Colosseum and Vatican Museums in one day

For sure but everyone is different in how they like to tour things. Obviously book yourself a break between the two. Hopefully it will not be too hot and sunny and crowded. The Vatican Museum is a real drag when it is crowded.

Do the Colosseum first thing in the morning and then go to the Vatican. You can spend the whole day at the Vatican. The Vatican museum is very crowded, but if you go further into the museum after seeing the major sites, art work, then it may get less crowded the further you explore. Most people go on tours and see the major art work and many don't stay in the museum after that. I spent a whole day there once in the museum and need to go back. It is like the Lourve, many see the major works but don't stay in the museum and go to the other wings to see the rest of the museum.

Remember, you must book your tickets in advance for the Vatican. Not sure about the Colosseum as I have always gone on a tour when seeing both.

The Vatican museum, The Sistine Chapel and St Peter's church is a full day if you want it to be.

Totally doable, but if you're doing the Colosseum, most people will also do Palatine Hill and/or the Forum since they're right there. We are a bit quick with our touring (probably too quick) and did all of that and the Vatican/St. Peter's in one, long exhausting day. If you just want to stroll in the Colosseum in the regular public areas, you won't need to book in advance (or we did the "open" ticket option since we were already past the required time). We saw the Colosseum both ways -- as part of the combo ticket during the day time and then already had a night tour booked (that takes you into different areas).

Becky mentioned the night time tour of the Colosseum and I do recommend it. We did a daytime tour and it was VERY crowded. So much so that the tour groups were running into each other and having to jostle for a spot to stop and listen to the guide. But when we did the night tour there were only three other groups there at the time. We enjoyed being able to actually see and hear our guide and this tour took us to the lower level which we had not seen on our previous visits. The tour of the Palatine Hill was an added bonus being lead by an archeology student sho gave us a wonderful perspective of this area. You might consider visiting the Vatican Museums during the day and the Colosseum at night that would allow you to take a rest break between the two.

We were in Rome late last week and had a wonderful time. Here’s my advice.

1. Book your Colosseum ticket online in advance, for as early in the day as possible. The ‘open ticket’ is only valid after 2pm so probably won’t work for you. The audio guide was worthwhile and wasn’t too long.

2. The Vatican Museum is VERY confusing! I don’t know if we did it wrong, but you basically have to go through EVERYTHING as it’s a one-way system. There is no picking and choosing your museums. Now, I will nuance that. There was a “short” itinerary, that I think missed out the Etruscan museum. We did the short itinerary and it still took a long time to get through. The Sistine Chapel is at the end, so it doesn’t get less crowded, it gets more crowded. This is a shame because we rushed a little through the Rafael Rooms as the crowds were making me anxious. And be prepared for the crush in the Sistine Chapel. And the guards that shout at people.

3. Do go to the Pinecoteca, the art gallery, as it holds some of the Renaissance’s great masterpieces. It’s easy to miss right at the start.

4. Book your Vatican Museum timed tickets in advance! Our ticket was at 12:30, and the line to pick up timed tickets was not very long, while general entry/ticket purchase looked like a very long wait.

Remember that even if you have timed ticket reservations for either of these, you will still wait in line to swap the voucher that is emailed to you for the actual entry ticket. Then you line up to pick up your audio guide, then again to go through the entry gate and there’s usually security as well. I think with all of the steps, each place took about 20 minutes to get in. You will need to factor that into your planning.

When you exit the Museums, you will be right beside the entrance to St. Peter’s, beyond the enormous line to get through security. So you can pop into the basilica too!

Finally, it’s a pretty long walk from the Colosseum to the Vatican. Totally doable, but you might want to give your feet a break and grab a cab.

I just read the comments about the night tours, and that does sound very cool! I’d recommend the Colosseum either very early, or night-time. If you did it at night, you’d have a more leisurely pace for the Vatican museums.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend a tour for the Vatican Museums, having spoken with a friend who took a tour, and it was ‘only’ 2 hours (we spent at least 3 and were selective about what we stopped to see). A tour doesn’t give you the opportunity to stop and linger over the things that interest YOU. There are many different museums so research in advance what you’d like to look at.

Not sure when you will be there but have you thought about the Friday night Vatican Museums entry? Supposedly they are less crowded, often have musicians playing and can even be booked with a happy hour option. We are going August 17th but they are only available on Friday nights until October starting at 7 pm. We have also booked the Scavi Tour in the afternoon so you could always do the Colosseum in the morning, St. Peter’s in the afternoon and Vatican Museum at night.

Thanks for the information for Friday night and it is very interesting to us. How and where did you book your tickets? We will be there on August 3, a Friday night.

You booking the Vatican Museum evening tickets on the same website as all other Vatican Museum tickets. They are listed under Night Openings 2018 and are available 60 days in advance. You book a time and I believe the regular tickets are the same price as during the day. Of course a happy hour ticket, tour ticket etc. are more expensive. https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do is the link I think but I am not very good at copy and paste. Hopefully it works.