3 Common Mistakes that Ruin Your Summer Trip to Rome

Buon giorno and welcome to Stefano’s RomeCabs Transfer and Tour Blog.

There’s nothing like summer in Rome: long days to enjoy more monuments, squares and museums, warm evenings for romantic dinner at an outdoor restaurant, and lots and lots of gelato!

Summer is also the most popular season for travelers, who come to Rome on their summer vacations. If you are among the millions making your way to Rome in the summer, this blog can help you avoid the 3 worst mistakes that can ruin your trip to Rome.
.

1 Not Reserving your Hotels, Transfers, and Tours in Advance

Rome is not only one of Italy’s top destinations for travelers, but also for cruisers who leave and arrive at the cruise port of Civitavecchia, and also dock for the day at the port on their cruise.

By waiting too close to your trip to book your Hotel, Airport Transfers, Civitavecchia Port Transfers, Day Tours and Shore Excursions, you may discover limited availability or no availability at all. Many travelers, especially cruisers, plan their trip up to 1 year in advance and book accordingly.

Summer is not the time to travel off the cuff and book what you need as you go along. Spontaneous travel is best in the off season months of November to March.

So don’t wait until last minute, book everything you need for your Rome trip in advance and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

RomeCabs Tours and Transfers — Day Tours, Shore Excursions and Transfer available at http://www.RomeCabs.com

2 Not booking your Advance Tickets to Popular Monuments and Museums

The Colosseum and Vatican Museums have terribly long ticket lines that can mean long wait times that last hours and possible missed opportunities to visit these amazing places.

If you are short on time, the long ticket lines can also cause you to miss out these sites altogether – and if this was your only chance to visit them, it would be a huge disappointment during your trip.

In the case of the Colosseum, these wait times are right under the hot summer sun. Because the Colosseum also has a security checkpoint installed, your ticket line can be further impacted by added security lines.

The Colosseum is best visited first thing in the morning when the lines are shortest.

You can avoid the other security lines at Saint Peter’s Square when entering Saint Peter’s Basilica by accessing the Basilica through the Vatican Museums.

Guaranteed access can only be possible when touring the Vatican Museums with a licensed tour guide in order to enter the Tour Guide reserved entrance that will take you quickly to the Basilica through the backway.

You can book a private Tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica through My Rome Guides. If you book our Rome in A Day Tour, we can arrange for a licensed tour guide for your Vatican visit.

You can avoid potentially long ticket lines, the stress and frustration by booking your museums and monuments tickets in advance wherever possible and skip the ticket lines.
..

3 Not Bringing Suitable Attire

Summer attire for many travelers consists of tank tops, short sleeved or sleeveless tops, shorts or mini skirts, and flipflops. However, in Rome this can pose a problem.

Many churches in Rome that are on visitors’ Must See List have a strict modesty dress code that require shoulders and knees to be covered (men, women, and older children). Visitors who do not observe the modesty dress code can be turned away.

At St Peter’s Basilica they are most definitely turned away.
..

What not to wear when visiting Rome Churches - RomeCabs — Visitors turned away from St Peter’s Basilica

We have seen numerous visitors wait up to 1 hour in St Peter’s Square to clear security to visit the Basilica, only to be turned away at the door because they were under dressed. For many, that was their ONLY chance to visit the Basilica as shopping for proper clothes and then return in line again was not an option as they were on a time limited shore excursion and had to return to the ship soon after.

If you are planning to visit specific significant churches in Rome, either dress accordingly on those days, or bring something to cover your shoulders and knees for spontaneous church visits.

Many streets and sidewalks in Rome are either cobble stoned, or are not entirely smooth (expect a few holes and uneven pavement) on these old streets. Archaeological sites like Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Ostia Antica and others have rugged dirt terrain with loose rocks, stones and pebbles.

It is imperative that you wear comfortable sandals and walking shoes in Rome to avoid damage to your feet. Leave the flip flops for the beach. When in Rome, wear footwear to keep your feet safe and comfortable. And break them in before your trip…blisters are painful to have when walking on your feet all day.

We have seen far too many cracked, cut, bandaged, crippled feet and sprained ankles in Rome as a result of inadequate footwear. Don’t let your shoes ruin your vacation.

While there are MORE mistakes travelers make that ruin their summer trip to Rome and Italy that we will explore later, however these are the most common ones.

RomeCabs Blog Italy – Italy Private Excursions, Rome Tours, Civitavecchia Transfers