How long needed to see Colosseum, etc

Hi Doreen, You should tell people what time your tour time is so they can help you plan.

Good point. It's at 10:30 a.m.. We are arriving Tuesday evening, have Wednesday (which is when the tour time at the Vatican is), Wednesday night and most of Thursday, planning on taking a late afternoon/early evening train to Florence from there. We would have preferred a Thursday morning at the Vatican and spend Wednesday at the colosseum because we think it will take more time at that end of town - when we have more time. I am hoping the ticket is good for more than one day so we can see some ancient sights on Wednesday afternoon, some Thursday before we leave. We are planning on getting a Roma Pass for our entry. Thanks

One option is to tour the Vatican Wednesday morning, followed by the Pantheon later that afternoon. You should consider using transportation to the Pantheon, rather than walking. There isn't a Metro stop near the Pantheon, but buses will get you close - there is even a small electric bus that passes by both of these sites. Thursday morning your feet would be ready again to tackle the Colosseum and Forum (they are adjacent to each other). Allow maybe 2 hours for the Colosseum (more, if you linger at the interior exhibits). If you don't do your homework before the trip, then the Forum visit will be a quick walk through the ruins; knowing what you are seeing will result in a better visit, and will take another couple of hours.

Just to clarify...perhaps you mean the Palatine..which is part of the Colosseum/Forum area?...the Pantheon is elsewhere

Hi Doreen,

When we went to the Coloseum in November they had a few college students conducting tours. They usually hang around outside. The price of the ticket was 20 euro and it also included the Forum. We paid and we got right in and they were very informative and funny.

Thanks for all the advice (and, no, we do mean the Pantheon). DOes anyone know if the ticket for the Colosseum is good for entry more than the one day??

Yes, since they recently added the Forum to the Colosseum/Palatine combo ticket, it is now good for 2 days.

If you're asking whether you can enter any of the individual sites on both of those days (e.g., Colosseum on both days), I'm not sure of the nuances of the tickets. But, you can certainly do something like the Colosseum and Palatine on one day and the Forum on another.

Thanks!! That helps a lot

Hi Doreen. If you go to the Colesseum when it opens on the Thursday (with a roma pass or ticket purchased at the forum so you can bypass the ticket buying line) you can easily do the Colleseum and the Forum by 12:30-1:00. The two sites are so close together and it is much easier to do as one. We arrived around 9:30, lingered quite a while, using the RS audio tours and we're off having lunch by 12:30 or 1:00. The Pantheon is part of Rick's night walk (if its after dark you can't get inside but it looks magnificant all lit up at night and is close to Campo di Fiori (great place for dinner) and then on to the Trevi fountain. You could do this on Tuesday or Weds evening. If you have time, the Capitoline Museuem, right above the forum is a hidden gem. No line ups, interesting art, and the best view wall in all of Italy looking down over the Forum (this is not the roof terrace, which is also nice, but the part where you walk between the two buildings in the musuem). Again its outlined in Rick's book. Anyway, I think you'll have plenty of time to hit the sites you mentioned. Enjoy!

Thanks, Tim (and everyone). I have a 2007 copy or Rick's book and had planned his walk but wasn't sure about current conditions such as times, how long the ticket is valid for, etc. Your suggestions are great.

Doreen,

Many great suggestions here. Last week folks were over from the States and we spent some time walking the "BIG 3." It took about 3+ hours to see the Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum.

They used the Roma Pass for all three sites. They purchased their Roma Pass out at the Airport on the Commune di Roma Desk located just outside the C Arrivals Terminal - Yes, the one that is closed! So if you want to get Roma tickets BEFORE you come into town - and avoid that line - just head toward the C Arrivals area and you will see the Roma Pass sales point on your left!

Not sure where you are staying but the Colosseum area is very accessible by metro (line B) or by bus (271, 81, etc.).

For the best views in town, head to the Vittoriano and take the elevator to the top for GREAT views of the Forum and city!

Ciao,
Ron