Book-ahead checker: when tickets go on sale

How the checker works

Pick a place and the day you want to go. For every sight with timed tickets, the checker shows when tickets for that day go on sale, the official price for your group, whether that day is free or closed, and the one official shop. Add the sale dates to your calendar, or copy the plan for your notes.

Where an official site does not publish its booking window, the checker says so instead of guessing. For those sights, book as soon as your date is fixed.

When tickets go on sale

Every rule below comes from the official site of the sight, read on 13 October 2026. Prices are for one adult, bought online where that is the cheaper way.

How to avoid fake and overpriced ticket sites

• Check the address, not the design. Look-alike sites copy logos and photos. The Vatican Museums, the Anne Frank House, Schönbrunn and the Musée d’Orsay all warn about sites with similar addresses. The official address of every shop is in the table above.
• Scroll past the ads. The first search results are often paid ads from resellers. Type the official address yourself or use the links here.
• Skip-the-line is often a sales word. The Eiffel Tower and the Galleria Borghese say there is no skip-the-line ticket, and Versailles says online tickets are not priority entry.
• Your name is on the ticket. At the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Pompeii, the Uffizi, the Florence Cathedral dome, the Last Supper, St Mark’s Basilica, the Louvre, the Sagrada Família, Park Güell and the Alhambra, the ticket carries the visitor’s name, and ID can be checked. A ticket in the wrong name can mean no entry.
• Resold tickets can be refused. The Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Florence Cathedral, St Mark’s Basilica, the Eiffel Tower, the Sagrada Família and Neuschwanstein all say tickets from unauthorised sellers can be refused, blocked or are not valid.

Free days that still need a ticket

• Galleria Borghese: free on the first Sunday of the month, but only with a ticket booked 10 days before (€2 booking fee).
• The Last Supper: free first Sunday tickets are sold only online, from 12:00 on the Wednesday before.
• Musée d’Orsay: free on the first Sunday of the month with a booked online time slot.
• Louvre: under 18s and EEA residents aged 18 to 25 go free, but should book a free time slot. From 17 October to 1 November 2026 nobody gets in without booking.
• Versailles: free on the first Sunday from December to March, with a booked time slot.
• Colosseum: under 18s go free but still need a ticket booked online. On free first Sundays, tickets are handed out at the ticket office on Piazza del Colosseo, first come, first served.

Free days at many more museums are in the free museum days calendar.

Questions

When do Colosseum tickets go on sale?

30 days before the visit, on ticketing.colosseo.it, the only official shop. Full Experience tickets with the arena, the underground or the attic go on sale only 7 days ahead. Tickets carry your name, so bring ID.

How far ahead can I book the Vatican Museums?

The museums do not publish a booking window. Book on tickets.museivaticani.va as soon as your date is fixed: €20 plus a €5 booking fee. The museums are closed on most Sundays and on Church holidays; the last Sunday of the month is free from 09:00 to 14:00.

When do tickets for the Last Supper go on sale?

In batches of about three months, at 12:00 Milan time. The batch for September to December 2026 opened on 23 June 2026. The 2027 dates were not announced on 13 October 2026. When a day is sold out, extra tickets go on sale every Wednesday at 12:00 for the following week.

When are Anne Frank House tickets released?

Every Tuesday at 10:00 Amsterdam time, for visits six weeks later. There are no tickets at the door and no waiting list.

How early can I buy Alhambra tickets?

The official rules sell tickets in three batches: 12, 3 and 1 month before the visit. The Nasrid Palaces have a fixed time on the ticket: if you are late, you lose that part. A new ticket system starts on 1 November 2026.

When do Eiffel Tower tickets go on sale?

Lift tickets 90 days ahead and stairs tickets 60 days ahead, on ticket.toureiffel.paris. If they are sold out online, the tower sells same-day tickets when any are left.

Do I need to book the Louvre?

Booking is recommended, and compulsory for everyone from 17 October to 1 November 2026. Adults pay €32, EEA citizens and residents €22. The museum is closed on Tuesdays.

Does Venice still charge the access fee?

Not since 27 July 2026. In 2026 it applied on 60 days between 3 April and 26 July. Nothing was decided for 2027 on 13 October 2026.

What if my date is not on sale yet?

Tap “Sale dates to calendar”. You get a calendar file with one reminder for each sale day, at 08:00 on that day. Dates marked “about” are estimates from the official rule: check the shop from that day.

Is buying on the day cheaper?

At the Uffizi, yes: €25 on the day against €29 bought before. At the Doge’s Palace it is the other way round: €30 online at least 30 days ahead, €35 otherwise. At most other sights the price is the same, but popular time slots sell out.

How current is this?

Every rule and price was read on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Prices can change, and the official shop always shows the final price.

More free tools

• Tourist tax calculator: what you pay on top of the room price in 96 European cities, with the rules for children and seasons.
• Train delay compensation: how much the railway owes you when your train is late, from Switzerland to Britain.
• Swiss customs calculator: what you can bring into Switzerland free, and what you pay above the CHF 150 limit.
• Free museum days: which museums are free on your dates, in 18 countries.
• Entry rules checker: ETIAS, EES, UK ETA, ESTA and Canada eTA at the official price, and how to spot a fake site.
• Vignette and toll checker: which vignettes and tolls your road trip needs, in 27 countries.
• Flight delay compensation: whether the airline owes you €250 to €600, in a minute.
• Trip cost splitter: who owes whom after a group trip, in 36 currencies, with the fewest payments.
• Cabin bag checker: whether your bag flies free under the seat, with the sizes of 17 airlines.
• Colosseum and Roman Forum map: a free phone map with routes, entrances and opening hours.
• Pompeii map: a free phone map with routes, entrances, water and toilets.

Sources

The official pages read on 13 October 2026, besides the shops in the table:

• Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine: colosseo.it
• Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel: museivaticani.va
• Galleria Borghese: galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it
• Pantheon: direzionemuseiroma.cultura.gov.it
• Uffizi Gallery: uffizi.it
• Galleria dell’Accademia (David): galleriaaccademiafirenze.it
• Florence Cathedral: dome and bell tower climbs: duomo.firenze.it
• Doge’s Palace: palazzoducale.visitmuve.it
• St Mark’s Basilica: tickets.basilicasanmarco.it
• Venice access fee: cda.ve.it
• The Last Supper: cenacolovinciano.org
• Pompeii: pompeiisites.org
• Herculaneum: ercolano.cultura.gov.it
• Cinque Terre: Via dell’Amore and park card: parconazionale5terre.it
• Louvre: louvre.fr
• Eiffel Tower: toureiffel.paris
• Palace of Versailles: en.chateauversailles.fr
• Sainte-Chapelle: sainte-chapelle.fr
• Catacombs of Paris: catacombes.paris.fr
• Musée d’Orsay: musee-orsay.fr
• Anne Frank House: annefrank.org
• Van Gogh Museum: vangoghmuseum.nl
• Rijksmuseum: rijksmuseum.nl
• Sagrada Família: sagradafamilia.org
• Park Güell: parkguell.barcelona
• Alhambra and Generalife: alhambra-patronato.es
• Acropolis: odysseus.culture.gr
• Schönbrunn Palace: schoenbrunn.at
• Neuschwanstein Castle: neuschwanstein.de
• Plitvice Lakes National Park: np-plitvicka-jezera.hr

General information, not linked to any of these sights or shops. We earn nothing from ticket sales. Prices and rules change: check the official site before you buy.

Back to the checker