My husband and I are planning on visiting the Vatican Museum and Colosseum in mid October. Does anyone have recent tips on purchasing tickets?
Posted by
Los Angeles
1202 posts
We purchased 3 Extra Time - Sistine Chapel [Happy Hour] tickets for Friday Nov. 10 on July 24. Looking right now, for Oct. 11, tickets are available for Lunch at the Museums, Extra Time and Guided Tours for Individuals. Regular admission tickets for Friday, Oct. 13 are currently "Not Bookable" as opposed to "Sold Out" so they may not yet be on sale. Vatican tickets generally become available 60 days in advance, although the premium tickets tend to be available earlier. So based on your dates, start checking immediately.
https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home/calendar/visit/Biglietti-Musei
The general rule for Colosseum tickets is that they become available exactly 30 days and 7 days before the scheduled day & time - and that is Rome time. So from the USA, you need to be trying approximately 5 to 8 hours earlier, based on your time zone. Right now tickets are available through September 10, with decent availability starting Aug. 23 - for both standard and full experience tickets. It would be helpful to start looking at the Colosseum site now, so you can become familiar with the navigation and available options.
Posted by
Orange County, CA
8 posts
I was in Rome last October and also visited the Vatican and Colosseum. If you like making sure you get the tickets you want, make sure you set an alarm for the moment they go on sale. Yes, it’s a bit of a pain to wake up early to do it, but it’s one less thing to stress about when you wake up again later that day.
Make sure you let your bank or credit card company know that you will be purchasing tickets in Italy. When you’re ready to buy your tickets, have a backup debit or credit card on hand. Last year when I was purchasing my tickets for the Vatican, it wasn’t taking my main debit card, so I had to use a different card. I’ve found that making international purchases on my California-based bank card tends to be a bit more difficult, than using a nationwide bank card from a larger bank like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, etc.
I recommend grabbing the first available morning tickets for both the Vatican and Colosseum.
Being at St. Peter’s before sunrise was absolutely worth it! We avoided massive crowds and was able to see the sunrise just before we entered the basilica. I would do the basilica first, then the Museums afterwards (if you plan on visiting the museums too).