Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
In fairness I was only in Rome a day in the very middle of the tourist season. You couldn't get close enough to anything to even see what it was and every 2 feet there was a booth or cart hawking cheap souvenirs.
I am a huge archelogy buff and have watched hundreds of hours of videos' on Pompeii and Herculaneum and would love to visit them but almost ever thing on them says they are also so crowed and restricted now you really don't see much. You couldn't pay me to go back to Rome though!
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I went about three or four years ago. I viewed it as the trip of a lifetime though, and it was on my bucket list sooo... we had a private chauffeured car, and private guides the entire time. Pompei/Herculaneum were not crowded at all. No real restrictions other than what was necessary for preservation. You were walking into the buildings, and although instructed not to (and really - please don't) you could touch the murals and mosaics easily - but again please don't!!!) Our guide was a degreed historian and the experience was better than I dreamed.
I seem to recall that the tour buses are on a set schedule and our guide specifically avoided them.
The only crowd in Rome was at one of the most famous fountains; people were crowded about 6 deep around the edge. No crowds in the catacombs, churches, Coliseum, etc.