Help in adding pre-purchased site seeing opportunities in Rome, Florence, and Venice
We are participating in this trip in a few weeks. We have several add on sites we would like to see. We have been told to get tickets prior to getting there to help avoid long lines. Tauck does not add on events, but they did give me their contacts in Rome, Florence, and Venice. I e-mailed each agency for the past two weeks but have not heard from any of them. We will arrive 2 days prior to the start of the trip in Rome.
**** Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about this or who to use, and how to get in touch with someone?**** We want to add the Colosseum and Forum, Palatine Hill, Borghese Gallery and Gardens, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps---we need someone to tell us what of these are musts, and what is and isn't doable. Same in Florence: Medici Chapel, Boboli Gardens, Galileo Gallery, Bargello museum--again, what is doable--what is a must? Venice--Jewish Ghetto.
Comments
We book most of our excursions through Viator (a TripAdvisor company). Look for skip-the-line tickets that are well rated (there are many!) As for a walking tour, try downloading the Rick Steves app and downloading his Rome tours. He tells you where to start, where to walk to and explains everything you’re seeing. Do this on your own, stop when you want. Continue when you’re ready - his walking tours are really excellent. We did the Heart of Rome walking tour one evening with another couple and really had a fantastic time!
AnnJackson, I would suggest booking your tickets immediately for the Borghese ( my favorite museum in Rome ) by going on their website. They sell out very quickly. I have used Viator as well as Tours By Locals with great success. During our last trip to Rome we used Context Tours and were quite pleased. Context Toors are led by academics who are extremely knowledgeable. The difference between Viator and the other tours I mentioned is that Viator will herd you around in large numbers whereas the others are more personalized ( and costly ). Buon viaggio!
You are going in a "few weeks?" The busy season starts about now. I hope you didn't wait too long!!! (we started planning 6 - 12 months in advance) Remember, most of the places you mentioned handle thousands and even millions of reservations a year, so it is doubtful you will get responses from many if any.
Google is filled with lists of "Top 10" places to visit. Most of what you list are worthwhile to see, but you may not have enough time. Use Google maps or get maps of Rome, Florence, etc. and plot out these places. Previous posts in this forum and the Classic Italy forum have numerous suggestions for private guides, e.g. Tours by Locals, Driver in Italy, etc. (Driver in Italy has a US number). Make sure you know when you have free time. I don't know if your tour is the same as Classic Italy, which can be difficult to book extra activities because the Tauck itinerary can change in response to last minute Vatican changes. Plan on getting your extras done during your pre-days, then make a list of other places you can squeak in during free time during the tour.
At this late date, you may need to just to wait and take a chance that the hotel concierge will be able to get you tickets to visit what you want. Only you can decide what are musts to see. Everyone has their own interests, but go back through the the archives (see the list to the right of this page) to read what folks have visited and said in the past.
Thank you all! We have never been to Italy and someone just mentioned that we needed to get pre-ordered tickets, so I started immediately. As of right now, since getting your feedback, I have hit zero with Borghese website. It says nothing is available, and one day that might be a possibility, isn't open yet. With my work schedule, I will not be able to keep a close eye to see when it does open up. Tried Context Tour and one that we want has room for one--we need two. UGH! I wish I had known earlier!! I'm not a procrastinator. I'm somewhat sick. BUT thank you all. I will follow up on all suggestions!
Don’t be sad if you can’t get to or see the extras. For a first time in Italy, you will be overwhelmed with what Tauck has on the schedule anyway expecially if you have not been to Europe before. You can appreciate many of the places like the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps just by seeing them from the outside if necessary. Just be very careful in Rome of pickpockets and people distracting you, throwing fake babies at you etc. No I’m not crazy, it happens! Leave all valuables in the hotel safe and don’t wear jewelry.
Rome is my least favorite part of Italy, give me Florence and Tuscany any time.
My favorite place in room is the Galleria Borghese. Don't give up yet: Contact the hotel concierge and check Tours by Locals or even Viator to see if any groups still have room. For last minute sites of Ancient Rome, probably a group tour such as Viator may still have room. Again, the hotel concierge may be your best option at this late date. Expect to pay a lot. I was shocked at what some of the guides were charging on Tours by Locals when I recently checked for Sicily, around 800-1,000 euro per day.
