and around the necropolis tour.
Florence -- the Uffizi and the Accademia. The Uffizi can take a while but the Accademia is mostly the housing for Michelangelo's David. You can do it in an hour or so -- again, buy tickets in advance. It saves you so much time in line.
Also, the Duomo in Florence is a must-see, with Brunelleschi's dome and the Baptistery.
posted by katemonster at 12:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also, since it's Christmas don't miss the presepi.
posted by katemonster at 12:21 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by katemonster at 12:21 PM on September 2, 2015
Pompeii (and Herculaneum) are wonderful, but it's a big chunk of time and it means you're running through Pompeii with not much time to take it in. I would skip it (or head to Naples for an overnight, but then I kind of love scruffbucket Naples and the presepio figures for Christmas will be everywhere) and spend the day in Rome. You could stay closer to Rome and still get a Roman ruins fix by going to Ostia Antica.
Your religious relatives may want to visit the seven pilgrimage churches. You also may like going to some of the smaller, less known, or less visited churches like Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Santa Maria sopra Minerva (to say hi to the Michelangelo sculpture, the Bernini elephant, and all of Catherine of Siena except her head), Santa Pudenziana or Santa Maria in Cosmedin so you can admire the gorgeous Cosmati floors and put your hand in the Bocca della Verita like Audrey Hepburn.
posted by PussKillian at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2015
Your religious relatives may want to visit the seven pilgrimage churches. You also may like going to some of the smaller, less known, or less visited churches like Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Santa Maria sopra Minerva (to say hi to the Michelangelo sculpture, the Bernini elephant, and all of Catherine of Siena except her head), Santa Pudenziana or Santa Maria in Cosmedin so you can admire the gorgeous Cosmati floors and put your hand in the Bocca della Verita like Audrey Hepburn.
posted by PussKillian at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2015
Vatican museums + Sistine chapel definitely go together and can't be rushed - there are just too many people. After that though I think you might want some light relief, but the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon are both "quick" in the sense that they are places to just see and experience - you're done whenever you are ready to leave. Or you could definitely do one after the necropolis for the same reason. I wouldn't worry about optimising trips to the same area - central Rome is not that big so if you get a travelcard you can get to the Vatican very quickly.
If you get there early you can do the forum and colosseum on the same day as they are joint tickets. Your Rome+Vatican itinerary looks like 5 or 6 days of activity to me not including holidays. You might be able to squash it to 4 but you'll be rushing around a lot.
Florence you can definitely do both Uffizi and Accademia in a day but 2 would be nicer (and you should see the Duomo for sure).
Venice again looks like 2 days or so.
posted by crocomancer at 12:38 PM on September 2, 2015
If you get there early you can do the forum and colosseum on the same day as they are joint tickets. Your Rome+Vatican itinerary looks like 5 or 6 days of activity to me not including holidays. You might be able to squash it to 4 but you'll be rushing around a lot.
Florence you can definitely do both Uffizi and Accademia in a day but 2 would be nicer (and you should see the Duomo for sure).
Venice again looks like 2 days or so.
posted by crocomancer at 12:38 PM on September 2, 2015
To Rome add piazza Navona, since the the fountains are spectacular and during the Xmas season there are open air markets with great bargains.
In Florence I could spend days at the Uffizi, studying the art, but you could easily do both in a day. If you have time add the Boboli villa and gardens (although they might not look their best in winter). Also if you have time a short trip to Fiesole, which overlooks Florence and a lot of the countryside is refreshing.
In Venice in addition just walk around, most buildings have a sign for the train station or the piazza San Marco so it is impossible to get lost (although you can walk a lot).
For trains, in Rome there is a well manned info station with lots of help. Also in Florence.
As for food, be aware that menus in italian restaurants vary with the seasons and I'm afraid that eggplants are not winter veggies and are not imported so your chance of getting eggplant parmigiana (melanzane alla parmigiana ) is low: just enjoy the "piatto del giorno" instead and be pleasantly surprised.
There is a fairly active group of mefites in Rome, they might be able to steer you well.
posted by francesca too at 12:40 PM on September 2, 2015
In Florence I could spend days at the Uffizi, studying the art, but you could easily do both in a day. If you have time add the Boboli villa and gardens (although they might not look their best in winter). Also if you have time a short trip to Fiesole, which overlooks Florence and a lot of the countryside is refreshing.
In Venice in addition just walk around, most buildings have a sign for the train station or the piazza San Marco so it is impossible to get lost (although you can walk a lot).
For trains, in Rome there is a well manned info station with lots of help. Also in Florence.
As for food, be aware that menus in italian restaurants vary with the seasons and I'm afraid that eggplants are not winter veggies and are not imported so your chance of getting eggplant parmigiana (melanzane alla parmigiana ) is low: just enjoy the "piatto del giorno" instead and be pleasantly surprised.
