goddesstogo

I could never have gone to Italy without seeing the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's Pieta. Yes, the Sistine Chapel was crowded but it was worth it. And just as we approached the Pieta, the small tourist group ahead of us finished up and just walked away. Lucky us!

Sometimes the herd is right. But I also could never have gone to Italy without spending a quiet week in an apartment in a small town. The tourists came to 'our town' during the day but in the evening, after they returned to their hotels elsewhere, we took our passagiata and stopped for gelato like everyone else who lived there.

I think slow travel is the key.

Leely2

I can't imagine Piazza della Rotonda not being crowded at sunset, but summer before last I was taking a class in Rome and staying in an apartment near the Pantheon, just a ways behind Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, toward Piazza Collegio Romano. I walked past the Pantheon each morning on my way to class, and other than a few people going to work, waiters setting up, a woman walking her small dog, the area was empty and peaceful.

At night: total mob scene.

In any case, although I had not wanted to stay right there because I thought it would be too crowded, I was surprised at how quickly I learned which little streets weren't busy and which were. That's how I navigated and ended up having a good time there. Not my first visit, so I didn't visit major sights, but it was still the same old Rome that I love, off-season or high season.

danon

"Sometimes the herd is right. But I also could never have gone to Italy without spending a quiet week in an apartment in a small town. The tourists came to 'our town' during the day but in the evening, after they returned to their hotels elsewhere, we took our passagiata and stopped for gelato like everyone else who lived there."

For those who like big cities , but still wish to be away from the crowds in the evening ,a good option is staying
in the residential areas (restaurant
menus are only in the local language and tourists never come near ).
We have done it Barcelona, Rome, Paris and Madrid.....but only on the
repeated visits .

bvlenci

I was once in St. Peter's Basilica with a friend and her daughter. While we were waiting to get close to the Pietà sculpture, we were talking about Michelangelo. I mentioned to them his Moses in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli.

Someone in front of us asked his companion, "What's this we're waiting to see?" The companion said, "It's Michelangelo's statue of Moses." I suppose they were wondering who the lady was who was holding Moses on her lap.

CarolA

I have done most of the horror places listed on here and found them not as bad as I expected and if you stayed to the evening actually delightful. (Mont st. Michel at 5 pm empty and great!) I nearly didn't go to San Gimignano due to posts like this on boards like this and wound up having a great time.

But I will never again return to the Vatican Museum!