The places you mentioned in Florence did not need advance tickets in May 2022, which is when we were last there, but things may well be different now and you should expect large crowds in Europe this spring. While a tour guide would always enrich your experience, you could easily enjoy these sites without one. You did not mention if you needed a tour for mobility reasons, but assuming not, Florence is an easily walkable city. By the way I've not been to the Boboli gardens yet, but did go to the adjacent and connected Bardini Gardens, where there is a moderate hill walkway to a beautiful viewpoint of the city.
Also the Jewish Ghetto in Venice may not need advance tickets for the museum and synagogue, but it might be best to have them if you can. I always favor advance tickets if they are not expensive, even if I am not certain of the time I might be there. It usually works out.
You said you were going in a few weeks, if it falls into the time period of around April 25-May 1 this is a big holiday week for Italians and the cities will be full of not only foreign but also Italian tourists. While you will not starve in any of these places, if you are interested in specific restaurant reservations, you should also make them now.
Lastly: You can always return to Italy!
AnnJackson—we are booked on “A week in Venice, Florence, and Rome” followed by “A week in Tuscany and Umbria” coming up in a couple of weeks. As other posters have said, it is coming on high season and many sites are busy. I’ve been booking tickets for months. Here is some information that might help:
Trevi fountain and Spanish steps are public locations—you can just walk right up. Here is a website that has live webcams of those sites and many others around the world. You can see how crowded these locations are at various times of the day and night:
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/pantheon.html
The Colosseum just switched over to a new ticketing website a couple weeks ago. As far as I can tell, the website is only operative during business hours in Rome! There are various types of tickets available, only one of which includes a guide. The tickets go on sale exactly a month before the date in question, around 8:00 am Rome time. The guided tour tickets sell out within hours or minutes, the others may sell out within the day they become available. Our plan is to be up in the middle of the night and work fast a month before our free day in Rome! As others have mentioned, paying a lot more and booking a private tour may be your best or only option. The website is:
https://colosseo.it/
If you Google for Pantheon tickets, you may come first to an official looking site that sells tickets with audio guide at a big markup. The real website for 5 euro tickets is the one below. Tickets just became available for our desired dates in May. Posts on the Rick Steves forum suggest that the ticketing site is extremely difficult to use, and may reject your credit card (it just rejected mine). Some people have had success by choosing “other method of payment/altri metodi di pagamento” and paying with PayPal. I gave up. Our backup plan is to get there early in the morning; it is just a 20 minute walk from our Tauck hotel, the Indigo. Website is:
http://www.museiitaliani.it/
You have already pursued the Borghese Gallery. The only thing I can add is my recollection that one entire floor of the Borghese is closed for renovation right now. You might want to check on that.
My reading on line leads me to believe that getting into the Galileo Museum is generally not a problem. It is only two blocks from our Tauck hotel in Florence, the Bernini Palace, and our free time is an early morning, so we are not buying advance ticket for it. I just checked and you could buy plenty of tickets for tomorrow! Website is:
https://www.museogalileo.it/it/
There are travel videos on YouTube that suggest the Jewish Ghetto in Venice is somewhat away from the main tourist hub, is not as crowded as other parts of the city, and is a nice area to wander with fewer crowds. We will have a couple pre-tour days in Venice so our plan is to buy Vaporetto passes and go to some of these areas to explore.
While in Venice we will ascend the belltower—the only tall tower/viewpoint we will encounter that has an elevator rather than hundreds of steep stairs. The ticketing website is:
http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/
Not on your list, but I’ll mention one other activity in Venice that might be of interest: a recital of music by Venetian local boy Vivaldi. We learned of this in the Rick Steves guidebook Website is:
http://www.interpretiveneziani.it/
And as British says, you will have plenty of “guided” time with Tauck. You may want to savor some free time to wander and just soak it all in.
Wow Rick, you are awesome.
Ann, I wanted to confirm that you are taking the Bridges tour? If that is the case, I looked at the tour and although you have some free time, there is not much and I feel it is going to be tricky to do much in between what Tauck has planned,unless you are arriving a day early . But maybe you posted on the wrong part of the forum?