There is a fairly active group of mefites in Rome, they might be able to steer you well.
posted by francesca too at 12:40 PM on September 2, 2015
Oh, and if you're using AirBnB I can recommend this apartment in Trastevere. We stayed there as a family of four and it was a great base with lots of nice restaurants nearby.
posted by crocomancer at 12:41 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by crocomancer at 12:41 PM on September 2, 2015
Get travel insurance! Hopefully nothing goes wrong, but ensuring that you all have medical coverage abroad is especially important given your mother and aunts' ages. You can talk over your options with a travel agent or insurance agent or DIY it through sites like InsureMyTrip (though as with everything, read the fine print before signing on the dotted line).
posted by evoque at 1:45 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by evoque at 1:45 PM on September 2, 2015
I bought train tickets on the Trenitalia site. You can only purchase tickets a certain number of days in advance, but annoyingly the site gives you a "No Travel Solution Found" message instead of telling you that you've selected a date too far in the future. For example, I can see tickets from Firenze S. M. Novella to Venezia S. Lucia on December 13, but not December 14. So you probably need to wait for the purchase window to move forward a couple more weeks. You can pay by credit card and receive the tickets by email. I like this because it lets you reserve your seats beforehand. If you don't want to commit to a specific train, you can buy Base tickets and change trains for free.
I think you can do Venice in three days. I'm not sure about eggplant parmagiana, but I can generally recommend the restaurants Trattoria Da Bepi and Vini Da Gigio, both of which are just off the Strada Nuova.
If you plan to take the ACTV bus from Venice to the airport, take the vaporetto to the Piazzale Roma (S. Chiara) stop, which is one past the stop for the train station. Otherwise, you'll have to walk across the Constitution Bridge, which has a lot of steps and is slippery when it rains. The office where you buy bus tickets is right in front of the vaporetto stop.
posted by neushoorn at 1:10 AM on September 3, 2015
I think you can do Venice in three days. I'm not sure about eggplant parmagiana, but I can generally recommend the restaurants Trattoria Da Bepi and Vini Da Gigio, both of which are just off the Strada Nuova.
If you plan to take the ACTV bus from Venice to the airport, take the vaporetto to the Piazzale Roma (S. Chiara) stop, which is one past the stop for the train station. Otherwise, you'll have to walk across the Constitution Bridge, which has a lot of steps and is slippery when it rains. The office where you buy bus tickets is right in front of the vaporetto stop.
posted by neushoorn at 1:10 AM on September 3, 2015
Straight off the bat looking at your dates, January 6th is Epiphany, a big holiday here; people usually start back to work/school starting fromt the day after. Be aware that plane tickets will priced accordingly. On the 6th the place to be in Rome is Piazza Navona to see the Befana festivities.
Midnight Mass at Vatican - You don't mention how you are planning to get your tickets; my dad got his through the Knights of Columbus since he's a member. More than likely you will have to pick your tickets up somewhere in (the vicinity of) Vatican City the day before or the day of. They will tell you when to start queuing/when the doors will open. This year they opened the doors at 7pm. People will already be lined up before this, FYI. My dad, his wife, and my husband headed over about 9.30pm if I remember correctly (I was 8 months preggo with a 2 yr old - midnight mass was not happening for me). I don't remember what time they got home, either. Plan accordingly if you absolutely MUST have primo seats, because it's first come first served unless you're some VIP guest.
To see the Sistine Chapel you have to visit the museums. There is no way to just see the Chapel - you pay the museum ticket and the Chapel is pretty much near the end of the museum. You can buy tickets online to skip the line. If you buy through a tour company, they will usually offer either a simple skip the line or a tour. Generally speaking a museum tour will be 2-3 hours, with the last point of interest in the museums being the Chapel. They let tour groups take the shortcut into St. Peter's Basilica from the Chapel; some tours will end at that point and let you do your own thing in the basilica. Make sure you are clear on this if you want a tour of the basilica as well. If you don't go with a tour, you cannot enter the basilica from the Sistine Chapel, you have to exit the museums and then go (possibly) queue for the basilica. If there's a queue for the basilica, there is no way to skip that line.
You will want to check closing times for the museum/sistine chapel as they are prone to early closures on the day before/day of holidays. They are also prone to changing said closure times a the last minute. Just a warning.
Hit me up via MeMail if you want the name of a tour company.
7. Where can I eat the best eggplant parmagiana in Rome, Florence, or Venice?
My house.
