Hello,

Hoping that I could get some feedback on my itinerary below and when I should plan to arrive in Rome from Tivoli. My 22-year old son and I will be traveling to Italy this August. We'll spend 4 nights in Tivoli and then head to Rome for 5 nights, where my brother will join us for the Rome segment.

On our trips, we typically like to schedule only 1 thing in advance and then have the freedom to add to that day as we please when we arrive and as we explore the area. We have learned that we don't like to have rushed experiences but also don't feel the need to spend the entire day in a single location (though I did spend 7 hours at the Taj Mahal to see it at various times of the day!).

I think I'm pretty happy with the itinerary below, and I have booked some tours with LivTours (max group size is 6 people). However, I do have the ability to move some items around.

A few questions remain regarding the day we leave Tivoli and arrive in Rome on Wednesday, Aug 6th. I have already booked a transfer from my hotel in Tivoli to my hotel in Rome near Piazza Navona, so I won't have to follow a train schedule or try to find a taxi. I have flexibility with my pick-up time in the morning.

1. Should I leave Tivoli at 7am in hopes of dropping our carry-ons and backpacks off at our Rome hotel (located 1 min walk from Piazza Navona) and getting a 9:10am entry with guide to the Borghese Gallery? Or should I plan for 11:10am entry with guide instead? 11:10am entry buys us more time in case there is traffic, but there also might be more crowds. A crowded tour might be better than no tour if we miss our 9:10 timed entry though. Perhaps I should consider leaving Tivoli around 8am for a slower morning and then take the 11:10am entry?

2. This is the year of the Jubilee, and I would like to go through the Holy Doors. Could I do Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore and Basilica Saint Paul's Outside the Walls on the same day? Is it way too much to do the Borghese Gallery plus Santa Maria Maggiore and Saint Paul's on the same day?

Itinerary (4 nights Tivoli, 5 nights Rome)

• Saturday, 02-Aug: Arrive in Rome at 8:15am, travel to Tivoli, easy day and recover from jet lag
• Sunday, 03-Aug: Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana
• Monday, 04-Aug: Villa Gregoriana
• Tuesday, 05-Aug: Unplanned, maybe cooking class, maybe Terme di Tivoli? Suggestions?
• Wednesday, 06-Aug: Travel to Rome; 5pm (2-hour) walking tour - Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon entry
• Thursday, 07-Aug: 8:30am (3-hour 15min) tour Highlights of the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel; maybe see Basilica di San Giovanni en Laterano and Holy Stairs in the afternoon; perhaps check out Trastevere
• Friday, 08-Aug: 8am (12hr) Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius Day Trip
• Saturday, 09-Aug: 4:15pm (3hr) Rome - Best of Colosseum and Ancient City Tour: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palantine Hill
• Sunday 10-Aug: 12pm Papal Sunday Blessing, maybe Appian Way. Want a low key day since it's the day before we travel.
• Monday, 11-Aug: Leave hotel at 7am to catch flights back home

I welcome feedback and specifically help with my questions above regarding when to leave Tivoli (7am?) and how I should spend that first day in Rome on Wednesday, 06-Aug. Thank you!

Disclosure: I haven't been to Rome in August.

Unless things have changed, the visit "window" for the Galleria Borghese is 2 hours, and the museum is cleared out before the next timed group is admitted. Tickets are also limited. So AFAIK the number of visitors at 9:00 a.m. will be the same as the number at 11:00 a.m., and normally you are instructed to arrive 10-15 minutes before your reservation. (Check that your admission time is actually :10 and not ON the hour.) FYI, anything larger than a small purse must be checked which can take some time. So, a long way of saying I'd either leave Tivoli earlier or take the 11:00 tour. If you stick with the 9:00 a.m. tour, have your transfer wait while you drop the luggage and then take you to the museum.

I hope you tolerate heat and humidity. Your Rome days are full and mostly outdoors. Pompeii will be an oven, and the Vesuvius trail will be hotter. If you're actually contemplating climbing Vesuvius, you should be at the entry gate when it opens and start the climb as early as possible... or hit the trail late in the afternoon. Personally, I think climbing Vesuvius in August is a crazy idea. As fascinating as I find Pompeii, I'd spend that day in Rome.