I just walked into the Pantheon several years ago (2015) with no pre-paid ticket. I did not have my passport or driver's license to leave at the desk, so I could not get headsets for the get self-guided tour. It didn't really matter. I enjoyed just walking around. I do hope that you can get Borghese Gallery tickets from the concierge or some tour provider. (I did have to get mine in advance on line.). I absolutely loved the Bernini sculptures. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I thought his David was equal to or better than Michaelangelo's. I also just walked over to the Pitti Palace and got a ticket to it and the Boboli Gardens.
MCD - Bernini for the win! When I saw his amazing Apollo and Daphne for the first time I knew had to see it again before I died and so I did. Breathtaking. ❤️
Bravo RickS! Regarding the Galleria Borghese closure, it says "second floor", could be confusing since in Italy, the ground floor is zero and our usual second floor is their first floor. From what I could get from the Internet, the Bernini and Canova sculptures will still be accessible, along with some of the paintings. The unavailable paintings are being temporarily relocated to another accessible spot in the city.
By the way, I did find a blog that mentioned that "third party tickets" to the Galleria Borghese could be available. Maybe the hotel concierge can point you to a reputable site if you feel comfortable going that route. Lastly, the museum appears to have a walk-up waiting list system, but that will probably not be a good use of your time.
Unlike many folks on this forum, I am a casual and mostly uneducated observer of art, but the sculptures here are incredible.
THANK YOU ALL, SO VERY, VERY MUCH! I was able to get tickets to the Pantheon, Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill, AND THE BORGHESE!! We will arrive 2 1/2 days prior to the tour. We arrive at 8:00 a.m. and will have several hours before w can check in. I thought we could see Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and the Jewish Ghetto OR Trastevere? Thoughts?
I'll work on add-ons for Florence tomorrow. Things I have in mind that I don't think are included: Medici and Boboli Gardens(this may be included in the tour-I'll have to look), Bargello, Bardini Garden. thoughts? (I think Galleria dell 'Accademia, Pitti Plaza, Duomo are in the Tauck package).
Again, THANK YOU!! Please let me know if there are other things that I should check out (golf cart rentals)?
Wow, great job! Now you need to look at a map. For example, the Trevi Fountain is close to the Pantheon, and if you can try to get to the fountain really early in the morning (8:30 am or before) especially if you want a selfie-stick-free photo. The piazza Navona is also close by, another iconic piazza in Rome. The Spanish steps are also not far from the Trevi fountain. (when I say not far, I do mean on foot.) As far as how much to see before you check in, it would depend on your hotel location, and assuming you are flying in from the US, you might be more tired than you think.
The Boboli Gardens in Florence are next to the Pitti Palace (and Bardini next to Boboli).
Not sure if you are joking about the golf cart rentals, but you will definitely need lots of energy for your itinerary if you do it all on foot. It's a lot to squeeze into a couple of days (but frankly, I've done it before too, and didn't regret it, but that was a long time ago!)
Fabulous information!! A friend of mine went to Rome last year and they rented a golf cart (driver included) to get around. It’s so expensive that only did it one day. We are from Alabama but have a place in NYC-midtown. We typically put in anywhere from 5 to 18 miles a day —but we know where we are going. I assume people either walk or taxi from place to place.
Since we arrive so early in the morning, I’m assuming we will not be able to check in the hotel (Splendide Royal) so we will have to hit the ground running.
Do we need to make dinner reservations for nights in our on or is it easy to get in to restaurants? You can always get in to good restaurants on the fly in NYC. I’m imagining Rome would be the same.
There are many decent restaurants you may be able to get into on short notice but the best ones reserve in advance. One of our favorites is Armando al Pantheon https://www.armandoalpantheon.it/en/ but it’s no secret, very popular. It’s a stones throw from the Pantheon. Reserve now online. If you can’t nab a table see what your hotel concierge can do.
I'm sure you have already noticed- there are a lot of look-a-like websites selling tickets to attractions. It is best to stick with the real deal so look carefully at the URL.
In Florence, I don't think you will see much of the Duomo with Tauck (it is an active church so is free when services are not being held.) The non-profit that runs the big stuff is Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore You can buy tickets (many are timed entry tickets) online from them for the Duomo crypt, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry, and the climb of the Dome and the Duomo Museum (a must see) for a look at one of the original Baptistry doors. Every first Tuesday of the month the Museum is closed for maintenance. The various combo passes are a good deal- The Brunelleschi Pass allows you to see all five attractions over the course of three days with timed entry to the climb. We saw all but the Crypt.
