Tickets to book in advance in Italy

Old Mar 29th, 2014, 12:31 PM
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Tickets to book in advance in Italy

Hi friends
I will be visiting Italy from 5th May to 17th May and I will be visiting Venice, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Siena , Rome and Pompeii.
Please advice me what major attractions should I book beforehand so that I would avoid queues. Also please let me know the best websites to book them. I would be using an Indian credit card. Also please let me know which City cards would be of help to me..
Currently I plan to pre-book the following things :
Venice - Doge's Palace tour. Should I book St. Marks Basilica as well.
Florence - Uffizi and Accademia.
Pisa - Leaning tower climb up
Rome - Vatican and Colosseum. Should I pre book Pompeii as well? The ours of Vatican are filling up
Please let me know what all major attractions apart from these should I pre-book in advance. Also should I book the Trenitalia and Italo Treno tickets in advance as well? Also let me know how long before should I book in advance.
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Old Mar 29th, 2014, 01:55 PM
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You only have 12 days (does that include travel to and from Europe?). You really don't have time for all the cities you've listed. Are some of these supposed to be day trips?
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Old Mar 29th, 2014, 02:17 PM
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Yes Pisa Lucca Siena and Pompeii will be day trips. 5 Nights in Rome 4 Nights in Florence and 3 nights in Venice.
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Old Mar 29th, 2014, 02:41 PM
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You don't need to book Pompeii. Entrance is 11€. I've had experiences at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the past where they only wanted cash. There are usually some people at the entrance trying to get you to use one of their guides (you have to be licensed to guide inside Pompeii). Up to you.

For Siena, you would take the Sita bus (the rapid one that doesn't stop in Poggibonsi). You could stop by the bus station (near the train station) and buy your ticket a day or so in advance (by the return at the same time).

You could book your Venice/Florence, Florence/Rome and Rome/Naples tickets in advance if you want to snag some discounts. I don't think I would book the return from Naples as you might want to stay longer or stop for dinner. The fast trains include your seat reservation so you don't need to validate before boarding. They are checked on board.

Naples/Pompeii Scavi is the local Circumvesuviana train (downstairs from your arrival train from Rome). No advance tickets (just a couple of euro).

The Florence/Pisa/Lucca trains you should purchase in Florence. These are regional trains with no discounts and no seat reservations. Regional tickets purchased online are more restrictive than if you buy them at the station. Florence/Pisa is around 10€. Lucca is about 20-25 minutes from Pisa and a few euro. I would visit there in the morning (train from Florence) as they tend to shut down in the afternoon for lunch. Get something to eat and head to Pisa for the rest of the day. I think you will find later return trains from Pisa than you would from Lucca. Validate these regional tickets (yellow boxes track side) before boarding.
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Old Mar 29th, 2014, 05:09 PM
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Great information! Bookmarking for our upcoming trip-thank you!

I would also recommend booking your Vatican Museum tour in advance. If you are planning to visit the Borghese Galleries (beautiful!), you might also want to book an entry time in advance.

It sounds like you will have an exciting trip. Happy planning!
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Old Mar 30th, 2014, 04:24 AM
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Thank you guys for your wonderful response. One more thing i would want to know is that is it necessary to pre book all the sites I have mentioned ?
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Old Mar 30th, 2014, 06:26 AM
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The Uffizi usually has long lines so you should book that in advance. The Accademia depends on what time of day you plan to visit. Later in the afternoon there usually isn't much of a wait. Both can be booked on the official museum website (4€ booking fee each).

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en/

To skip the lines at the Vatican, you can either book an entrance ticket or a tour on their website. It used to be they only booked about two months out. I don't know if that's still the case.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

The tower can get booked up so you probably need to advance book that also.

http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Turisti/
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