{"id":2689,"date":"2015-03-12T18:07:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T17:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:52:24","slug":"when-to-start-planning-your-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/?p=2689","title":{"rendered":"When to start planning your trip?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Plan-your-trip1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2691 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Plan-your-trip1-300x187.jpg\" alt=\"Plan-your-trip1\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Plan-your-trip1-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Plan-your-trip1-220x137.jpg 220w, https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Plan-your-trip1.jpg 586w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><em>[revised January 2026]\u00a0 <\/em>We firmly believe a trip starts when you start planning it. That said&#8230;the sooner, the better!<\/p>\n<p>But it is also true you cannot reserve everything too much in advance. Make your plan, choose the best period for you\/your family to travel. Consult local experts (like us!) concerning how many nights you should spend in each location, options for accommodations, transportation between one city and another and so on&#8230; Once a schedule is in place and you have your flights and accommodations booked, you can finalise details on tours.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the attractions in Rome are just there for you to enjoy: \u00a0the city itself is THE attraction and you don&#8217;t need a booking for that.<\/p>\n<p>But some museums\/sites\/events <strong>do require pre-booking<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.museivaticani.va\/content\/museivaticani\/en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vatican Museums<\/a>: this is the link to the booking engine where you can book your admission to the museum skipping the lines. You can also book \u00a0internal group tours (approx. 3 hrs long) or audio-guides. The above site also allows you to reserve a slot in a group tour to the &#8220;Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis&#8221; \u00a0(not to be confused with the &#8220;Tomb of Peter&#8221;, but still very interesting!) or the Vatican Gardens (select &#8220;Guided tours for individuals&#8221;) or the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo recently opened to the public. We do not offer the tour of the Vatican anymore (<a href=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/?p=5324\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here is why<\/a>) but this is the <a href=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/?p=3906\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article to assist you.\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scavi.va\/content\/scavi\/en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vatican Excavations<\/a>:\u00a0visits\u00a0to the necropolis underneath the Basilica, where the <strong>tomb of St. Peter<\/strong> is located, are only possible with a special permission granted by the \u201cFabbrica di San Pietro\u201d.\u00a0This visit has to be booked months in advance:\u00a0few visitors per day are allowed and children under the age of 16 are not admitted. Only internal guides of the Excavations office are allowed, so we cannot guide you there (sigh!).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ticketing.colosseo.it\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colosseum<\/a>: since 2019 a time slot is mandatory to visit the site and since 2023 tickets have your name on it, which\u00a0 cannot be changed. \u00a0Children up to 17 are entitled to free admissions but they need a reservation anyway and everyone has to show an ID. This ticket also allows you to visit the Palatine\/Forum area. If you are interested in the Colosseum undergrounds, check our <a href=\"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/?p=3589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dedicated post.\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tosc.it\/en\/artist\/galleria-borghese\/galleria-borghese-2253937\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Borghese Gallery<\/a>: booking is mandatory. If you wish to be guided by <strong>A Friend in Rome<\/strong>, reserve a free ticket for your guide as well (after agreeing time\/day with us, of course!).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/portale.museiitaliani.it\/b2c\/buyTicketless\/33f77159-0acd-40c4-8524-701f33aae108\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pantheon<\/a>: this needs a reservation too, you usually find tickets available a couple of weeks ahead of the required date. Kids up to 17 and guides also need a reservation, but it&#8217;s free of charge, remember to book for us too after agreeing the date and time.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/various\/prefettura\/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Papal Audience\/Celebrations<\/a>: <strong>be careful!<\/strong> The Papal Audience and the celebrations at the Vatican are always free of charge (some fraudulent companies sell tickets!), but reservation is mandatory. Audiences take place on Wednesdays, celebrations depend on the liturgical calendar. All information is available through the link above. The Angelus blessing is on Sundays at noon sharp and does not require booking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[revised January 2026]\u00a0 We firmly believe a trip starts when you start planning it. That said&#8230;the sooner, the better! But it is also true you cannot reserve everything too much in advance. Make your plan, choose the best period for you\/your family to travel. Consult local experts (like us!) concerning how many nights you should [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-planning-your-trip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2689"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6144,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689\/revisions\/6144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendinrome.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}