Rome in a day and a half

I bet the kids would love to do a food tour and the Colosseum.

Thank you!

The Vatican Museums will be unbearably crowded. I suspect they might also be quite hot in the afternoon, but I'm not sure, because I saw them in March 2023. Perhaps others will comment. In any case, I am thinking this will not be a hit with the children. It's much more pleasant to view art at the Borghese Gallery, but it will not be uncrowded (it sells out essentially every time slot); just considerably less so.

You will encounter a very long security line to get into St. Peter's. I took one look and decided to postpone that until another trip when I can somehow get myself over there to line up before the 7 AM opening time. I can't imagine standing in that line in July. If you just must see those Vatican City sights and are willing to throw a lot of money at the situation, you can consider a commercial tour going to both the Museums and St. Peter's. Usually those tours are allowed to exit the Sistine Chapel into St. Peter's, avoiding the lengthy walk around the outside of the complex and the horrendous St. Peter's security line. The Vatican, unfortunately, doesn't offer any combination tours, just tours of the Museums, so the higher-priced commercial tours are the only way to access that time-saving back door.

Places you'll need to buy tickets for well in advance: Vatican Museums, Borghese Gallery, Colosseum.

As you will recall, there are dozens of beautiful churches in Rome that--unlike St. Peter's--are mostly lightly visited. You could look for possibilities near your hotel and near other places you plan to be. I liked both Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere; the crypt in Santa Cecilia is a very colorful. Large churches tend to be reasonably cool even on hot days.

Thank you. Yes, I agree completely with your assessments. My daughter is very keen to visit the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's so we will have to make that work, likely, as you say, with one of the pricey tours. Pazienza! I'll be weighing the other options carefully.
Thanks again for your insights.
Sharon

Forewarned is forearmed. If it's a must, on this schedule and in July I'd try to find the money for a tour. Warn your daughter that, in order to take advantage of that back door to St. Peter's, you must accompany the guide into the basilica. You cannot remain in the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel because you haven't seen everything you wanted to.

Maybe your daughter could do the Sistine Chapel on her own while you and the grandkids do something else that would be more fun for them?