Alesandra Dubin
- My family visited Rome during the peak summer season, and it was hot and crowded.
- I wish I'd bought travel insurance for my whole family and hadn't relied on the hop-on, hop-off bus.
- We should've explored more in the morning and at night to avoid the sweltering midday heat.
When I planned a trip to Rome for my family in late July last year, I knew it was dubious timing, and I could expect the destination to be hot and crowded.
Summer is high season in Rome, and the city saw an estimated 35 million tourists that year — a huge increase from 2022. Plus, those numbers are only predicted to go up in 2024.
But, I reasoned, what choice did I have traveling with school-aged kids bound by school vacation schedules? We went anyway, and our trip wasn't flawless — but I definitely learned a lot.
Here's my first and best tip, unfiltered: If you can, avoid Rome in the high season when landmarks are packed shoulder to shoulder, rates are expensive, and it's extremely hot.
If you go anyway like I did, preparation is key to a successful, comfortable trip that's memorable for the right reasons.
Here are my five top takeaways to help you enjoy your stay.
Just get the travel insurance
Alesandra Dubin
Our trip got off to a rough start when my son got sick and couldn't travel as scheduled. Unfortunately, I only had a travel insurance policy for myself, not my whole family.
That meant my daughter and I traveled to Rome without my husband and son, and we spent hours working the phones to get them rebooked for the following day when my son was well enough to fly.
In the high season, this medically necessary reshuffling cost us a small fortune, sending us way over budget right off the bat and setting a stressful tone to the trip.
When I returned home, I bought a policy that covers all four named members of our family for an annual term, and I'll never travel without one again.
Sit out the midday heat indoors
Rome is beyond hot in the high season, with regular highs in the 80s and 90s Fahrenheit. (Fortunately, we missed the historic heat wave the previous week that actually forced the closure of certain European landmarks for safety.)
Try to stay indoors during the excruciating midday heat — ideally in a place with air conditioning. The best option is to plan to explore as much as possible in the cooler early mornings and evenings.
Fortunately, many top attractions are open at night, including the Colosseum, which has lighting installed to make it glow. Unfortunately, we positively baked in the sun here during our daytime tour.
One thing we did right was visit Rome's catacombs at midday. I'd read it's a great thing to do during the heat because it's always cooler underground, and it was indeed a wonderful reprieve from the heat.
Spring for the pre-opening tour at the Vatican to avoid crowds
To that end, if the Vatican is on your list of must-visit landmarks in Rome, I'd strongly advise you to pay extra and book a pre-opening tour. These allow you to visit before the crowds come after the official opening time.
You can avoid the midday heat, and you might have a more spiritual experience if you're not being jostled by crowds of people wielding selfie sticks.
Book everything well in advance
Alesandra Dubin
Don't wing your trip during Rome's high season.
Plan to book all your tours well in advance of your travel dates — months ahead, if possible — otherwise, you'll likely find them all sold out when you try to find last-minute bookings.
If it helps, you can filter for tours with generous cancellation policies when you search on platforms like Viator.
Manage your expectations for the hop-on, hop-off bus system
After a wonderful solo experience riding the hop-on, hop-off bus in the springtime in London, I had high hopes that this mode of transportation would be a great option for our family in Rome.
Unfortunately, our bus moved achingly slow — so much so that we were a half hour late for our Colosseum tour (which we would've had to forfeit had it not been semiprivate with a forgiving guide).
Plus, the air conditioning felt tragically ineffective as we sat in traffic for hours. It was hardly the scenic delight I had hoped for, and I'll know not to depend on it for the next trip.