More in a bit - I have to feed the munchkins.
posted by romakimmy at 3:00 AM on September 3, 2015
Midnight Mass at Vatican - You don't mention how you are planning to get your tickets; my dad got his through the Knights of Columbus since he's a member. More than likely you will have to pick your tickets up somewhere in (the vicinity of) Vatican City the day before or the day of. They will tell you when to start queuing/when the doors will open. This year they opened the doors at 7pm. People will already be lined up before this, FYI. My dad, his wife, and my husband headed over about 9.30pm if I remember correctly (I was 8 months preggo with a 2 yr old - midnight mass was not happening for me). I don't remember what time they got home, either. Plan accordingly if you absolutely MUST have primo seats, because it's first come first served unless you're some VIP guest.
To see the Sistine Chapel you have to visit the museums. There is no way to just see the Chapel - you pay the museum ticket and the Chapel is pretty much near the end of the museum. You can buy tickets online to skip the line. If you buy through a tour company, they will usually offer either a simple skip the line or a tour. Generally speaking a museum tour will be 2-3 hours, with the last point of interest in the museums being the Chapel. They let tour groups take the shortcut into St. Peter's Basilica from the Chapel; some tours will end at that point and let you do your own thing in the basilica. Make sure you are clear on this if you want a tour of the basilica as well. If you don't go with a tour, you cannot enter the basilica from the Sistine Chapel, you have to exit the museums and then go (possibly) queue for the basilica. If there's a queue for the basilica, there is no way to skip that line.
You will want to check closing times for the museum/sistine chapel as they are prone to early closures on the day before/day of holidays. They are also prone to changing said closure times a the last minute. Just a warning.
Hit me up via MeMail if you want the name of a tour company.
7. Where can I eat the best eggplant parmagiana in Rome, Florence, or Venice?
My house.
More in a bit - I have to feed the munchkins.
posted by romakimmy at 3:00 AM on September 3, 2015
So I usually reccomend at a bare minimum of 3 days for Rome: 1 for Vatican, 1 for colosseum,forum and other historical center stuff (trevi, pantheon, etc) and 1 for other miscellaneous stuff. That's the knock it out, cram in all the major sites, leave the hotel in the morning and don't come back until after dinner minimum.
My dad has a bad knee. I walk everywhere at a pretty good clip. Rome is built on 7 hills and a buttload of cobblestones in varying degrees of upkeep. We had to go back for his knee brace once and after that he never left home without it.
trains - it seems neither Trenitalia nor the newer Italotreno have allocated availability in their online booking systems yet. Keep checking back - for the high velocity trains you can usually score some good deals booking in advance.
I will point you to the various official websites for holiday hours and closing a because A) they usually change it up every year and B) my fam has been here multiple times & I'm usually preparing to cook for a small army so haven't been holiday sightseeing for a while.
posted by romakimmy at 3:54 AM on September 3, 2015
My dad has a bad knee. I walk everywhere at a pretty good clip. Rome is built on 7 hills and a buttload of cobblestones in varying degrees of upkeep. We had to go back for his knee brace once and after that he never left home without it.
trains - it seems neither Trenitalia nor the newer Italotreno have allocated availability in their online booking systems yet. Keep checking back - for the high velocity trains you can usually score some good deals booking in advance.
I will point you to the various official websites for holiday hours and closing a because A) they usually change it up every year and B) my fam has been here multiple times & I'm usually preparing to cook for a small army so haven't been holiday sightseeing for a while.
posted by romakimmy at 3:54 AM on September 3, 2015
Response by poster: Midnight Mass at Vatican - You don't mention how you are planning to get your tickets; my dad got his through the Knights of Columbus since he's a member.
Yes, there's that. I thought the necropolis tickets would be hard to get, but those came through right away. It looks like midnight mass is a lot harder. I sent the required fax to the Vatican household office, but haven't heard back yet. I was thinking of calling to follow up tomorrow, but I expect I will get the legendary Italian customer service (sorry) and learn nothing. I've also asked my aunt if she could ask her priest, so she will do that on Sunday. I asked me other aunt if she has a priest, but she said her priest died. I will call her and find out if she knows any knights of columbus members.
Any other ideas for how one might get such tickets?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:07 AM on September 3, 2015
Yes, there's that. I thought the necropolis tickets would be hard to get, but those came through right away. It looks like midnight mass is a lot harder. I sent the required fax to the Vatican household office, but haven't heard back yet. I was thinking of calling to follow up tomorrow, but I expect I will get the legendary Italian customer service (sorry) and learn nothing. I've also asked my aunt if she could ask her priest, so she will do that on Sunday. I asked me other aunt if she has a priest, but she said her priest died. I will call her and find out if she knows any knights of columbus members.
Any other ideas for how one might get such tickets?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:07 AM on September 3, 2015
We did Rome for Christmas for several years in a row. We all loved it! The Christmas market at Piazza Navona, and the general happy atmosphere, the food, and yes, the midnight mass. Be aware that the mass is a wild thing, with desperate nuns pushing to get close to his holiness like fangirls and general chaos all over.
