Itinerary Torino toRome in 3 weeks

The Sistine chapel is inside the museums so there's no way to get tickets just for the chapel. You can go directly to the chapel without stopping in the museums but it's a brisk half hour walk through the museums to get to the chapel.

Not sure what you heard about the colosseum but it's open everyday, with few exceptions.

The entry ticket will get you to the main levels of the colosseum. There are no dungeons at the colosseum. There are underground staging areas that require you be on a special tour to see. This tour also includes the arena floor as well as the third tier.

The combo entry ticket for the colosseum includes entry to the forum and palatine hill as well. This ticket will cost 12 euros if bought onsite or 14 euros if bought online. Online tickets allow you to bypass the large ticket lines.

http://www.coopculture.it/en/ticket_office.cfm

If you are purchasing full priced entry tickets you can use the print at home option. This will allow you to visit the forum and palatine hill before the colosseum if you wish to do that. You cannot print tour or discounted tickets at home. These must be picked up at the box office.

Donna

Tnx, Donna. How does theRomaPass compare to buying individual tickets??
and, again, tnx

Will we be able to go straight to St. Peter's from the Sistine?

Donna covered just about everything but no, unless you're with a tour, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to access the stairway directly into the Basilica. That one is reserved for tours only, and while some independent visitors have had luck with the guards looking the other way, others have not so it's a crapshoot.

How does theRomaPass compare to buying individual tickets??

Donna will probably pop back with her views on the matter but I'm not really sure what you mean by "compare"? Price-wise? Convenience-wise?

The Roma Pass only makes sense if you have the time and interest in going to the attractions it covers. It doesn't apply to the Vatican Museums, and we've never purchased it because we don't need or want the transport piece: we prefer to walk everywhere in Rome, or buy a couple of single-ride BIT tickets for the few times may want to hop a metro. You need to do the math on any sort of pass to see if it makes sense for you.

So with a 48-hour pass you get one 'free' attraction +transport and some small discounts on other stuff.

With a 72-hour pass you get two 'free' museums plus transport and small discounts on other stuff.

You do not have to buy a pass just to skip lines. If you are only interested in the Vatican and Colosseum, you can get around buying a pass by pre-purchasing tickets on their websites. Or, in the case of the Colosseum, you can get in line at the ticket kiosk on Palatine Hill at the opening hour. Lines are shortest there, the ticket you purchase will include the Forum and Colosseum, and allow you to skip the long ticket - but not security - line at the Colosseum. As Donna said, you have to purchase a separate ticket for the Colosseum Third Ring and Underground tours. Those sell out far in advance so order those as soon as you know your trip plan is solid: do not wait until you get there!

http://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

This is the website for Vatican Museum tickets/reservations, and I would highly recommend buying those in advance as well:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

With the exception of small fees to explore any Roman ruins under the foundations, virtually all of the churches are free - and there are hundreds of them so unless you're really into museums, there's a lot you can do in Rome without spending very much at all.