If you don't want to be a part of Rome's busiest tourist season, try to avoid visiting during the summer months. RELATED LINKS City Guide Rome

Rome often suffers from an overabundance of visitors, and there's nothing like a few busloads of unruly tourists to spoil your visit to a sublime Renaissance chapel or a picturesque Roman piazza. You're likely to have a much more rewarding stay if you can avoid going during the summer high season, from mid-June to mid-September.

Unless you are traveling for spiritual reasons, it's also best to avoid the major Christian holidays, especially Easter. Even outside of the busiest seasons, the Vatican Museums can get uncomfortably crowded almost from the moment the doors open at 8:45 a.m. From mid-March through October, your best bet is to arrive at the Vatican just after noon when the early birds are getting tired and hungry and are heading off to lunch.

The rest of the year, the Vatican Museums close early, but if you show up around 11 a.m. you're not likely to get stuck in line at the entrance and you'll still have a couple of hours to view the collections before the 1:45 closing time.