downer

Hi all - we had a mini debate about scheduling the most 'obvious' sights - Colosseo, Vaticano, Borghese - AWAY from the weekend.

Is that theory valid? Do more people (Romans AND visitors) show up at the sights on the weekend?

Or, do Romans head out of the city?

Obviously, impossible to generalize and predict. Just trying to be smart about scheduling! Museums in big cities tend to get mobbed on the weekend, so...

LJ

Many of my visits to the sites you mention were accompanying groups of school kids...during the week.

So I would suspect that for every tourist (or Italian citizen) who goes only on a weekend there is a school group that attends during the week, cancelling out any benefit.

Now time of year...that does make a difference, esp. to the Romans heading out of the city question. Italians in general and Romans in particular are very much inclined to the August vacation and the mass exodus that North American cities experience (in Canada, the Friday afternoon flee to the cottage) is not really a factor.

All of which is to say that you are stuck with busy museums all the time...but IMHO, early mornings or last hour before closing are best.

ellenem

However, the Borghese Gallery has the same strictly limited number of visitors at all times, so you can schedule that wherever it fits best in your itinerary. Remember--you must reserve ahead.

WebVisionItaly

I find that weekends in Florence, Milan, and Rome are more manageable for me being a tourist than during the week.

The hotels are surely less expensive on weekends.

That said, I also find time of day is key. Vatican museum - go in morning. Then just flow into Basilica.

Trevi Fountain - go after a late night drink.

Pantheon - morning

Forum and Col. - anytime seems to work.

downer

OK...mini trip report about timing crowds. Overall - people seemed to suddenly appear from everywhere around 11am. I wonder if everyone's like us (lingering over espressos at breakfast)....

Vatican - showed up as early as they were open. Line snaked all the way around to the city edge. 2-hr wait. Left at the very end of the day in a down pour.

Pantheon - saw it at 3 diff. times of day.

Trevi - forget about 'timing it'. Stumbled upon it (doesn't everyone???) in heavy rain. It was still mobbed.

Borghese - reserved one of the early shifts and still stood in line forever in the stuffy hallway. The 3 o'clock would have been so much better - I saw no one waiting, the gallery was quiet and open for you to really study/enjoy everything. This was on a Friday I think.

Forum - way too vast to cover for any day that's sunny/warm. I was parched. There's a reason those water vendors do real well.

Coliseum - super early works, but not great for pictures...