Bypassing museum lines in Italy
 

The following is a summary of information that appeared in the New York Times of July 18, 1999. I thought it would be helpful if posted. <BR> <BR>In Rome the Phone Reservation and Information Service 39 06 328101 allows one to buy tickets to the Borghese Gallery, the Palazzo <BR>Barberini, the archeological site at Ostia Antica, the Spada Gallery, the Corsini Gallery, and the principal monuments in Ravenna and Ferrara. For the Borghese and the Barberini, the tickets will be marked with a set time to visit and they must be picked up at least one hour before that time. The other museum tickets can be picked up any time on the given day. You can also use this service to book tickets to nightly dance and music performances in Ostia Antica. Service as of this writing adds about $1 to the cost of the tickets. The service operates Mon-Fri 9am to 7pm, and Sat 9-1pm. <BR> <BR>In Florence, Firenze Musei 39 05 529 4883 offers a similar service for the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Boboli Gardens, Vasari's corridor, the Archeological Museum, the museum of San Marco, the Bargello, the Medici Chapels, the Palatina Gallery at the Pitti Palace, and a couple of others. The service is available from 8:30 am-6:30 pm Mon-Fri and 8:30 am-12:30pm on Saturday. Set times are given for all the museum visits and tickets can be picked up 15-20 minutes before that time. About 1$ service charge is added to the ticket price. <BR>Select Italy, a tour operator in the U.S., offers reservation services at www.selectitaly.com or by phone at (847) 853 1661. A more substantial service fee is added, for example a $15 service fee for the Uffizi. <BR>If you want to see da Vinci's Last Supper in Milan, a reservation is required. Groups of 25 are admitted at 15-minute intervals. Admission is $6.50 plus a 1$ booking fee and can be reserved from 8am to 8pm at <BR>39 02 89 42 11 46. <BR> <BR>I will add myself that many Fodor's posters including myself have successfully ordered Florence museum tickets via <BR>www.waf.it/museires.htm

You can also do this through the concierge of your hotel (I guess the better hotels). It is a little more expensive, but worthwhile if you didn't do it from here, or ran out of time. It cut about 2 hours wait off at the Uffizi and an hour at the Accademia in Florence.

what about the sistine chapel and st peters in rome? i tried out a site -santasusanna but nothing on pre-booking for the vatican museums. has anyone booked thru the net/phone? any tips?

Hi Sam: Tickets are not required for St. Peters Basilica. To see the Sistine Chapel you *must* go thru the Vatican Museums and unfortunately there are no advance/reserved ticket sales:(. <BR>Either get there early (opens 0845) or some posters have suggested going in the afternoon (ticket office might close hrs. earlier than museum???) also someone posted once to go on Wed.am *if* the Pope is having his weekly audience. Unless it's changed the museum exibits are poorly labeled so I suggest having a guidebook before you go and highlight the exibits you want to see (Blue Guide Rome is very good for museums and historical sites in Rome). There are 4 tours (colored lines on the wall/floor) that you can follow (purple is the shortest and just hits the highlights and ends like the others in the Sistine Chapel). It's really hard to backtrack in this museum, it's basically one-way. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

mike--re: which museum florence/admission <BR>this one's for you

thanks walter. that was indeed very helpful.

and walter, if u have an idea about the length of the queues early in the morning at st peters and the vatican? thanks