I'm interested in the Skip the Line benefits for St. Marks Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, etc., but don't want to tour with a guide. Do you know where I can buy STL tickets that allow me to walk the locations at my own pace?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15810 posts
More specifically, Paula, where will you be traveling in the Italy and what do you want to see? It's a sizable country with a lot of "etc."! Also, have you purchased a good guidebook yet?
There's quite a lot of ticketing information on the Italy forum if you do a quick search but here are the "official" ticket/reservation sites for some biggies in Rome. Understand that NO ONE can skip security check queues where those are in force, and that you're going to need to commit to a specific day and time slot for the most-visited attractions or buy a tourist pass, such as the Roma Pass. Tickets may not yet be available for the month you're traveling.
Colosseum/Forum/Palatine -
https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm
Vatican Museums and other parts of the Vatican which require tickets.
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
Understand that there are sections which can ONLY be accessed with a tour. Where "open tour" tickets are available, that means available for visiting without a guide so the type of ticket you'd want to purchase. The Roma Pass does not cover the Vatican.
Galleria Borghese:
Pre-reservations are required for this one even if using a tourist pass:
https://www.tosc.it/tickets.html
It's been too long since I've last seen Venice but this appears to be the site for St Mark's priority access tickets. I do not believe you're allowed to wander the main body of the church at will but will shuffle along a one-way route with everyone else. Again, it's been awhile so I'm happy to be corrected if wrong about this! Note this text on the website:
"The duration of the visit inside the Basilica is approx. 10 minutes to allow everyone the opportunity to enjoy the monument. Inside the Basilica you mustn’t take photo or videos; silence must be respected at all times during the visit."
Florence will have its own list of ticketing sites and/or pass option, if you're going there.
Posted by
Chicago
1949 posts
Yeah, we did Skip The Line in February 2017 for St. Peter's, without a guide. Paid 18 Euro per. Almost wish we would've had a guide, though. It is extreme sensory overload--the beauty, the largesse. And the Skip The Line folks gave us earbuds and an app for our phone to describe what we were seeing that didn't work--just as well.
It was worth the 18 Euro as it saved us 60-90 minutes of waiting time.