Rome Trip

If you do not buy tickets in advance, you will stand in longer lines. With the Vatican, you can get a timed entry ticket and avoid the hordes waiting sometimes for hours. At the Colosseum the ticket purchase line is longer than the security line (usually) so do yourself a favor and plan ahead instead of standing in line.

Voting with Laurel here: there's no way I'd waste time standing in the very long lines at the top 2 tourist attractions in Rome.

If you want to try to avoid pre-purchasing for the Colosseum, buy your tickets at the Palatine kiosk where ticket lines will be shortest. Tickets are good for the Colosseum, Palatine and Forum; the Palatine and Forum must be visited at the same time as they interconnect inside the security barriers. With ticket in hand, you can trot over to the Colosseum and skip the long ticket line but not security. You don't HAVE to do the Forum and Palatine too but I highly suggest it.

I personally wouldn't stand in line at the Vatican Museums; pre-order timed-entry tickets.

I checked for tickets to the Vatican but for April, they don't seem to be on sale yet. I will check again on Feb. 1st.

Since we have the Scavi tour at 9:00, should I purchase tickets for that same day for the museum?

Do you buy the tickets with the audible?

Thank you.

The usual advice concerning the Vatican Museums is that the best experience is had by buying a tour that gets you in before the museums open to the general public, which in your case would call for hitting the museums on a day different from the Scavi tour. You'll have to judge whether it's worth the second trip over to the Vatican and the extra cost of the tour. (You might Google for Vatican Museum Photos to help you decide. There are some hair-raising crowd scenes.)

Excellent decision to take the Scavi tour! I did this tour (pilgrimage as the guide corrected our group - they tend to get particular on that topic) on my trip to Italy last year, and came away fascinated. The wonderfully preserved state of the necropolis that you see at the beginning of the tour really gives you an idea of how ancient Romans remembered their dead. It's very cool, and you'll learn so much.

To clarify some items about the Scavi tour and the Vatican Museums that may help with travel planning... The Scavi tour ends in the grotto under St Peter's Basilica (the grotto is actually the foundation layer of the original medieval St Peter's Basilica). You walk out of that underground area and then have the option to go up the outdoor stairs into St Peter's Basilica proper. The entrance to the Vatican Museums is all the way around the opposite/back side of the basilica. You would need to walk around the perimeter of Vatican City to get to the Museums entrance (approximately 30min walk). As so aptly noted with the hair-raising comment, the crowds are a real crush, especially for the Vatican Museums. They have a very specific traffic flow for the Museum crowds that ends at the basilica. I'm not aware of a way to backtrack.

Decide if the Vatican Museums are a must-see. If so, I recommend a "before they open" tour taken on a different day during your stay in Rome. Otherwise, as mentioned, there are many, many sights and museums of equally memorable value.

Happy planning, I hope you have a wonderful time in Rome!

Again, thank you for your input. Good to know that you have to walk all the way around in order to get to the museum. The priest at my church told me to do the Scavi tour one day and another day the museums.

I read that Wednesday morning is a good time for the museum because everyone is waiting for the Pope. Of course, that's if I decide not to see the Pope, myself. Any input on this?

Great follow-up considerations, zpc. Decide which is more important - experiencing the papal audience held each Wednesday morning at Piazza San Pietro, or checking a block to see a famous museum. Two very different experiences. I have received feedback from several people who found the papal audience quite moving. With that said, I would never recommend overtly avoiding the Vatican Museums because it and the Sistine Chapel are very much worth seeing. Determine what fits your goals for your trip.

Tuesday through Thursday mornings are the best times to visit the Vatican Museums, regardless of the papal audience.

Best wishes!

If you decide on the Papal audience, I imagine you'll benefit from specific guidance about when to get there and where to stand. Someone posted some tips about that on the forum quite recently. I don't know how easy it will be to find that post, however.