What to book ahead?
 

I could possibly search through this forum and find the answers to bits and pieces of this...but I'd really appreciate some more concise help. I just looked at the calendar and panicked, realizing our Europe trip is now just about a month and a half off. We're going to Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, and Barcelona, and our main interests are art museums and architecture as well as general sightseeing. Besides the night trains, what should we be booking ahead? We have a few options -- going through our travel agent, perhaps; contacting the hotels and B&B owners to ask them to book for us; or somehow navigating the various attractions’ Web pages (whatever those might be). Any suggestions on what we should be booking ahead and when and how best to go about it? Thanks so much!

I never book much ahead of time. We did ask our Vienna hotel to book opera tickets for us, but left to my own devices, I don't do much until I'm in the city. I do check my guidebooks for info about attractions I might need to book ahead of time, such as the Alhambra in Granada, which has crowds during tourist season.

When I traveled via night train from Lisbon to Madrid, and from Seville to Madrid, I bought the tickets when I was in country. I'd probably have been smarter to do it ahead of time, but I guess I was lucky.

The only thing I've booked ahead was hotels and travel plans. I did book a cooking course and a private tour ahead of time previously, but individual sights and museums, I only see a need to book ahead a few days in advance, just to avoid lines.

Rome: Borghese gallery, St Peters Scavi tour, Vatican tours
Florence: Uffizi, Accademia gallery
Venice: Doges palace secret itinerary

I am with the other posts. Except hotels and flights u really dont need to book much. Trains in all the places you are going are no problem. Just make sure you check on the timings. You can easily buy the tix at the stations. the only thing i did was buy tickets online to the Colosseum and the Vatican. But thats cuz i was there during August and thats peak tourist season and the lines were crazy.

This early in the season I don't think you need to book ahead for attractions. If you were travelling in the high season then the Colosseum, the Vatican, Doges Palace, Pitti Palace...I think you'll be fine this time of the year though.

JUst out of curiosity, is there a booking agency in Italy like FNAC in France. I always just buy tickets there to avoid lines at museums, exhibitions, etc?

If your main interest is art museums, you run the risk of getting to Rome and not being able to get into the Borghese Gallery or other popular museums that require reservations. Likewise in Florence. You really need to reserve for the places where you most want to go, and only you know which museums you want. Any good guidebook to Italy can tell you concisely which ones require reservations. Order one from Amazon.

>I could possibly search through this forum and find the answers to bits and pieces of this..<

You could have found the answers to all of this.

I neglected to say that I do book hotels, though I have been known to book only the first night and the last night if I'm traveling off season.

Ira, I'm sure I could (and I wrote as much). However, given that I don't have unlimited time and there are five places I have to research up on pretty quickly, I thought I'd at least request a more concise answer. Folks who are offended or put off by this, I figured, could just not answer. But there's always one....

Thanks, folks, for your suggestions. Those of you who do book attractions ahead...do you go through a travel agent, navigate the attraction's foreign Web site, or make a request of the hotel/inn/b&b owner? Part of the reason I'm asking is because I read on Trip Advisor that some folks at the places we're staying simply asked the innkeeper to reserve tickets. This seems like a great and easy idea, but I really don't know what the protocol is.

By the way, we do have all our hotels prebooked.

Thanks so much.

I agree with greg's list and always book ahead when planning to visit very popular museums in major tourist cities. If you search the forum by name of the museum, etc. you will find recommendations on booking. I book some things using the hotel and some direct, depending. I also make dinner reservations ahead of time at certain restaurants so I can get a table during popular times, like after 8:30.

Some hotels tack on a hefty fee for booking your tickets as one person found out recently when booking museums in Florence. They tried to change times/dates and the hotel wanted a big change fee also. I suggest you ask costs first.

Most of us book directly with the museums. Why pay a reseller?

For Florence museums:
http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/Default.asp?

For the Borghese:
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edefault.htm

he beswing - here's what I woyuld book in each of your destinations. in virtually case I would book with the attraction itself, not use an agent.

Rome

Borghese [see above]
Scavi tour
Vatican museums

otherwise the Roma pass will give you "free" entry to the first two attractions you visit - and get you in past the terrible queues at the colosseum, so it's a good idea to make that one of the two!

Florence - what kybourbon said.

Venice -
THe secret Itineraries tour of the Doge's palace
the accademia [or go late, about an hour before closing time]

Paris
get the museum card - we didn't and wished we had
book in advance for any exhibitions you want to see at the grands palais [i think the Turner Exhibition is still on in June and it's well worth seeing]

Barcelona
the opera
the palau di musica

Have a great trip

regards, ann

We try to book ahead - and have done so at many of the venues mentioned here - for a couple of reasons. First, to be assured of admission and decent seating. The Accademia, for example, allows only a limited number of people entrance every 15 minutes. If you don't book ahead for a specific time, you may not find a convenient one. The Palau is quite small; you can pick up at the will-call window the day of the performance. Opera houses tend to sell out quickly and you have to navigate tricky timing - online tickets often aren't posted until 60 days or less before the event and don't last long.
The second reason is to avoid lines, which you also can do by purchasing a pass like the Roma Pass once you arrive.
All of these venues have web sites, most with English versions. Just do a search of their names.
One downside to advance booking is you can't predict the weather and you may end up inside a museum on a beautiful day. C'est la vie!

We have never been charged a fee by our hotels to make an advance booking for us. I have read that some do so it does pay to inquire.

Most hotels will help you with tickets and I have never had an experience that they profited from it. I even had a concierge in Portofino buy my train tickets from Portofino to Zurich, Switzerland and I just paid him for the tickets when we got there.
Yes, reserve tickets for the Uffizi and you can get a time to get your tickets and do not have to wait in a long line--maybe 10 minutes. Venice, Rome and Paris, I have never had to buy tickets ahead of time. You should have no problems.
I would contact the concierge at each of the hotels you are staying at and ask them to help you with tickets and if they will purchase them for you ahead of time.

If I want to go to the Colosseum, for example, and use a Roma pass, do I still need to book a time slot ahead? Thanks.

beeswing - no, there's no booking time slots at the colosseum.

they ARE compulsory at the Borghese. you have to phone to make your reservation if you want to use the roam pass there, rather than being able to do it on-line, which requires you to pay at the time you make your booking.