Thank you Jean for your reply. I definitely understand that it will be HOT, but this timeframe is the only window we can go before my son starts his job. One reason why we're breaking it up with Tivoli for 4 nights - so we can be in the countryside. We'll take our time and allow ourselves to cool down from the heat by not overscheduling ourselves. When I was young, I lived in northern Italy for a few years, and I've wanted to visit Pompeii for decades now. Since it's possible as a day trip from Rome, we're going to move forward with it. The private tour will drive us as far to the top of Mount Vesuvius as possible and then we'll hike the rest of the way. We'll then have lunch and head to Pompeii for about 2.5 hours before heading back to Rome.

Thank you for the tip on showing up prior to scheduled admission time and the bag restrictions for Galleria Borghese. I'm now leaning towards the 11:00 tour. The extra time equates to less stress that morning. On the Galleria Borghese official website, it does says 11:10am English guided tour.

Thank you again.

Another vote for skipping Pompeii and Vesuvius in August. Younger and fitter when I scaled Vesuvius one notable July, I’d never do it again… though if this is your one chance in a lifetime to see Pompeii, go for it. Herculaneum has more shade.

For cool relief, on the Friday (if not leaving Rome) or Saturday, book an underground tour of Domus Aurea, Nero’s buried palace now being excavated and restored.
https://colosseo.it/en/area/the-domus-aurea/

Not sure where you are seeing 11:10 for the Galleria Borghese, but the entry times have always been on the hour, so I think Jean is probably right. Maybe they are allowing 10 minutes for the group to assemble for the tour? At any rate, I have been there several times, and the ticket has always said to be there 1/2 hour ahead of your entry time or they will give away your spot, so be sure to check that. They often sell out, so you might want to get your tickets now.

As noted, it will be very hot. I was in Rome the third week of June last year, and temperatures ranged from 85-98, and that was only June! Likely to be worse in August. Be sure you always have plenty of water (although you can't take that into Borghese). The only thing about having so many tours booked is that it doesn't give you much flexibility. I don't think you really need that walking tour on Wednesday, it's easy to see those sites on your own, at your own speed.. The only thing that needs a ticket is the Pantheon.

The climb from the Vesuvius entry gate to the top is about 2 hours round-trip. Not a speck of shade anywhere, and the trail surface (decomposed lava for the most part) gets very hot. Iin August, it would really be a scorching outing on every level. And then you plan to explore Pompeii which is also fully exposed to the sun and heat.

I tip my hat to anyone who can tolerate that kind of heat and humidity. But, Pompeii and Vesuvius aren't going anywhere. Visit them on another trip at a better time of year.

I'd agree with others, leave enough time to make it to Galleria Borghese on time and buy your tickets soonest (I've used ticketone, at official rates, the beniculturali site has inexplicably always been difficult to access).
I also think the Vesuvius and Pompeii day is an outlier especially given your dates, you could consider Castel Gandolfo (we spent a night there last month, very interesting).

Thank you to everyone (FTOttawa, SusanP, Jean, ANUJ) for the advice on skipping Pompeii and Vesuvius. I shared your comments with my brother and son. My son definitely wants to skip Pompeii and Vesuvius now, and my brother is ok with the change. I am sad to skip, but I also realize that I will probably be much happier staying in Rome and selecting one of the numerous beautiful (and cooler) options that Friday instead. We'll just have to go back another day and see Pompeii during another part of the year.

FTOttawa - thank you for the Domus Aurea recommendation!

SusanP - this is the website that I went to for Galleria Borghese. It looks like all guided tours start 10 min after the hour. Is this the correct website?
https://www.tosc.it/en/event/galleri...hese-20251898/

ANUJ - I looked at TicketOne, and it looks very similar to the www.tosc.it website, except that it's in Italian. Same logo.
https://www.ticketone.it/artist/gall...ghese-2253937/

For a Pompeii-alternative closer to Rome, you could consider touring Ostia Antica. Make no mistake, it will still be blazing hot but might be less hassle overall.

Travel_Nerd - thank you for the suggestion of Ostia Antica.

I was able to cancel my Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius tour on Friday, 08-August. I was also able to move the Colosseum and Roman Forum tour from Saturday at 4:15pm to Friday morning at 9:45am. This will be cooler for us, as well. And now, I have all of Saturday and all of Sunday open to explore with no tours scheduled.

Thank you again for everyone's advice!

As I suspected, if you look at the first part of that link (without a tour), they all start on the hour. The ones with a tour start at 10 after the hour. I assume this is giving them 10 minutes to get people assembled for the tour. I would still be careful, because as I mentioned, my tickets always required you to be there 1/2 hour ahead or you could lose your spot. If you look at the FAQ on the official website, it says you can try and buy a ticket there on the day you want without any guarantee that any will be available, but if any are available, they will be sold at 20 minutes before the hour. This jives with having to be there 30 minutes ahead, and 10 minutes later, they will sell your spot if you're not there. Note that I actually saw this happen once. I think this is because they sell out so often. Be sure to go through the official website.

