Do I need to make reservations for the Vatican for a time slot ? I have bought the Rome Pass. If so, please leave the link .... thanks in advance.
Posted by
1922 posts
The Roma Pass does not apply to the Vatican. The Vatican is a separate country (city state) from Italy run by the Catholic Church. It is a vast complex. There are different tour options depending on what you want to see. All tours or tour groups are operating there by permission of the Catholic Church. There is the museum, the Basilica, the Dome Climb, and some other Vatican tours like the lavish (no longer used) papal apartments, Sistine Chapel, etc.. Do some online research or get the RS Rome/Vatican only book and consider your options.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16409 posts
Mona, as you were unaware that the Roma Pass doesn't cover anything at the Vatican (and never has), I'd suggest spending some time with the Roma Pass website, specifically the FAQ page. It's important that you understand what the pass does and doesn't cover and how to use it before you get to Rome.
http://www.romapass.it
http://www.romapass.it/en/FAQ/
Of important note, you DO need to make an advance timed-entry reservation for the Colosseum to avoid a very long ticketing queue...which you will be stuck in without a reservation, and may not even be able to get a reservation time on short notice. Instructions are on the FAQ page under #7.
Also note that the pass no longer covers Galleria Borghese.
To buy timed-entry tickets for the Vatican Museums (highly suggested to avoid another really long queue), this is the website you want (below). St Peter's Basilica is free: no ticket needed.
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
In ALL cases, even if you have a timed-entry ticket/advance reservations, you will need to pass through a security-check line. These generally move along pretty quickly but can be a bit slow at the Colosseum.
Editing to add: there have been a lot of changes to ticketing for the Colosseum, National Museum free days, Roma Pass, Firenzecard, etc. this year, and a lot of those occurred AFTER the last guidebook went to press. The best resources for the most current info is via the websites of the attractions themselves. You can also check for any guidebook updates which have been noted here: