[Music] Rome has always been a huge draw for tourism and
even before Covid we were starting to see the crowds getting bigger and bigger throughout the
year. And now that we are post pandemic people are talking about revenge travel as if it were some
sort of a blip, some sort of an anomaly that's just going to happen this year maybe next and
maybe we'll subside. You guys I really don't think that the crowds are going to subside, this is Rome
after all and people want to visit. We are blessed with a mild climate and thanks to short-haul
flights from around Europe people are now visiting Rome pretty much year round, and when most people
visit Rome especially for the first time. They want to see all the must-see sights like the Trevi
Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum. And if those are the sights you're
planning to visit too, you're going to find them crowded. But there are some tricks. So without
further ado let's get into my top eight tips for awarding the crowds in Rome. All right guys before
we get into it, go ahead and hit that like button. Consider subscribing and if you do, don't forget
to hit the bell so you know when I publish a new video. Tip number 1 - come in low season. Now
I find that most people don't actually know what the seasons are in Rome. I find year after
year, no matter how many times I talk about this that many people think that fall and spring
are shoulder seasons. And they think or they hope that things will be quieter in those months.
In fact spring and fall are the two absolute busiest times of year to visit Italy's art cities
like Rome, Venice and Florence. People often think that summer is High season because they assume
that everybody is traveling on vacation in summer. Summer is definitely a busy time to visit Rome
because you will find a lot of tourists here but I think many people who visit Rome in the summer
are here because they don't have a choice. They are tied in some way to a school calendar and
so they visit in summer. So yes, you will find a lot of people here in summer but nothing like the
crowds you will find in spring and fall. I always get push back on this, you know, wait a minute, why
I thought this would be a good time to visit Rome. Exactly, everybody thinks that. Which is why it's
so busy, so please take it for me spring and fall are the absolute busiest times of year to visit
Rome. And so you might think that winter would be a good time to visit Rome but there are moments
of the season when it is very very crowded in Rome in winter. As you might have guessed around
the Christmas holidays and New Year's it is very busy in Rome. So this lasts from around the 25th
of December or so all the way through the 6th of January. Yes the first week of January in Rome is
extremely busy. First of all you have the holdovers from New Year's, you have winter sales starting,
you have the Epiphany on January 6th celebrated here in Rome as the Befana. So all the holiday stuff
really goes through a around the 6th of January. And only after that does it begin to subside.
In Italy December 8th is a big holiday it's the Immaculate Conception if it falls anywhere
near a weekend it will be very busy in Rome. And while February is definitely a winter month we're
starting to see more people coming in February. There's Valentine's Day, Carnival and often you'll
find Six Nations rugby matches which brings a lot of people into Rome on the weekend that the
matches are here in Rome. All right now that I've told you when high season is you're wondering well
when is low season when is it possibly going to be quiet in Rome. I think you'll find that Rome gets
a little bit quiet around the second or third week of November, all the way through around the third
week of December with the exception of whatever weekend surrounds the 8th of December. Then again
from around January 7th till around mid-February and that's kind of it. Yeah we do not have a very
long low season in Rome anymore. But there are those little pockets so if you can come then it's
a great time time to be in Rome. Yes winter can be cold and a little gray and maybe sometimes rainy
but I think it's absolutely beautiful, I do love the light then and like I said it's quiet. You
don't have to worry about how to dress to visit the sites. Artichokes are in season. There are
just lots of reasons why I absolutely love Rome in winter. Number two visit some of the less popular
sites. I know you've come to Rome to see the must-see's like the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain
but we have some amazing fountains, museums, churches and other sites in Rome that are less
popular and way less crowded. As an alternative to St Peter's Basilica you could visit one of
the other three Papal Basilicas: St Mary major Santa Maria Maggiore, St Paul Outside the Walls - San Paolo fuori le Mura and the most important church of all St John in Lateran - San Giovanni in Laterano. So many of the churches
in Rome are full of stunning art so if it's art you're looking for you can visit churches like
Santa Maria del Popolo, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, San San Pietro in Vincoli and the list goes on. If you check out my
video about free things to see in Rome you will find a wealth of information about some of these
churches and the art you'll find inside. As for the Colosseum, I also did a video about other sites you
can see in Rome that are from ancient Rome besides the Colosseum. And they are equally as amazing in
my opinion. For architectural grandeur you have the Baths of Caracalla. For the history of Rome through
its architecture you have Castel Sant'Angelo, for ancient Rome a whole city from ancient Rome you
can visit Ostia Antica which is never crowded even in high season. So you can check out that video
for more ideas. Now, of course you want to visit the Colosseum but there are a few tips I can give you
that will help you to avoid the crowds a little bit. I know this is a crazy suggestion but you
might consider visiting the Colosseum just from the outside. If you see it just from the outside you're
going to avoid the stress of all the crowds on the inside and the stress of worrying about which
ticket to get, how to get the tickets etc. Also if you see it when it's not open you can come early
in the morning or late at night and you'll see it with way fewer people. I would suggest getting
the Roman Forum Super Pass, this allows you to see the Roman forum and the Palatine Hill not the
Colosseum and you will see so much of ancient Rome including a spectacular view of the Colosseum. And
while the Roman Forum tends to be pretty crowded I find the Palatine Hill is much less crowded. Also
because most tours cover the basics of the Roman Forum and maybe a little bit of the Palatine
Hill, they do not go inside the super site. So your Roman Forum Super Pass allows you access to
the super sites. And if I may say so visiting the super sites on the Palatine Hill may be one of the
best ways that you can understand ancient Rome. In terms of museums I think the number one visited
museum here in in Rome is the Vatican Museums. This is where the Sistine Chapel is, you want to see the
Sistine Chapel, and yes you going to find it extremely crowded. But in a city like Rome can you imagine
that we only have one world-class Museum. I think a favorite for a lot of people is the Galleria
Borghese or the Borghese Gallery and this is absolutely a wonderful museum, and you will find it much less
crowded than the Vatican Museums because they have a limit on how many people can be inside at once.
I think one of the most underrated and undervisited museums in Rome which I would consider a must for any Rome lover is the
Capitoline Museums. The Capitoline Museums has it all, there's ancient Rome, there's art. It's huge
there are no crowds, it is a wonderful museum. If you're visiting on a weekend, if you're visiting
on the free Sunday you will find it very crowded but during the week you should be able to just
walk right up, buy your tickets and go in. The Galleria Doria Pamphilj is another undervisited museum, it is absolute stunning
and never crowded. I like to think of it as a little mini Versailles but one of the best things
about the Doria Pamphilj Museum is the fact that it is home to three Caravaggio paintings, among many
other masterpieces. And once again it's a very undervisited and uncrowded museum. Another apsolute jewel of museum, that I find most people don't even know about is Gallleria Colonna. Palazzo Barberini is another
undervisited and unrated museum here in Rome. You can see these stunning staircases designed
by these two rival Baroque architects Bernini and Borromini. And the museum is an
absolute Treasure Trove of masterpieces by artists like Raphael, Caravaggio, Domenichino and
so many more. And you can bet that a city like Rome is full of archaeological
museums. I've already mentioned the Capitoline Museums, but you also have Palazzo Altemps, Baths of Diocletian and Palazzo Massimo. All right tip number three for avoiding
the crowds is to go super early or super late. So let's start with the Colosseum. The Colosseum opens
at 9:00 and it closes an hour before Sundown which of course depends on the time of year, and you
can expect the Colosseum to be pretty busy from 9:00 a.m. until they close. At the time I'm making
this video for you, they've recently introduced an early hours tour. This tour goes between 7:30 and
9:00 a.m. and it allows you to take an elevator up to the third tier and offers you an amazing
view of the Colosseum. Unfortunately this is not a single entry ticket that you can book on Co-op
Culture, you must book this as a guided tour. And it's not even a tour that Co-op culture offers,
you must book it through an outside tour company. So I've got links in the description below where
you can book this early hours tour of the Colosseum. Many of you know that the Colosseum offers night
tours and they do this pretty much year round at this point. In winter they go less often, in summer
they go quite a bit more often. The bottom line is that these tickets have become very very
difficult to come by. But I guarantee if you manage to get night tickets to the Colosseum, you
will see it without any crowds. Many of you know that the Vatican Museums also offer early hour
tours and late afternoon or after hour tours. So the Vatican Museums open at 9:00 a.m. but there
are quite a few options for taking tours before this time. The very best of these tours is the key
master tour. I did a video for you guys about this, and I absolutely cannot recommend this tour highly
enough. It is amazing. This is where you start it 6 a.m. and you go around with the key master
and you literally open the museums and turn on the lights. The tour is a little pricey
also it's not that easy to get up at such an early hour, but in my opinion it is worth
