Rome in April - how to book attractions?

[HygerTyger]

Tentatively planning a trip to Rome in April with teen dc 17. I think we'll be going for 4 days before Easter. What are the absolute must sees and how do I book them? I've seen extremely varying prices for Vatican tours for example.

Please give me recommendations for sites to use. Also recommendations for decent midpriced hotels in a central or decent location for said attractions would be really appreciated.

I'm a bit worried that it may be too late to book certain attractions, is this the case?

Do you need to go next month or can you rearrange the dates? Just be aware that it's a jubilee year, which means approx 30 million extra tourists are expected this year. Also the Pope's ill health may bring more visitors this easter. The main attractions (coloseum, Vatican museums, Borghese gallery) are often booked two months in advance, so you may need to buy from third-party resellers, who sell a £20 ticket as a £100 event.

Maybe we were lucky but we got tickets for the colluseum and Vatican in person when we were there and it was great. I'll see if i can look up the name of the tour provider. It was about 6-7 years ago though.

We stayed in the Hotel Santa Maria in the Trastavere area which was recommended on here and really lovely. We walked to most things as I recall.

I really wouldn't do Rome at Easter this year due to jubilee as mentioned by pp. Another time - go for the official websites.

I’ll third that this Easter; if you haven’t already got tickets, is probably not the best idea… you’ll either pay massively over the odds, or have to be really flexible about what you see or don’t see.

Book Vatican museum direct, other sites through coopculture. We went just after Easter , it was early that year, and it was relatively quiet.

Oh thanks everyone! Gah hadn't factored in the extra visitors, wasn't aware of the jubilee there. I haven't booked yet so will put a pin in it for now. Is April the best time to visit, ie less crowded and better weather? Due to work I can only do school holidays.

Thanks to all those who gave recommendations, I'm saving them all

I would recommend staying in Trastevere. Really buzzing area and a nice walk into the main attractions

I just booked colosseum on line (10 days before visit). Suggest you do so about 30 days in advance as soon as they are on sale. Delighted that 18yo DS cost €2 (adults are €18) as he’s a young eu citizen! 🇮🇪🥰🇮🇪

Have you booked your flights and accommodation already? The prices I have seen have been hugely inflated because of the jubilee. So if you haven't booked, then I would get onto that quickly.

not yet! and the thought of the jubilee crowds has put me off this year. Am planning for later on in the year hopefully 😬

I’m going with a friend next week. We’re staying in Monti as it’s close to the ancient centre.

The weather was fine when we took DS one October half term.

We’ve found the RomeWise YT channel really helpful.
We booked Colosseum and Sistine Chapel directly through their own websites.
You want the museums tour for the Sistine Chapel.
RomeWise warns some websites only accept a limited range of credit cards, but PayPal can be used.

St Peter’s Basilica is free but the queues ( for security ) grow quickly.
Think there’s a small charge for the lift to the roof.
Again RomeWise covers this in one of her videos.

Other YT channels are available!

This. Coopculture is the sue for booking the form, Colisseum etc tickets.

Coopculture no longer does bookings for the colosseum or Vatican

The correct address for the colosseum is https://colosseo.it/en/

We went in Oct half term last year, it was great. Rained a bit but not all the time and mostly the weather was very pleasant. I prebooked the Colosseum tickets via their site and booked a Vatican tour for me and DSD with Viator.

F

We go next weekend, we're not going over a jubilee event so hopefully will not be AS crowded but as a practicing Catholic I wanted to go this year

Booked tickets through "get your guide" for vatican and coliseum

I always book excursions through Viator or ‘get your guide’, as it’s simple and they have a good refund policy. On some bookings, you don’t a payment until 48 hours before the excursion
I’ve used them in Europe and the ROW. Never had a problem. Good communication and any trips that I have had to cancel were refunded within minutes. It’s also good to have all your trip info together on an app.
Note: I do not work for these companies, I’m just a customer 😀
Have a great time, whenever you go. It’s an amazing city.

We went in February half term last year and was beautiful 18 degrees, not too busy.

Thanks all for the brilliant recommendations. I'm looking forward to planning this trip as much actually going there! It's been my dream for a while, never been before, and want to do the best touristy bits as well as leave time for just sitting around soaking it all in.

Part of me wants to do a longer trip and do it all, while another part wants to do a short one first to get a sneak preview of it for another longer trip....

I've even watched a bit of the children's tv drama Rome sweet rome on bbc in anticipation

Just in case you’re not aware, there is a religious holiday called Ferragosto in mid August, most places will be shut then.

We were in Rome two years ago, we booked a breakfast & Vatican ticket package (directly through Vatican’s website). The breakfast was at about 7am and then you had a free access through all the rooms, culminating in the Sistine chapel. It worked out great, no crowds and it was nice eat the breakfast in the inner courtyard inside the Vatican walls.

Another tip I got from here, look out for a side door at the end of Sistine chapel, it leads you directly to St peters basilica without having to queue again.

I was there two weeks ago. It is great, you will have a wonderful time! We didn't book anything before going, so didn't get into the Colosseum or the Vatican, but we had so much other stuff to see and it didn't matter to us (we'd also been to them before). We combined the trip with Napoli for a day trip to Pompeii and another day to Sorrento. All in all, it was a great trip.

Book Vatican online. Get there by 730am. Honestly being first into the Sistine Chapel before the crowds is fabulous.