Glad you decided not to go south!

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yes, they are part of the same entity, and official ticket resellers.

A couple years ago I was in Rome in August. Yes, it's hot, but possible to enjoy as long as you take things easy and plan indoor activities for the afternoons. In my case, I'd been to Rome many times, so didn't feel compelled to visit the major sights, which makes things a lot easier. I know you plan to see the Colosseum, Forum, etc., but even so, if you can approach your visit with a super relaxed and flexible mindset, it's perfectly possible to enjoy Rome in the dog days of summer.

I'd try to move your tours to the mornings if you can. Then hie to museums or sit in the shade/nap in the afternoons! Get off the beaten path as much as possible.

I was there around Ferragosto, and the city kind of empties out, which is nice.

Having done both (but on different days) I'd skip the Vesuvius tour and focus on Pompeii if it's only 1 day. If you want to see the main highlights of Pompeii--many are newly excavated and only recently made accessible to the public--it's a good idea to plan sufficient walking time. In addition, time for pauses indoors between walks and to have a refreshment, especially at peak Summer temperatures.

Thank you for the additional feedback! For the Borghese Gallery tour at 11:10am, I'll plan to be there around 10:30am at the very latest. I understand that taxis drop off passengers and then there's a walk to the gallery.

Yes, my son and I are just super excited to be visiting Italy, and we know it will be hot. I am reminded of being in Athens during a heatwave (112 degrees temps), and also being in Mallorca last August. We still had such a wonderful time. Just took our time and did not over schedule ourselves. Good to know that others (Leely2) enjoyed some hot days in Rome.

I just bought tickets for Galleria Borghese from the official website and downloaded my tickets! It does say "Visita Inglese 11:10" and underneath it states "IN 11:00-OUT 13:00".

I'll aim to be there at 10:15 to give us plenty of time to check-in.

Don't have the taxi drop you off at Porta Pinciana. While that would be a main entrance into the Villa Borghese park, if you turn right at Porta Pinciana and drive up Via Pinciana, there is an entrance just before Via Sgambati that is a very short walk to the Galleria. You can't miss it, it's a big white building. Hopefully the taxi driver will know what you mean.

Enjoy, it's a fantastic place!

Thank you for the Galleria Borghese taxi drop-off tips SusanP!

We were able to add another day to our Italy itinerary, and so we shifted some things around. Below is our new itinerary. I am happier with the pace.


Itinerary (4 nights Tivoli, 6 nights Rome)

• Friday, 01-Aug: Arrive in Rome, travel to Tivoli, easy day and recover from jet lag
• Saturday, 02-Aug: Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana
• Sunday, 03-Aug: Villa Gregoriana
• Monday, 04-Aug: Tivoli - open
• Tuesday, 05-Aug: Travel from Tivoli to Rome at 7am; 4:15pm Colosseum and Ancient Rome tour; perhaps classical concert at Castel Sant’Angelo
• Wednesday, 06-Aug: 11am Borghese Gallery; 5pm Rome walking tour - Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon entry
• Thursday, 07-Aug: 8:30am Highlights of the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel tour; 12:30pm Dome Climb; 2:45pm Major Basilicas with Holy Stairs tour; Opera at Baths of Caracalla at night (our one very full day!)
• Friday, 08-Aug: Rome - open, likely explore Trastevere and Gianicolo Hill; perhaps Casa del Jazz concert
• Saturday, 09-Aug: Rome - open, Pizza and Tiramisu cooking class in late evening
• Sunday 10-Aug: Rome - open, 12pm Papal Sunday Blessing, maybe Appian Way
• Monday, 11-Aug: Leave hotel at 7am to catch flights back home

With this itinerary, we're hitting the major tourist attractions in Rome on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then exploring local neighborhoods and other (hopefully) less crowded areas on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thrilled we were able to add another day in Rome. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback and encouraged a Pompeii/Mt. Vesuvius day trip for a future visit during a cooler time of the year.

This is a better pace, but I would be a little worried about Thursday, even though you are a lot younger and more energetic than I am! You will find a lot of walking and a lot of stairs at the Vatican Museum (which you have to go through to get to the Sistine Chapel), plus more walking at St. Peter's, and of course many stairs to climb the Dome. To then add another tour with lots of walking and stairs would be a lot for anyone!
Hope you have a great time!