A couple of good prep, easy-to-read books are Brunelleschi’s Dome (2000), Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling (2002) by Ross King. For Venice, try "City of Falling Angels" by John Berendt, award winning author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a Pulitzer finalist.
Too much to see and not enough time!!
As far as food, it is hard to find a place in Italy that doesn't have good food!
Everyone said to pre-purchase add-on sites months in advance. Well, I was able to get several small group or private tours utilizing our TAUCK “afternoon on your on” given on the general itinerary. I called TAUCK yesterday to give a flight update and inquired about the itinerary and they said they would send that 30 days out. She did give me some estimated “afternoon free times”. I had booked some tours during “afternoon free time” to find that some of the after noon on your on means 2:00 to 4:00. I assumed it meant after 12:00 🤷♀️🤦♀️😳.
Usually, if you press them, Tauck's reservations sales agents can give you more precise info than just "free afternoon." They have a more detailed itinerary right in front of them. If the agent is less than helpful I just call back a few days later, and usually get the info I need from a more helpful agent. I always try to get as much detail as possible before I book, but am always prepared for last minute changes.
You almost always have options - e.g. depart a walking or orientation coach tour early (Vienna, Florence, Bratislava, Petra, Aswan), skip it altogether, skip a group lunch or depart early (Cairo, Oberammergau), etc. to tour on your own or take a private tour- we have done all of those, some, as noted, multiple times. Just let the TD know. It is just money, but you can always just skip your planned extra activity.
I've never had an issue getting a detailed schedule for a particular day when calling Tauck.
One time, I had a prepaid bike tour (Copenhagen) scheduled during free time and something caused a delay in our return. I spoke to the TD and she was kind enough to have the bus drop me off at the starting point on the way back to the hotel.
Yes! Let your TD know about your plans! You can also do something I often do if we have on-tour activities planned or we hope to squeeze in if time allows - I write a brief letter to the TD and leave it with the desk when we arrive in the first hotel. In the letter I introduce ourselves and tell the TD about any desired activities that might requite timing or a little assistance. The TDs have been great about them and it has worked very well.
For instance, just two years ago, on the Jordan & Egypt trip, we hoped to do a little side excursion in Aswan to visit an ancient quarry and site of the Unfinished Obelisk. My research showed the quarry was not far from the Old Cataract Hotel where the tour stayed but that it closed daily at 4:00. (Note: some departures actually included a visit to the quarry which was not listed in the itinerary.
Over the next two days, there were some potential times and ways we might fit in this excursion. Since potential routes from the airport to the hotel passed quite near the quarry, one suggestion I had was that the TD could just drop us off on the way. Then, when done we could walk back (tad over a mile) or get a taxi to the hotel. The TD and our local guide determined the best and safest way to do it was for us to go to the hotel on the coach, drop our bags and have them get us a taxi (for the r/t). The guide/hotel concierge arranged for a safe, reliable taxi (we got EGP at an ATM at the hotel gate house). We arrived at the hotel, dropped our bags, headed to the gate, got money, and headed off to the quarry in the waiting taxi. After touring we met our taxi outside and were taken back to the hotel. It all worked out great! The only negative was that, despite asking for an English-speaking guide, all our quarry guide could do was little more than point to the Obelisk and several other obelisks under construction and say, "Obeliska, obeliska!" Luckily I had read enough about the quarry to know what I was seeing. In addition to the big one commissioned by Hapshepsut, there were several other smaller unfinished obelisks, stone sarcophagi, etc. there.
Anyway, it may not help, but letting the TD know about your plans at the beginning of the tour can't hurt.
If you'd rather have a private guide for these areas, let me know- we have great private guides for Venice, Florence, and Rome - not sure if they'd have availability this late, but they are so good and teach you so much more than you'd learn on your own.
Thank you all! These comments and insights have been very helpful. TAUCK representatives have been very helpful as well. We have never traveled with an agency or group where the itineraries are planned. We usually do our own booking and make our own plans, however, TAUCK came so highly recommended as far as making things so easy, we thought we'd try it out. We are counting down the days!