Night at the Museum, the 2012 Edition

La Notte dei Musei

Update: Following this morning’s tragic bombing in Brindisi, the city of Rome has cancelled tonight’s Notte dei Musei. We will update with more info when we have it.

Once a year, the Ministero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali (MiBAC), indulges our collective childhood fantasy of running around museums after dark. This Saturday, May 19, they are bringing us the 2012 edition of La Notte dei Musei – which is just the Italian way of saying that most of Rome’s best sites and museums will be open all night and without charging you that pesky admissions fee.

Starting at 8pm on Saturday night, the participating sites will reopen until 2am on Sunday (last entrances will be around 1:30). Check the website for a full list of participating sites and times (scroll down to Lazio), but take note that some highlights include the Villa d’Este and Villa Adriana out at Tivoli, and Castel Sant’Angelo, the Terme di Caracalla, and the Villa Giulia here in Rome, along with most other museums. The Galleria Borghese is participating as well, but be sure to call ahead to reserve your free 9pm entry. Unfortunately, despite its presence on the poster above, the Colosseum is not participating as a free site, but they did recently restart their Friday and Saturday evening tour initiative.

In addition to the MiBAC sites, the MAXXI is joining in on the fun by staying open until midnight and offering a reduced price ticket (8 euro instead of the usual 11). The Musei in Comune are participating as well – a full list isn’t provided, so I guess we can assume all of their sites are in (this includes Trajan’s Markets, the Capitoline, Centrale Montemartini, and many more.)

Lines for the popular sites can get quite long, so if you’re set on seeing something, get there early. Most of all, have fun and don’t eat the pictures.