Restaurant/Museum reservations (Rome/Florence/Venice)
 

Hi!

We'll be in Italy in February. How soon should I start making reservations? And what is the best way to go about it?

I checked the Borghese Gallery the other day, and could not make a reservation past 03 Feb, but even their January dates were not fully booked. Do you think I would be safe to wait until we arrive in Rome to reserve?

As far as Uffizi & the Accademia in Florence, am I safe to wait? Would it be okay to ask my hotel in Rome to make the reservations? We are arriving in Florence on a Saturday afternoon, so I'm planning to go to both locations on Sunday. There's not a whole lot of wiggle room there. =)

And finally, we will be in Rome on Valentines Day. This is not a huge holiday for me, so I'm not looking for something special. But we will have to eat somewhere. I've been reading posts here and on several other boards as well as reading Rome food blogs, so I have a (growing) list of restaurants I'm interested in. Do I need to book soon? Or wait til I'm there and do everything 24-48 hours ahead?

Thank you!

If you are only going to be a place one day - as in Florence - I would get reservations in advance. Also for the Scavi at the Vatican.

Other than that - if you will be in a place several days I think you an wait to get reservations (but only because it is Feb.) For restaurant reservations I would definitely wait - and have a chance to check out the restaurants.

<<If you are only going to be a place one day - as in Florence - I would get reservations in advance. Also for the Scavi at the Vatican.>>

That makes a lot of sense. =) We are actually in Florence 3 nights, but one of those days is in transit from Rome (Saturday), and another is a Monday, so many of the big things are closed. Sunday is our best shot at both Uffizi & the Accademia.

With restaurants, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that between February being low season and us being okay with eating early, we won't have too much trouble.

I'm a little confused. Are you wondering whether it's OK to ask the Rome hotel to make your Florence museum reservations? Are you staying in an apartment in Florence? Unless I was truly desperate for help and/or staying in a 4-5 star hotel, I would probably only ask a hotel to make museum reservations in their city. A few people here have commented that their hotel charged a fee for this service, but I've never experienced that though I could see them asking you to cover the cost of a phone call to another city. If I was asking the Rome hotel for this 'favor,' I would definitely offer up-front to pay any cost the hotel would incur.

Several years ago, the receptionist at our Milan hotel was quite disappointed we hadn't asked for help in getting Last Supper reservations. Ever since, I don't hesitate to ask. Can't hurt. Same with restaurant reservations if you've identified specific places you want to go to.

We're not foodies nor late-night diners and usually just wander until we see something interesting. We've never made a rez more than a day in advance, and we travel in October which is a much more popular month than February.

Here's a place we discovered in Florence last year and enjoyed quite a bit:

http://www.ristoranteilpaiolo.it/eng/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...e_Tuscany.html

Have a nice trip!

<<'m a little confused. Are you wondering whether it's OK to ask the Rome hotel to make your Florence museum reservations? Are you staying in an apartment in Florence? >>

Yes, it was just a thought since the schedule is a little tight. All our hotels in Italy advertise that they will happily (and for free) make reservations for their guests. I admit I just don't really know the etiquette or the timing requirements.

Unfortunately the online methods I've found for reserving at Uffizi are either expensive or unreliable. I may try just emailing our Florence hotel and seeing what they can do.

Thank you for the restaurant recommendation! So far I only have one place in mind for Florence and I'll definitely check out yours.

I would definitely ask the Rome hotel to get the Borghese reservation and the Florence hotel to get your Uffizi and Accademia reservations. I would also try to see the Bargello Museum in Florence. It's open mornings every day of the week.

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en/musei/?m=bargello

And if you want to do the Scavi tour at the Vatican, you MUST make reservations in advance.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...090216_en.html

People have not only reported paying more when their hotel books, but also not able to change a reservation time without a big fee. I would book directly with the Uffizi as it often has lines. I've never needed a reservation for the Accademia (visited multiple times) and never had to wait in line more than 10 minutes (high season), but always visited in the afternoon. They are usually busier in the morning.

As for the Borghese, I've also walked up to the Borghese and was able to go in without reservations (also high season), but it's a risk you take.