Excitement felt when first purchasing cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms or cheap vacation packages to Europe can be dulled after waiting endlessly in long lines.
Rick Steves is a well known writer of European travel guidebooks and has the following advice how to avoid long lines while in Europe:
Try not to check out European museums during free days (usually occurs once a month) when the crowds can seem overwhelming.
When visiting popular attractions, remember lines tend to be shorter early or late in the day.
If you must visit an attraction during its busiest time, look for a side or underground entrance with shorter lines, a guided tour that includes last minute reservations, a less busy place in town to pick up your ticket, or a line skipping pass.
Many popular sights sell reserved tickets with specific entry times. Though such tickets often come with a small booking charge, the time you save makes it a great deal.
Always look into whether you can book ahead so that you are able to breeze right in at your reserved entry time.
Most tourist destinations offer city wide sightseeing passes which include free or discounted entrance to many or most sights, with public transit sometimes included. These passes are almost always well worth the cost if they also allow you to bypass long admission lines.
Sometime you can bypass congested lines by purchasing combo tickets that combine admission to multiple sites. Saving an hour or more wait in line usually is worth it even if you have no intention of visiting the other sites included on the pass.
After you have purchased a combo ticket or city pass never assume that you have to start at the back of the line. Go directly to the entrance to find out if you are entitled to bypass the line.
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