Rome in a day

With one day in Rome, take one tour, and make it the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. That's about 3 hours. Spend the other half of the day walking and enjoying this ancient city. You can go to Piazza Navona. the Pantheon, Trevi, and various other famous sites for free. Many people self-guide using Rick Steves' book and MP3 audio guides. You could do it for the cost of admission, which I think is 12 euros for all 3 historic sites.

I would suggest taking only one tour. For me, it would be of the Vatican museums. You can book directly with them for 31 euros each. They have tour times at 10:30, 12:30 and 2pm. These are good tours and at that time of year the crowds will be low. If you wish to tour the colosseum instead you can book directly with them through pierreci, the official site. Viator is a re-seller of tours and includes a mark-up. They use many different companies so I would confirm which company you'll be getting before using them. I haven't used Dark Rome but 136 for two people seems like a lot to me. If you are trying to control costs this might not be the way to go. Donna

Andre - if you want to get the most out of your time, I would recommend www.througheternity.com. I used them for the Colosseum (with underground), Palatine Hill and Roman Forum tour as well as the Vatican with early admission into the Sistine Chapel. No way can you do both of these in one day (they each lasted 6 hours), but they do have other options, so please check out their website and see if they have something that fits your needs. I would highly recommend these tours and give the tour guides two thumbs up. I did the self guided RS tour for Pompeii and wish I had done a live tour instead.

I suppose this is stating the flamin' obvious but I would guess that the call would be down to you, Andre. Those folk who go for old Roman stuff, and who aren't moved by church stuff or ceilings by Michelangelo, or museums will suggest the Colosseum - and if that's you that's what I'd suggest. On the other hand if they like all that Vatican stuff and don't care about old Roman stuff they will suggest that one - and if that person is you, then that's what I'd suggest. It all comes down to which you prefer, not what we prefer. I agree that it would be far better to only do one or the other. I wouldn't base the decision on money. You can get into both places for way less than you quote if you use general admission and use Rick Steves tours from the Rome 2011 guidebook and/or his audio tours. Would you take a boat to Catalina for the day or the train to San Diego for lunch? Both nice, but your choice. (I know which I would do).

i would do both on your own with the rick steves audio tours. you can take taxis between sites and still save money over tours. i would do the vatican in the morning, book ahead so you dont wait in line, breeze thru the museums and spend most of your time in the sistene chapel and st peters basilica. btw the dome climb is great.
do the colosseum and forum in the afternoon. with limited time i suggest you skip palatine (i was underwhelmed). if you can get an underground colosseum tour, it is great! (book direct with pierreci) skip the line and see from the bottom and top. you really wont go wrong no matter what you choose, they are both great.

Thanks for everyone's responses. I am leaning to the Colosseum, but of course the wife wants to go to the Vatican. The other six members of out traveling party have already done the Vatican tour and decided to pass too. We actually arrive in Rome about 4PM the night before and since our hotel is around the corner from the Spanish Steps, plan to do that with the group and also walk to the Trevi Fountain that evening too.

If you're walking around in the evening, stop at the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. In terms of the Vatican v. Colosseum/Forum, I've been to both many times, and unless you really want all the behind the scenes things on the Colosseum/Forum tour, you can easily self-guide through these two places (and the Palatine if you're still interested in that).

Nigel is correct. If you are a history buff, and love archeology and All Things Roman, the Coliseum will BLOW. YOUR. MIND. On the other hand, if you love art and architecture and curch history and pomp and gilding, the Vatican wil BLOW. YOUR. MIND. Pick your mind-blowing experience!

Zoe thanks for the extra tip. We had planned on sqeezing in the Pantheon that evening after the trips to the Colloseum and/or Vatican. I have also downloaded Ricks Rome walking tours to my smart phone and we will use those as a self guide

We only had 1 1/2 days in Rome. Saw the Vatican the afternoon we arrived (www.romanempiretours.com). Jimmy was fabulous tour guide and small group tours. Next day did an 8 hr tour "Rome in a day on a Segway". Wonderful way to see all the sites. Check out www.tripadvisor.com also for helpful info.