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There are about 1,000 different options for tours of the Colosseum and the Vatican, and I'm wondering if the brain trust here has any advice. For the Colosseum, we want to ensure a good tour, including the floor and underground area. A half-day of three hours would be good. We have one person who may have some mobility issues, so we are not looking for a long-day tour. For the Vatican, we want to include the catacombs and the same amount of time - three to four hours - would be good. We'd be doing this on two different days mid-week. (On a Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon. We have about 48 hours in Rome and plan on the hop-on and hop-off bus tickets. Any other suggestions? Steve Small Business Website Design & Maintenance - https://spidercreations.net | OpSpec Training - https://opspectraining.com | Grayguns - https://grayguns.com Evil exists. You can not negotiate with, bribe or placate evil. You're not going to be able to have it sit down with Dr. Phil for an anger management session either. | ||
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Member |
I did Italy about 20 years ago. Although times have obviously changed, I'd recommend looking at the Rick Steves guides. Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet. - Dave Barry "Never go through life saying 'I should have'..." - quote from the 9/11 Boatlift Story (thanks, sdy for posting it) | |||
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| Help! Help! I'm being repressed!  |
I recommend the night tours of the Vatican. Much cooler temp wise and if I remember right less crowded. You are still in a large group with a timeline to keep to. That's what we did in 2018. Also, we went to explore the upper chambers of St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday after Mass. Even got on the roof. I was traveling with 2 Catholics and we were allowed to skip the tourist line because we were there in time for Mass. My 2 buddies were able to take communion at St. Peter's which I thought was really cool for them. Edited to correct the name of the church...I've been drinking. | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us  |
We didn’t use any tours we just went our own so I can’t help in that department. I however highly suggest the following if at all possible. Do the normal during the day stuff as usual but just walk the streets of Rome and the Vatican after midnight. Our flight was out of Rome at 0800 in the morning so we did the normal Rome stuff the two days before and just stayed up all night just walking the streets prior to our flight. It was absolutely amazing! During the day is your typical hustle and bustle but at night it is so quiet, so beautiful, such a different kind of reverence that is hard to explain. The Colosseum and Via della Conciliazione (main road to St Peter’s Basilica) are so different. We walked right down the middle of the road to the Basilica which would not be possible during the day. That walk provided some of the coolest pictures I have. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else  |
We hired a personal guide for the Colluseum and it was fantastic. Turns out that all those PhD's in history can provide a great insight to all that you're seeing. Found them online and highly recommend them. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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Optimistic Cynic |
WRT St. Peter's, be aware that the entrance to the Basilica, and the entrance to the museum are located on opposite sides of the walled compound. You cannot get from one to the other without walking halfway around the City. This is a long walk, over a mile, and Rome in the summer can be torrid. The guard at the Basilica will tell you "first door on the left." It is shorter going counter-clockwise than the other way. Near the Colosseum is the Basilica di San Pietro where Michelangelo's Moses is on display. This may be the most magnificent of all his works. A few blocks from there is the Ai Tre Scalini restaurant, perhaps the best Italian cuisine I've ever had (not that you're going to encounter much bad Italian food in Rome). | |||
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| Member |
Any details on who you hired? Lots of options. Steve Small Business Website Design & Maintenance - https://spidercreations.net | OpSpec Training - https://opspectraining.com | Grayguns - https://grayguns.com Evil exists. You can not negotiate with, bribe or placate evil. You're not going to be able to have it sit down with Dr. Phil for an anger management session either. | |||
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| The success of a solution usually depends upon your point of view |
We bought a multi day pass for the red double decker hop on/hop off bus. At their office by St Peter Square we booked a tour that started in St Peter square, walked around to the Vatican's museum and toured that. Then we left the museum walked across the alley, entered St Peter's, toured the sistine chapel, and then went into the basilica. At the colosseum, we were in line and joined up with one of the guides walking up and down the line looking for customers. It turned out to be a great tour. One thing about using the tours, is that the tours don't use the same lines as the people who are on their own. We probably has 2 hours of waiting in line left at the Colosseum when we got out of line to go with the tour guide and we were inside in 20 minutes. “We truly live in a wondrous age of stupid.” - 83v45magna "I think it's important that people understand free speech doesn't mean free from consequences societally or politically or culturally." -Pranjit Kalita, founder and CIO of Birkoa Capital Management | |||
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| Member |
I've used both self-guided tours- downloading an audio and following it, as well as hiring a tour guide. Since you're looking to checkout the underground area of the Colosseum, you'll need to hire a tour guide who's got access. The Vatican Museum is worth having a tour guide, at the very least, they can provide some perspective as to WHY certain items are important or, where they sit in the arc of art history and human works. The challenge is picking which one. I went on a tour that just focused on works from the Roman Republic & Empire, it was a nerd-fest, it was myself and a handful of couples, the women were bored beyond belief after the first 30-minutes  For guided tours, I've had nothing but good experiences with Walks of Italy. Very knowledgeable guides, accessible to answer your questions and groups weren't too big. For self-tour, like the Roman Forum, Pantheon, neighborhood walks, I like Rick Steves Audio Europe App. At the very least, get the app, download the tours, listen to 1-2 before your trip so you get an idea of how it goes. I used it when visiting museums like the Uffizi and Prado; I got to see all the important works, gained some perspective and wasn't tied to a tour or, aimlessly walking around checking out every single item. | |||
