skip the line Rome

Colosseum/Forum/Palatine:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

St Peter's is free: no tickets needed. You do have the ability to enter the basilica directly from the Sistine if you book a museum or museum +basilica tour. That saves some steps plus the security-check queue for the church.

Although a small entry fee has been under discussion for awhile, the Pantheon is also still free, or last I heard, anyway.

Understand that no one skips security check lines wherever those are in force, such as at the Colosseum and Vatican Museums.

Some folks like the Roma Pass although it doesn't cover anything at the Vatican.
http://www.romapass.it

Thanks, but I see several sites that indicate a ticket is necessary for St Peter's.
We would love opinions as to the very best 'pass' to enter all of the sites noted above, without long queues. Owe, unfortunately must be there in early August.

Thanks, but I see several sites that indicate a ticket is necessary for St Peter's.

Those are called scams.
If the Vatican's site doens't sell tickets for Saint Peter's...
There is only a security line to enter saint peter's and Kathy had already explained the only way to "skip" it.

Which lines are you trying to skip? The tickets' lines? Use the official sites linked above.
The security lines? You can't, nobody can.

There isn't a mysterious third kind of line that re-sellers can make you jump.

Maybe what OP saw was tickets for tours at St. Peter's -- like Scavi ??
DH took his daughters to St. Peter's in August a few years ago -- LINE! (Also HOT!!)
We did a Friday evening (October) at the Vatican Museum, bought advance tickets online and walked in using a short special line.

On another off-season trip there was a long line for tickets at Colosseum but only a few people at the Forum entrance across the street so we bought the combo tickets there, saw the Forum, then came back the next day and got in the short already-have-tickets security line for Colosseum.

but I see several sites that indicate a ticket is necessary for St
Peter's.

Which sites might those be? Can you provide the web addresses so we can take a look?
The only time tickets that are ever necessary for St Peter's is for certain services (tickets are free), for the scavi tour or for other guided tours of the church.

There is one ticket which promises priority entry (security check applies) to the basilica through a reserved entrance. It involves an audioguide app that must be dowloaded to your own device. I didn't include that option as the vast majority of visitors go the free option or back-passage access from the museums to the church with a tour. The app has not worked successfully for everyone who has downloaded it, either.

https://globol.com/experiences/rome-st-peter-audioguided-tour-1/?utm_source=mundi_web

Otherwise, there is no "best pass" that includes Vatican City AND attractions in the city of Rome. The Omnia Pass does include attractions at both but it's an overpriced thing that sees little-to-no support from most posters to this forum who've been to Rome.

Thanks very much with your patience with me. Normally a great, off-season traveler, the summer we are taking our entire family (14 from 9-73 yr) on a 50th anniversary trip. I would love to pre-plan to make things as smooth as possible.

I will rely on your web sites provided. I have seen many who offer to keep one out of the sunny queues which sound ideal (ie vaticanstate.ca).
It seems that it might be best for us to pick one of the early morning tours of both the Vatican Museum (primarily interested in the Sistine Chapel) which also includes easy entrance to St Peter's afterward. A group rate would be good.
Which do you recommend?

I have seen many who offer to keep one out of the sunny queues which
sound ideal (ie vaticanstate.ca)

Anything related to tickets/tours of the Vatican museums on vaticanstate.va links to the museum's website I gave you in my first post.

...the summer (August) we are taking our entire family (14 from 9-73
yr) on a 50th anniversary trip.

Carol, this was an important detail that changes the initial scenario! Yes, for a group your size I would very definitely look into tours or private guides for Vatican and the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine. Crowds at both are fierce during high/shoulder seasons, and moving a large group of diverse ages through the mobs would not be fun or easy. A tour or guide is going to be able to impart information while at the same time moving you as efficiently as possible from place to place. Direct access to the Basilica is another plus.

The Vatican Museums are enormous and confusing: if your main focus is the Sistine - which is at the furthest end of the museums - then you want a tour/guide who can get you in BEFORE the majority of the regular visitors. Early-entrance tours are very popular amongst posters who've done them, and will help a bit with the heat in August: the museums are not air conditioned and are uncomfortably warm in summer.

Diversity of ages is also a factor: younger children are going to have a difficult time in middle of the Vatican mob, when they can't see around the adults in front of them. All considered, an early-entrance tour is going to be worth the price, even though the museums will become very, very busy before your tour is over.

The Forum and Palatine benefit from a knowledgable guide unless one has done quite a lot of research on their own so I'd look into a tour/guide service that covers both + the Colosseum. No way around it, the Forum and Palatine are going to be hot in August, and there's little opportunity to get out of the sun.

As far as organized tour companies, Walks of Italy, The Roman Guy, Context and some other have seen many favorable recommendation on this forum. Francesca Caruso comes up a lot for personalized guide services - although she is really busy and so can be difficult to snag - and there are others the gang here can offer up.

Cost-wise for a group your size, I'm thinking you'll do better engaging a private guide than with organized tours but let's see what some of the other folks think?

Wonderful suggestions, thanks! I'll look into best-value guides mentioned
.

Can anyone recommend a good, reasonable private guide / service in Rome? We are 9 adults + 5 youth (10-13).