Rome tours - Vatican and Colesseum

"Good price" is subjective, but the smaller, better tours are not cheap. I really like Walks of Italy and think they are a value for the experience. Their "Pristine Sistine" tours is wonderful, only 12 people in the group and you visit an almost-empty Sistine Chapel before seeing the rest of the museum.

You can book directly with the sites on the official tours. Depending on the time of year you can have as few as 8-10 people on the tour. For the Vatican use: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking for the colosseum use: http://www.coopculture.it/en/ticket.cfm?office=Colosseo&id=2 Donna

Do you think it is necessary to have a tour for the Colesseum? Are the lines long in July for general admission?

We booked a Gray Line tour for the Colliseum and the Vatican. Gray Line subbed out the tour to another company in Rome. You can look at possible tours on Grayline.com. We were there in June, 2010. It was really crowded, once we got inside the Vatican. We got to go to the front of the line though, when entering. It was E-X-T-R-E-M-E-L-Y hot in Rome then. Obviously there isn't any A/C in the Colliseum or the Vatican either. The Vatican is so beautiful.

The colosseum is one of those sites that is extremely well signed. If you wish to visit the underground section you'll need to book a tour as that can only be done on a tour. Donna

Am I not seeing "underground tour" on the website today for a May 18 visit because it is too early to book ? How far out do I need to be watching to get the underground tour for that day ?

We used Walks of Italy last May for airport pickup, and 3 tours - The Colesseum tour (included the underground and top tier), Pristine Sistene (paid extra for the early tour to skip the crowds..well worth the money), and the Twilight City Stroll tour (a nice orientation tour when we first arrived). I'd easily recommend them for all of the things we did with them. They had nice small groups, very good English speaking guides, easy to find meeting places, and started timely. I think I remember getting a discount for mentioning Rick Steves. www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_listing/1/1 Even if you go with another tour company, I'd recommend picking someone. The general admission lines seemed REALLY long at the Colesseum and the Vatican.

Carla, I just checked the website for the underground tour and there are several listed for May 18th. It will say "underground tour". Here is the link I used. http://www.ticketclic.it/database/B2c/Order02.cfm?SiteDefId=171 If that one doesn't work here is the main link: http://www.coopculture.it/en/ticket.cfm?office=Colosseo&id=2 click on "buy single", agree to the T&C's and pick your date. You'll see all the tours pop up. Donna

We used Presto Tours for our tour of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's. The tour lasted 3 hours and we were incredibly pleased with the guide and the tour. Their reviews on Trip Advisor are very good and I would not hesitate to take another tour with them. We took a tour of the Palatine Hill & The Colosseum/Forum with Through Eternity. They're also well reviewed on TA and again we were very pleased with the tour guide and the quality/length of the tours. We felt that it was worth while to use a tour guide to see all of the above places. We were able to skip the lines everywhere we went and the tour guides added a wealth of information that we would not have had otherwise. Have a great trip!!

Dear Jacqueline If you book a group tour make sure you will be able to visit in the Vatican besides the Vatican galleries and the Sistine Chapel also the Raphael's Rooms and the Basilica of St. Peter's. To have a memorable experience of the Vatican museums I suggest a private tour Yes I highly suggest to book the skip the line tickets otherwise the line will be very very long. July is high season for us Vivian
Rome- Italy

You don't need to book a tour in order to bypass the lines. You can also book entry tickets which allow you to bypass the lines. The tours offered by the Vatican take you to lots of the most popular rooms including the Raphael rooms and Sistine chapel. After the tour you can visit the basilica if you haven't already. They also offer a tour which includes the basilica. The basilica also offers a free tour every afternoon. There is no need for an expensive private tour. Donna

I have seen a few people on other sites recommend Pierrici tours, however when I click on the supposed "Pierrici" links, it brings me to the CoopCulture site. There is no mention of Pierrici on this CoopCulture site. What is the deal? I'm trying to find a good tour company to book my Colosseum tour with this summer. Thank You.

Pierreci was the official booking site for the Colosseum and other sites. Now it's coopculture. You can book the same tours or tickets through them with no problems. Donna