Europe - Rick Steves: How to avoid long lines in Europe

USA Today: Rick Steves: How to avoid long lines in Europe (http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-06-16/Rick-Steves-How-to-avoid-long-lines-in-Europe/55625602/1)

Hi All,

IME, there are some good tips to keep in mind, especially when visiting some of the most popular sites! Despite many visits to Paris, I did not realize I could book in advance; I'll keep this in mind on future visits when family wants to go up the Eiffel Tower though!

In Rome last year, we went to St. Peter's Basilica in the late afternoon, enjoyed no queue, and a pretty light crowd.

:)

[QUOTE]Some sights are notorious for grueling waits. These include the Eiffel Tower, Rome's Vatican Museum, Barcelona's Picasso Museum, and Florence's famous galleries — the Accademia (Michelangelo's David) and the Uffizi (the showcase for Italian Renaissance art). At these places, lines are completely avoidable by making advance reservations, usually online or sometimes also by phone. After learning how simple this is and seeing hundreds of annoyed tourists waiting in lines without a reservation, it's hard not to be amazed at their cluelessness. As soon as you're ready to commit to a certain date, book it.
[QUOTE]

Despite many visits to Paris, I did not realize I could book in advance; I'll keep this in mind on future visits when family wants to go up the Eiffel Tower though!It's not quite as easy as he describes.

There can still be a wait, even for people that pre-booked. Note that there are different lines for the normal ticket booth vs. people who have booked online. I don't know how much better it is vs. the normal line. The site today says they are experiencing 2 hour delays because only one elevator is working. In a situation like that, I wonder if the people who bought their tix in advance have any sort of priority over those that are buying tix the day of. And if you think the lines at the base are long, they're nothing compared to the lines at the top.

And for the Eiffel Tower, you have to reserve a specific arrival time (don't worry, you can stay as long as you like once you're in). It's not exactly clear if you need to be in line by this time (nobody there is checking tickets), or need to plan to arrive at the ticket booth by this time. The latter would be a little tough for a visitor to judge, though I assume the ticket takers give a little flexibility on this one.

Just checked their site, and the first day that tickets are available is August 6th :eek:. And even then, most days only have 1 or 2 timeslots open. I'd say that the secret is out on this one...

I totally understand why they have to book by timeslot, yet that really limits your flexibility. But if you have a limited amount of time in Paris and are planning your trip around this visit, buying online might work well for you.

When we visited Rome several years ago we got a pass to several museums (forget what it was called) and followed Rick Steve's advice- we bought it at the National Museum of Rome which was practically deserted and were able to bypass the lines to the Collisuem.

When we visited Rome several years ago we got a pass to several museums (forget what it was called) and followed Rick Steve's advice- we bought it at the National Museum of Rome which was practically deserted and were able to bypass the lines to the Collisuem.

It sounds like the Roma Pass - we used it last fall and found it very useful. :)

I used it too, especially skipping the lines at the Colluseum was very nice. If you go to two expensive museums first it is also a good deal.

In Paris, many museums sell full-priced tickets through automatic ticket machines and the line is usually considerably smaller.

In Paris, many museums sell full-priced tickets through automatic ticket machines and the line is usually considerably smaller.

At the Louvre and d'Orsay, the lines are caused by the security set-up--very similar to what one encounters at the airports--once beyond the metal detectors etc., the line for ticket purchases is minimal.
If one has a Carte de Musee (Museum pass), there are special lines and entrances.
Also, some museums have late night openings, there are rarely lines at those times.

In several cities in Europe, we've bought the city pass. The main thing is to ensure that your desired museums are on the list for the pass you buy (since some cities have two or more competing city passes) and then begin your tour as one of the minor museums on the list where you'll have no queue to get the pass to begin with. (This step may not be necessary for cities where hotels, newsagents, etc. also sell the passes.)

We just returned from London and Paris. We purchased both the London Pass and the Paris Pass. I purchased them on line and paid to have them shipped to me. I thought that this was excellent. We had our passes and transportation tickets when we hit the city. No picking them up and we could start touring where ever we wished. London pass was great for everything except the Eye. We had to pay seperate. In Paris the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs were not included. At the catacombs everyone had to stand in line (about 1 hour). I forgot to prepay for the Eiffel Tower, and we were there when only 1 elevator was working. Still not horrendous. Of course, I compare that to some Walt Disney World lines - lol. We stood in line about 45 minutes and that included security and elevator lines. I would suggest that everyone purchase the transportation tickets. 24 - 7 unlimited access. Hopping on and off buses, trams, subways. I loved it. Simple, easy and fast. Plus it takes some stress off of your feet.

Plus in some attractions the Pass gets you a separate entrance. For example, when we got to the D'Orsay there was quite a line that was hardly moving. They were only letting in up to 8 people at a time every few minutes. The line was at least 1 hour long. But, our Paris Pass got us access through the B door and we walked right in - no line at all. Beautiful. Also, liked the idea that we could pop in on an attraction for just a few minutes, stay if we liked it or leave if we didn't. Didn't have to feel like we wasted money. We stopped at a few attractions that we probably wouldn't have normally and felt like that really enhanced our trip.

We haven't hit up a lot of the big sights in our recent trips since we've done them multiple times before but we've taken advantage of some good tips from RS. Some of these tricks may have changed but some of the ones that come to mind are:
The Paris Museum Pass allowed us in a separate (group?) entrance at the Louvre which was way shorter than the main entrance. It also got us in the passholders line when the l'Orangerie just reopened. The main line was easily over an hour long whereas we the third couple in passholders' line.
In Rome, we bought our tix at Palatine Hill; saving a longer line at the Colosseum.

Going during off times is great too since we're pretty flexible when we eat, etc.