Ciao, to any of you Fodorites that are planning to be spending the night in Rome this September 8th don't plan on getting any or much sleep.

Thanks to a question Grekko asked about his first night there and something about White Night I thought "OMG". Or mama mia actually!

La Notte Bianca (The White Night) means that Rome will be open all night long until the next morning. All of the restaurants and cafes will be open. The musuems. There will be a lot of theater, dance groups, plays etc. The public transportation will be free after 10:00pm.

In other words it will be PARTY TIME in Rome the entire night. I don't imagine anyone in hotel rooms will get any sleep as thousands and thousands of people will enjoy this night long event.

I just wanted to post this so anyone on their way to Rome will not be taken by surprise.

You can read all the information at the official website which is: http://www.lanottebianca.it You can click on the English version of course. Enjoy!
As I said to Gekko "if you can't beat them join them", lol.

This may be the coolest idea I have ever heard, something like this would never fly here in the states. Very unfortunate.

Other European cities do this as well. Amsterdam and Paris have a museum night, where they're open all night. Very cool.

I agree! Well except for travellers with jetlag that might want to sleep, lol. I haven't read the website but I even think all the stores are open. I wish I was going to be there!!

We had one of those nights in Paris this year -- the final night of World Cup.

Lovie, I was in Rome during La Notte Bianca a few years ago and it was the best! Yes, most stores and museums were open as well as some churches that are usually closed. There are street bands and dance performers just staged around on the streets. It is really something to experience. Hope someone reports back this year and lets us in on the fun.

Neo, I didn't realize that! Didn't get much sleep I imagine?

And SeaUrchin, lucky you. That must have been so much fun. And YOU didn't give us a report, for shame. Hopefully Gekko will if he can stay awake.

I was there the night the White Night turned into a Black Night, the year of the Blackout. It happened around midnight or a bit later I think and was accompanied by a rain deluge. Up until that point it was a magical evening! Well, I shouldn't say that, it was magical to be walking around Rome in complete darkness with the alarms sounding and people laughing, yelling, singing. Quite an experience!