11 Comments

  1. Amanda P
    November 29, 2013 @ 12:42 am

    In places that are more well-lit, I like to check out popular areas at night. Other than avoiding the daytime and the tourist season for the area, I’m not sure much else can be done other than avoiding the site altogether.

    • Andrew
      December 2, 2013 @ 10:57 pm

      Even nighttime, near midnight in the summer, didn’t stop the crowds in Rome. It helped avoid the cruise ship masses, but those staying in the eternal city definitely do venture out after dark.

  2. Steven
    August 25, 2013 @ 10:18 pm

    As I get older, I have less patience with crowds as well, but there’s no way around them if you want to see the main tourist attractions in any given city.

    I guess the trick is to just grin and bear it.

    • Andrew
      August 30, 2013 @ 8:36 am

      There are more tricks than to just deal, but not many more. Trying to avoid them time/season-wise helps. We also have finally realized, no matter how much we like the idea of going to the famous festivals, they are unlikely to be are thing in reality.

  3. Life Lessons of a Military Wife
    August 4, 2013 @ 3:51 pm

    Exactly why I never recommend city trips in the summer! Not only are the prices for flights and lodging jacked up, but you ave to fight with tourist hordes and masses plus the heat to see anything? Who does this willingly? I mean even Romans and city dwellers leave the city in the summer! I had Rome all to myself in March and even in April…flew budget Ryanair and stayed cheaply in an apartment overlooking the Coliseum. Better in summer to hit the North Sea beaches, trips away from cities…even some out of the way places like Gozo, Malta or ferry to some of the lesser known Greek Islands.

    • Peggy
      August 4, 2013 @ 4:44 pm

      I totally agree, who in their right mind would fight this mess of tourists! We like to go to Europe in the fall Oct/Nov or April/May stay at Ewelweiss hotel and go from there. Love this time of year too!

    • Andrew
      August 10, 2013 @ 2:11 pm

      Sometimes you really can’t avoid the summer and it does often have the best weather. This year anyway, June was first warm month. April doesn’t sound so bad, but March sounds a bit cold. I like sitting outside and watching people, so there needs to be people to watch and pleasant enough to sit outside. But the people just need to be “over there” to be watching, not a crowd around me.

      Malta is on our list and so is going back to the Greek Islands. North Sea sounds nice, but I have a hard time picturing it warm even in summer.

  4. Peggy
    July 31, 2013 @ 9:56 pm

    Omg the crowds are awful! I never had a wish to visit Rome, and I would never fight this mess of tourists! Thanks for the photos!

    • Andrew
      August 10, 2013 @ 2:08 pm

      Rome is definitely worth seeing. There is a sense of history there that I have not experienced elsewhere. The tourist hordes are a problem, but something you have to deal with pretty much everywhere these days, but not one to keep you from seeing cool stuff.

  5. Rick
    July 29, 2013 @ 1:28 pm

    You make some great points…Rome in high season is mob scene, especially around the major “must-see” sites. Your suggestions are spot-on: patience (always a necessary travel companion in Italy) and avoidance. You can avoid going in the high season, or you can avoid the most touristic areas in the middle of the day. Make a triangle between the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum and just stay out of that area between 10:30 am and 6:00 pm. If you’re a first time visitor to Rome, of course you’ll want to see those sites, but plan your day accordingly. But if you’ve been to Rome once before, there are literally hundreds of other things to see which can be enjoyed at a more relaxed pace–even in high season.

    • Andrew
      August 10, 2013 @ 2:07 pm

      Patience is a hard one for me. Germany runs (mostly) to schedule and Italy is less so. And often tourists seem to leave their manners at home when they travel.
      The daytime wasn’t so much different than night. The first time we went to Trevi was at 8-9pm and it was still overrun with people. It did have the added benefit of the “police” guy tweeting his whistle when people got too close to the water. Didn’t see him in the day.

      We will definitely go back to Rome. Maybe now that we have seen the big things we can hunt out those hundreds of other spots.