10 Simple Tips for Visiting Rome in the Summer

10 Simple Tips for Visiting Rome in the Summer – RomeCabs

Buon giorno and welcome to Stefano’s RomeCabs, Rome’s leading company for private Day Tours, Shore Excursions and Transfers.

Summer is the most popular time to visit Rome, and also the hottest and the most crowded.

We offer you 10 simple tips for visiting Rome in the summer to help make your summer vacation easy, comfortable, enjoyable, and stress free.

1 Book your Transfers and Tours in advance.

Civitavecchia Port Transfers – Stefano’s RomeCabs

Summer months are peak travel and cruise season in Rome with limited availability, especially for last minute reservations.

Don’t wait until the last minute to book your transfers, tours (and hotels) as you may not find availability on your preferred dates. You may end up having to stay at less desirable hotels or book your transfers and tours with companies that are not your top choice.

2 Bring comfortable sandals or light walking shoes.

Flipflops, high heels, ill fitting sandals platform shoes are NOT recommended in Rome.

Rome’s streets are largely cobble stone, pavements can be uneven, and archaeological sites such as Roman Forum and Palatine Hill have uneven terrain making it easy to trip and/ or otherwise injure unprotected feet.

3 Bring portable water bottles with you.

Many water fountains in Rome have refreshing drinking water you can refill your water bottles with. Street vendors that sell water can charge 2 Euros for a small bottle of water.

It’s very important to keep hydrated in the summer months while touring Rome under the hot sun and often in intense summer heat.

4 Book Air Conditioned Hotels

If you prefer cold air conditioned rooms with temperatures you can control in the summer, make sure you book hotels, B&B’s or rental apartments with adequate Air Conditioning systems for your needs.

5 Protect yourself from intense summer sun

Bring sunscreen, hats, sunglasses with you to protect you from the strong Mediterranean sun in the summer months.

6 Dress appropriately if planning to visit churches or sacred sites in Rome.

If wearing shorts and tank-tops, keep in mind that many (if not most) churches in Rome do not allow visitors who do not have their shoulders and knees covered. This is especially enforced at the Vatican.

While the Vatican Museums do not have a modesty dress code, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica do. Under dressed visitors are turned away.

Either prepare in advance on the days you wish to visit sacred sites by wearing pants, dresses, or skirts that cover the knees, and if wearing tank tops bring a shawl or an extra shirt to wear that covers your shoulders.

7 Many Buses and Metros are not air conditioned, are very hot and crowded in the summer.

If possible, avoid public transportation as much as possible. Most buses and metros are not air conditioned, or don’t have adequate air conditioning making them extremely hot and uncomfortable.

Bus stops are also usually in the sun, so if you have to wait 10-20 minutes for a bus in the sun it can be quite draining.

In August, public transportation is also scarce as it’s the month when many Italians go on holiday and with reduced commuter travelers, the bus and metros schedule is reduced in frequency.

8 Book private transfers and tours for more comfortable and enjoyable tours of Rome

Private Tours of Rome – by Stefano’s RomeCabs

If planning to travel in hot summer months or in August and need to cover a large area of Rome on a limited time, Stefano’s RomeCabs offers Day Tours of Rome by car so you can enjoy more of Rome in less time….and most importantly in the comfort of your private deluxe air conditioned vehicle and personal English speaking driver at your disposal.

9 Book your No Line Admission tickets in advance.

Book your Vatican Museum Tickets in advance online

Book your tickets to the Colosseum and Vatican Museums in advance to avoid the very long ticket lines – on hot summer days it’s not pleasant to stand in line for hours. It’s exhausting and draining.
When booking Rome tours with us, we provide our clients with links to book their Advance No Line tickets to the Colosseum and Vatican Museums.

10 Schedule your monument and museum visits to avoid the hot sun, crowds, long security lines.

Security lines at the Colosseum

Visit sites that tend to be hot and crowded during the day and sites with security checkpoints that can cause hours’ long wait lines first thing in the morning when they open. This way you are among the first to enter, avoid the massive crowds, and avoid the hot sun and heat.

Sites best visited first thing in the morning include: Colosseum, Roman Forum, and St Peter’s Basilica.

Vatican Museums are also hot and crowded in the afternoon as they are not well air conditioned inside. With floor to ceiling masterpieces it’s not possible to knock down walls to install proper air conditioning systems.

However, if you plan to visit the Museums after lunch when the morning rush of early visitors, large group tours, bus tours, and school groups have already left, you may experience potentially less crowds in the afternoon. This is also an option when planning to visit the Colosseum in the morning to avoid the potentially long security lines.

RomeCabs Transfers and Tours in Italy