Jess1985

Hi all. I will be in Italy in March. I assume this is low-season, and therefore I was wondering if anyone thinks it'll be necessary to book train tickets, hostels, and admission to museums in advance? In other words, how busy it is in March? I will be visiting Florence, Venice and Rome. It is my first visit, so I will be doing lots of uber touristy things! Things that I will know for sure about I'll probably book in advance, but I want to be flexible on things like train tickets if possible. Thnaks!

SurferX

We just got back from 4 weeks in Italy, the busy season, and had reservations for only our first two nights (in Rome). This type of "winging it" scares most people, but we travel Europe all the time and rarely book advance reservations as we LOVE being flexible and going where our desires and instincts take us.

emmabro

Hi Jess Rome is busy all the time but March is a lot quieter than the "summer" months i'd certainly book accomodation and tickets for Borghese Gallery (if you want to visit it ! ) the que's for the Vatican,St Peter's and the Colosseum will still be there but not as long as in the "high" season !!! i suppose what to book is really down to where you are planning to go ! i went in February this year and found that the Que's looked big but they soon moved ..we didn't pre-book anything other than a Hotel !
hope this helps
XxEm

MFNYC

We went to Italy in late March. It was far from empty, but I gues snot as bad as it could be. We got tickets to Borghese Gallery 1 day in advance. We had to take the only time slot available (lunch time). It didn't matter to us, but if you want a specific day or time for that, then you may want to book a little sooner than 1 day.

There was no line at the Colosseum and most other sights. The wait for the Vatican museum may have been about 1/2 hr and the museum was packed, the Sistine Chapel was wall-to-wall people.

jkstrouse

Hi Jess,

I was in Venice and Florence this past March. We had reservations for places to stay, but no advance museum reservations. In Venice, we were able to pretty much walk right in to St. Mark's with no waiting. In Florence, we went to see David early and were third and fourth in line when the museum opened---it was amazing to see him without crowds around. We didn't go to the Uffizi, so I can't say whether reservations would be a good idea there. We bought train tickets at the machines in the stations, usually the day we were travelling, with no problems. We were there in very early March, though; things may be different later in the month. Have fun!

madameX

I'd at least book the night of my arrival and the night before departure, no matter what season. I'd hate looking for a hotel when I'm jet-lagged, or when I need to make sure of good options to get to the airport.

nessundorma

I'm with madameX about your first and last night, plus book reservations for the museums you most want to see. Even in low season, tour groups head for the museums.