it. Your group is the only group of 20 people inside the entire museums. Another option to
avoid the crowds at the Vatican Museums is to take an early morning tour, not the key master
but just a slightly before opening hours tour. This is not going to offer you exactly the same
crowd-free experiences as the key master tour. But you should experience fewer crowds than you would
during normal visiting hours. The Vatican Museums also offers some options for after hour tours
or late afternoon tours and these are another way to avoid the crowds. With the extra time
tour you go close to closing time and you'll be in the museums with other people so it's not
entirely crowd-free, but by the time you get to the Raphael's rooms and into the Sistine Chapel it
is a very uncrowded experience. Between April and late October the Vatican Museums offers
visits on Friday and Saturday nights and if you go as late as possible on these evenings
you will find the Vatican Museums much less crowded. Tip number four for avoiding the
crowds take a day trip. Most places you can visit near Rome on a day trip are going to be
much less crowded than Rome. The exceptions to this are Naples and Florence which will
both be very crowded when Rome is crowded. Some options for day trips from Rome that
offer a much quieter experience than Rome include places like the beach, Ostia Antica,
Tivoli, The Gardens of Ninfa, Orvieto, Sisi and many other small towns nearby. I did a video
for you guys about visiting small towns up on the Lazio coast. I can assure you that
is a beautiful and uncrowded experience. Don't forget to check out my page on the
website about more ideas for day trips from Rome. Tip number five for avoiding the crowds
in Rome get off the beaten path. One of the best ways to get away from the crush of people
in Rome is to get off the main piazzas and streets. All around the historic Center of Rome you
can find small charming, less traveled narrow streets. Often dotted with cafes, shops and small
fountains. For example Campo dei Fiori is a bustling hive of activity, morning noon and night. But it's
actually a real Roman neighborhood. If you leave the main piazza and walk down some of the streets
that branch off it, you'll find plenty of ambiance and quiet. Tip number six change
your altitude, yeah that is a little bit of a play on words. What I mean is to go someplace with
a view. Here are some places with views of Rome that are going to be much less crowded than what
you find here at street level. Take the elevator to the top of the Altare della Patria or the Complesso del Vittoriano
otherwise known as the wedding cake. No place in Rome offers such sweeping 360° views of Rome. I've
been up there many times and it has never been crowded. Other places that offer wonderful views
that are usually not that crowded include the Giannicolo, the Aventine and the Pincio. Yes sometimes
the Orange Tree Garden on the Aventine Hill is crowded but in my video all about the Aventine
Hill, I offer you some alternatives that are less crowded. Tip number seven head Underground. As
you might imagine Rome is full of things to see underground. And because space is usually
restricted and often these sites are delicate the number of visitors is usually restricted, which
means you will have an uncrowded experience when you visit Rome underground. Some excellent
underground sites you can visit in Rome both to avoid the crowds but also to experience
ancient Rome include the Domus Auria, the Basilica of San Clemente, the Roman houses the Celio and
St Peter's tomb. Tip number eight visit a Park. Rome is blessed with a lot of green space.
These are parks and gardens that you can easily visit, that are dotted around the city center
and close to the sites. Some of the beautiful parks and gardens around Rome that you can visit
to avoid the crowds include Villa Celimontana where I'm sitting, the Roseto - Rose Garden when
it's open, the Aventine Hill as I mentioned, the Villa Borghese, the Doria Pamphilj and many more. So if
you are visiting Rome in peak season and your only choice is to be here for a 2 and a half
day visit, where you've got to pack in all of the must sites. and you're going to be visiting
the Colosseum and the Vatican during those middle of the day hours when it is going to be crowded
what can you do? The best thing you can do is to make a plan and know exactly what you want to
visit. Then book in advance the Vatican and the Colosseum if you're planning to visit those two
sites. If there any other sites that are really important to you like the Domus Auria, the Galleria
Borghese, book those in advance as well. Plan in some downtime or some quiet time in between the
sites. Make sure to visit the sites as comfortably as possible, wear comfortable shoes, comfortable
clothing and bring a water bottle. And finally you're just going to have to accept the crowds
and not worry about them too much. The best thing you can do is just to get into what I like to
call my zen bubble and enjoy what you're seeing and what you're listening to, if you're listening
to an audio guide or a tour guide and just enjoy Rome and don't worry too much about it. So what
do you guys think do you think? Do you think these are good tips for avoiding the crowds? Do you have any tips
for avoiding the crowds? Leave them in the comments below. And if you're wondering when is the best
time to visit Rome check out my video right here