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| Member |
Italy is my wife’s thing, we’ve been three times. I have to say, the Colosseum is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I second the “Walks of Italy” tours, we used them on our first trip, and they were great! We used another company when we went to Rome last year with the kids, thought we were getting a tour of the Vatican as well as St. Peter’s, turns out it was the Vatican only, so the kids didn’t get to see the inside of St. Peter’s, which sucks. | |||
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| Awaits his CUT of choice |
It has been a long time since we have been to Rome. FYI we did the self guided tour of the Vatican museums. The end of the tour is the Sistine Chapel. It took us 8 hours including a break for lunch in the Vatican cafeteria. After that then we toured St Peters. A half day for the Vatican is extremely ambitious in my experience. | |||
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| Serenity now! |
Rome was part of our trip prior to our Med cruise. While you have good suggestions on the tour becareful of the crowds and pick pocketers. Keep backpacks in front and if you use sling bangs the same. Close zippers compartments with locks or caribeners. Not sure if you have been to Europe but it’s suggested to buy bottled water. So at cafes unlike the US water is extra. If you use Apple Pay contactless payments are everywhere. We barely used cash/Euros anywhere. ------------------------------------------------ 9/11/01 Never Forget "In valor there is hope" - Tacitus | |||
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| Member |
The subway in Rome is pretty good. Probably too late now, but if your hotel is near a train station you would probably find just using the trains far easier than the bus. There is a subway stop at the colosseum, and two for the Vatican. There is an express train from Davinci to the main train station Termini, and shuttle busses from the other airports. As far as tours, I like to just wander around myself at my own pace so I just find one of the folks selling skip the line entry. It is not that expensive and will save hours of waiting. The Vatican is an entire day, but if you are pressed for time do St Peters and skip the Museum. Do be careful of the con artists around the more popular tourist attractions, they will try to strike up a conversation and get you to accept a "Gift" then demand payment. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
We used the underground subway in Rome, getting around is easy, finding the Colosseum and Vatican City is simple, get the full day pass, way less money and you can get everywhere. Watch for pick pockets, as in any city, use ATM for Euros if you want to carry cash, which comes in handy for buying things from street vendors. And visit the Spanish Steps then have Bean Soup at Ristorante Nino. https://ristorantenino.it/home-english/This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK, | |||
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| Member |
You must've done a soup-to-nuts tour of Vatican Museum covering EVERYTHIGN; allocating half-day at Vatican Museum and St.Peters is pretty standard if you go with a guided tour. From the time you depart, waiting at the meeting point, getting thru security, then the tour itself, regardless of tour type it can be tiring. I've heard the after-hours tours are nice and more relaxing than the day-time tours, given the reduced crowds. Just be prepared to be tired, take a nap afterwards and enjoy a nice evening meal.
You're not wrong, the main thing is not be that unwitting tourist, who's brought a purse/bag/pack that flops around and isn't very secure while naively presenting themselves as a target. I try to be handsfree and not carry anything whatsoever, from Spring-Fall the weather is pretty favorable. Vatican security requires backpacks, totes and sizable purses stowed in a locker before proceeding; just cut back on your baggage from the start. Getting water around Rome is easy, there's fountains everywhere . Refill a purchased water bottle or, bring your own, fill from the spout (called Nasone, the Nose in Italian) at any fountain. | |||
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| Member |
I was there 13 years ago and can also recommended the Rick Steves audio guides. They were excellent. In addition to the the Colosseum and the Vatican, I highly recommend a visit to the Borghese Gallery. It's free, but you have to call in advance to get tickets that are good for a two hour window. I am not an "art" person, but I swear there are works there by Bernini that look like God turned to men into marble. https://borghese.gallery/ ____________________ I Like Guns and stuff | |||
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| Member |
45 years ago, rome, coliseum, vatican/saw the pope/sistene chapel, pompeii. stayed in sorrento/blue grotto, all without a tour guide!! | |||
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| Member |
So we booked a tour of the Colosseum, Underground & Arena Floor from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. one day. Still looking at various options for the Vatican, but the catacombs are probably not possible since they only have 250 tickets a day. We may be able to pick them up when we get there. Thanks for the tips. Good information. Steve Small Business Website Design & Maintenance - https://spidercreations.net | OpSpec Training - https://opspectraining.com | Grayguns - https://grayguns.com Evil exists. You can not negotiate with, bribe or placate evil. You're not going to be able to have it sit down with Dr. Phil for an anger management session either. | |||
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| Member |
A friend of mine literally just got back from his trip from Italy and although I don't know which tour guide/company he used, he had an awesome time. Some of the pics were just amazing and it is also amazing at how well the Colosseum other structures have held up. Very cool learning vacation. | |||
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| It's all part of the adventure... |
We went back to Rome in 2017 and used the USO to set up several tours; they use absolutely fantastic tour guides. I’m retired USAF, so I still have access to USO services. If you have access to the USO I highly recommend their services. In any case - have a great trip and stay safe! Regards From Sunny Tucson, SigFan NRA Life - IDPA - USCCA - GOA - JPFO - ACLDN - SAF - AZCDL - ASA "Faith isn't believing that God can; it's knowing that He will." (From a sign on a church in Nicholasville, Kentucky) | |||
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