Questions re tours in Rome

[raisinbran]

Myself, 2DS 10 and 6 will have 3 days in Rome in July. I know its going to be very hot and crowded and I am pushing my luck trying to see as many sights as possible.

I want to keep touring costs down but don't want to trade saving pounds and result in nightmare experiences with hot/ tired crabby children and wasted time/enjoyment.

So visitng places like the Vatican City Museum and Collesseum are supposedly long waits, is there any merit in getting there as it opens or will everyone else have the same idea. Or is it worth paying over 3 times the cost for a tour which prebooks tickets so jumps the long lines? This would mean I have less money to spend seeing other attractions.

bump

When we were in Rome we got to the Vatican quite early and the queue was around the block. We did not bother going as it was clear that it would take hours of queueing to get in.

If you really want to see the Vatican and don't want to waste precious time then I would book a tour.

I don't remember the Collosseum being so bad.

Thanks for the reply, I guess I new the answer really just hoping someone could say otherwise.

I would suggest getting to both asap after these places open. With the Vatican there are two lines; one is for parties (tours) and the other is for individuals. It is also very, very long walk indeed from the start of the museum tour to the Sistine Chapel.

Some companies start their tours in the square of St Peters Basilica and use the entrance from there into the Museum. This is worth considering particularly if you are in St Peters from late morning onwards.

Long lines can form for entrance into St Peters Basilica as well.

Colloseum became more crowded late morning.
You can book a tour (recommended) in English - this can be arranged inside the Colloseum.

The Metro can be very busy but is generally okay and has air con (the Metro stops for the Colleseum is called Colosseo on the Metro B line in the direction of Laurentina). For the Vatican the stop is Ottaviano on Metro line A in the direction of Battistini.

If you like ice cream head for San Crispino (ice cream parlour, no seating though) near the Pantheon. Fab ice cream!!.

We used Roman Candle Tours in December - they were fantastic. The guide was very knowledgable and really brought the whole place alive.

Oh good, more useful inofrmation thank you

Not answering your question, but as you mentioned the Collisseum, be aware that they've recently changed the ticketing (I was in Rome last week for a 2-night break ).

It's now one combined ticket (?12 for adults) for the Collisseum, the Palatine Hill and the Forum (which you used to be able to walk through for free, boo hiss). So you need to do those all on the same day (which if you DO want to do all three thoroughly will take pretty much the whole day).

Hope you enjoy it

Oh good tip thanks Lucas.

We went last year and just booked the entrance ticket in advance through the Vatican Museum website. We didn't book a tour and we didn't have to queue. There are loads of companies who advertise this if you google. We had to queue to get into St Peter's but it moved quickly. It was all wonderful but I have to say our DS 16 did not really appreciate it. There is a LOT of walking within the Vatican.