I’ll be visiting Rome in March 2025. I’ve been before about 20 years ago but will be traveling with people who haven’t been. Are the skip the line tours advertised legitimate (currently looking at the tour guy) or should we stick to the Vatican webpage? I’m not really concerned with the tour piece of this as everyone has a good knowledge of art history- more concerned with the possibility of skipping the line….
Also- any idea when they’ll open tickets for March on the Vatican webpage?
There is something you should know about all these “skip the line” tours all over the world; the only line you get to skip is the line for the ticket office. You can’t skip or get ahead at the line for security.
You don’t need a tour to skip the line for the ticket office. Just buy your ticket from the official website and you’re good to go.
Of course you can always take a tour because it offers a guide or something else like early access.
Also when you’ve bought a ticket for a certain time slot, remember that you’re not the only one who has tickets for that particular time slot. I was once in a short line of about 50 people waiting for the security and ticket check of the 10:00 time slot of the Rijksmuseum, when a man and a woman started pushing people aside to make their way to the front of the line loudly claiming “We have skip-the-line-tickets!” Their attitude didn’t go well with Rijksmuseum staff and fellow visitors alike and they were promptly escorted to the back of the line.
We used TheTourGuy morning private tour with back door access to St Peter's this past December (xmas week). It was worth it for us because: 1. the place is huge and crowded, having a guide made the experience more relaxing and smooth, we would get lost in there) 2. with backdoor access to St. Peter's, which means not having to exit Vatican and walk 20minutes to St. Peters and stand in the looooong security check line.
Skip the line only skip the ticket line, there are still lines for the timed entry and security line.
I remember the official webpage opens for tickets about 2-3 months ahead, regular tickets sold out fast after they were open, there were many more tickets with tours available when I was doing my research. I would recommend checking their website to get a sense of ticketing pattern, practice "buying tickets" (without final paying) ahead of time so you know what to expect.
We used TheTourGuy morning private tour with back door access to St
Peter's this past December (xmas week). It was worth it for us
because: 1. the place is huge and crowded, having a guide made the
experience more relaxing and smooth, we would get lost in there) 2.
with backdoor access to St. Peter's, which means not having to exit
Vatican and walk 20minutes to St. Peters and stand in the looooong
security check line.
Excellent! We have The Tour Guy booked, same tour, for 4 of us for early April. First tour of the day, 8:30 AM. Hoping for the best!