If you can't get the tickets, a midnight mass in Sta Maria alla Minerva is a beautiful alternative.
Be aware that it can be hard to find a nice restaurant that is open for Christmas Eve. One year we were at the famous Alfredo's which was a huge disappointment, another (good!) year, the hotel concierge got us invited to a private party at a restaurant, and we have also cooked at our airbnb, which was difficult at one place and lovely at an apartment in the Borgo with a huge market nearby. Of course, the big international hotels always have service, and I'll say the one we tried was better than Alfredo's (but I can't remember which it was, we didn't live there).
I'd prioritize Rome and Venice - both places you need time for strolling around and doing nothing, just exploring little alleys and piazzas and churches. Two days for Florence is fine, in my opinion.
Venice needs more than two days, otherwise you never get a real sense of the city. However, it can be very cold and very wet during winter. Don't live too close to the ground, and bring wellies!
posted by mumimor at 8:21 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you can't get the tickets, a midnight mass in Sta Maria alla Minerva is a beautiful alternative.
Be aware that it can be hard to find a nice restaurant that is open for Christmas Eve. One year we were at the famous Alfredo's which was a huge disappointment, another (good!) year, the hotel concierge got us invited to a private party at a restaurant, and we have also cooked at our airbnb, which was difficult at one place and lovely at an apartment in the Borgo with a huge market nearby. Of course, the big international hotels always have service, and I'll say the one we tried was better than Alfredo's (but I can't remember which it was, we didn't live there).
I'd prioritize Rome and Venice - both places you need time for strolling around and doing nothing, just exploring little alleys and piazzas and churches. Two days for Florence is fine, in my opinion.
Venice needs more than two days, otherwise you never get a real sense of the city. However, it can be very cold and very wet during winter. Don't live too close to the ground, and bring wellies!
posted by mumimor at 8:21 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
You don't mention when you sent the fax, and I would indeed follow up, but also realize that August is typically when everyone goes on holiday, so this week is basically everybody getting back in gear.
Generally I've known people who get theirs through clergy friends or acquaintances, or else through their parish priest. If it gets closer to the date and you're still ticketless, hit me up via memail and I can try to put out some feelers, but no promises.
posted by romakimmy at 10:23 AM on September 3, 2015
Generally I've known people who get theirs through clergy friends or acquaintances, or else through their parish priest. If it gets closer to the date and you're still ticketless, hit me up via memail and I can try to put out some feelers, but no promises.
posted by romakimmy at 10:23 AM on September 3, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks, Kimmy. I sent the fax a few days ago. We heard back about the necropolis within about 12 hours.
Do you know, are the Christmas eve tickets basically first come first serve or how does that work? And if first come first serve, are we early or late or neither at this point?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:40 AM on September 3, 2015
Do you know, are the Christmas eve tickets basically first come first serve or how does that work? And if first come first serve, are we early or late or neither at this point?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:40 AM on September 3, 2015
Sorry, I got sidetracked with pre/nursery school stuff for the munchkins. I've hit up a friend of mine for info, but he's been on holiday in Sicily this weekend & gets back sometime today. So he might be able to give me definitive answers, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say yes, it's more or less first come first serve for non VIPs and I would think you're at the early or neither stage right now.
posted by romakimmy at 10:52 PM on September 6, 2015
posted by romakimmy at 10:52 PM on September 6, 2015
Friend says it's more or less first come first serve, but if you have a priest making the request on your behalf, it tends to improve your chances. They also said there's no harm in making multiple requests (ie on your own and through a priest)
posted by romakimmy at 7:03 AM on September 9, 2015
posted by romakimmy at 7:03 AM on September 9, 2015
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Definitely. I can't imagine making two trips from wherever you're staying, anyhow.
Is there a way to pay to skip the line without doing a tour?
Yep (it says "tour" but it seems to be just the regular ticket).
Remind me how I buy the train tickets between cities?
We just bought them from the machine in the train station. I seem to recall that schedules often weren't available until a few weeks beforehand, so you might want to check schedules again closer to your trip. If you'll have a laptop or tablet with you, you can always use your hotel's WiFi to check schedules.
Uzzie and Academia, I think they're called. Would we be crazy to do both on the same day?
Yes and no. I don't know if that's a busy time for Florence, but there can be long lines at both museums (we went in November; there were no lines). It's possible to visit both in one day -- they're not far apart and the Accademia is quite small, although you'll want to spend some time admiring David -- but logistically you might spend a lot of time waiting on line.
What else do I need to know?
Check out the Rick Steves guides to each city from your library (or buy them). Seriously. These guides are the best around. If you'll have smartphones / audio devices with you, bring his audio tours, too. They're great (and free). There are tours for most of the museums and many of the other sights, and they're super entertaining.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2015