The expert view

We are at the peak of the city break season – a beautiful time of year to enjoy Europe’s great cultural centres. The only downside is the crowds. Queues will be long, and the most popular museums and sights heaving with visitors.

Or will they? Recently I’ve been side-stepping the problem by using Google’s new Popular Times charts. When you search for a sight, they show up in the panel on the right of the main results listings (or if you are on a smart phone, at the top of the results).

Using results generated by data collected from visitors’ phone signals, the chart indicates – hour by hour and for each day of the week – how busy the sight is likely to be. It displays the typical length of time spent at the sight and, during opening hours, shows live information on whether it is unusually quiet or busy at that moment.

The results aren’t always surprising, but there are some significant quirks, and knowing those can be very useful if you want to avoid queues and crowds. At almost all sights, the first hour of opening is by far the quietest. And overall most are much less busy during the middle of the week than at weekends. But there are no absolute rules, so if you are visiting at a peak period it’s worth checking Google to see how the land lies.

I’ve analysed the charts for five great museums where crowds can be a problem. Note that even at quiet times, there may still be queues at the ticket office – where possible, book online and with a timed entry to avoid this problem.

Vatican Museums, Rome Part of the problem here is the relatively short opening hours of 9am-4pm, which means that the museum is normally consistently busy all day, and the Sistine Chapel perpetually crowded. However, 9am on a Wednesday is relatively quiet – head straight to the chapel on arrival. (Closed most Sundays).

Uffizi, Florence Long opening hours (8.15am-6.50pm) are a bonus. Arrive at 8.15am for the best experience, or just before 5pm for the last couple of hours of the day. Thursday is quietest. (Closed Monday).

Musée d’Orsay, Paris Strangely, the quietest hours of all are 9-10am on Saturday and Sunday. But later on both days it is very busy, as is Tuesday. Good options are Wednesday morning and the last two hours of late opening (until 9.45pm) on a Thursday. (Closed Monday).

The Prado, Madrid Every day there is a dip in numbers during the siesta hours of 2-4pm. It stays open until 8pm but remains busy until then. Wednesday is quietest. (Open every day).

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam They get up late in Amsterdam. The museum is dead as a doornail from 9-11am, then consistently busy until closing at 5pm. (Open every day).

amount with Questor which uses a claims handling company called Orchard Administration Limited. Orchard refused our claim because while my husband’s name was the lead name on the insurance policy, it was my name that was listed at the top of the motorhome rental agreement.

I can understand that there may be times when such a policy can be abused but in our case it’s clear that it is the same two people listed on the rental agreement and on the insurance policy and that we are married.

Is there anything more we can do to persuade the company that this was a genuine mistake? JEAN CADAS

AReading through your policy document it does say: “The policy covers the drivers listed below when driving a vehicle rented by a Lead Driver”. It then lists your husband as the Lead Driver (with a “Yes” next to the Lead Driver box for him and a “No” next to your name).

Earlier in the booking process it also flagged up the following: “The first driver listed must be the lead driver on any rental agreement and will be the policyholder.”

Given that your husband is named as the policyholder on the excess redemption policy and it was he who had the accident, I did think the insurer could show some leniency.

I suggested that you contact Questor Insurance direct and ask for a review as the decision to refuse to pay out had been made by a claims handler. Most insurance companies outsource the handling of claims to these companies which operate according to the letter of the insurance policy.

You asked Questor to accept that you had made a mistake and did not realise how serious the consequences would be given that you and your husband were named as drivers on both the policy and the car rental agreement.

Questor’s customer resolution manager did review your claim and told you that while she could not overturn the decision (because it had been made within the policy’s terms and conditions) she would ask the underwriters for a review.

This is how a good insurer should handle a matter like this. And the good news is that the underwriters have come back to say that they will allow Questor to pay out on the claim after all.

Your experience is a salutary lesson for anyone hiring a vehicle this summer on how important it is that the Lead Driver is the person who takes out the excess reimbursement policy otherwise it will be invalidated.

Questor says this restriction is to prevent a customer hiring multiple vehicles with different lead drivers but only buying one policy. It also offers a Dual Lead Driver option which allows two people living at the same address to hire cars in their own name.

Questions should be sent by email to asktheexperts@ telegraph.co.uk. Please provide your name and nearest town and, if your query is about a dispute with a travel company, your full address, daytime telephone number and any booking reference. We regret that we cannot answer all the emails we receive.