Strategies/tips for Colosseum and Sistine Chapel in one day

Hi spindoc -

If there is ANY way not to do Rome's #1 and #2 most visited attractions in one day, I'd make that effort? Both of them are going to be mobbed and you'd be spending your day - which is sadly looking like it may be the ONLY full day you have in Rome - smack in the middle of the hordes. This is the best way I know of to form a negative impression of the Eternal City!

So when, exactly, will you be in Rome? I'm seeing that it might be for just 2 nights on May 15th and 16th, coming from the Amalfi Coast with Pompeii along the way, or maybe the 17th as well (the Mille Miglia post). It makes a difference as the 17th is a Friday and offers an option for the Vatican Museums that's not available on the 15th/16th so could stretch your available sightseeing time.

Colosseum in the afternoon, since the latter has the cheaper
"combo-ticket" available for entry from 14:00 only?

That is outdated information. ALL pre-purchased tickets are now for a specific DAY and TIME, and they sell out very quickly so you need to jump on whatever times are still available. This is the ordinary-entrance ticket:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=products&catalogid=ADAE8874-AE4B-55B9-02FB-0167A81C0247&snappTemplate=template3&lang=en

I'd look at this option (entry plus 45-minute Colosseum tour; excellent price of € 19,00) too:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=E6A1B5B3-BFDA-AC94-6929-0161B2E3A0C0&catalogid=BDB46B8C-0C49-10F2-6036-0167A8502B26&lang=en

If sold out for your date(s), keep checking back. The website also states that "Pre-sales will be open every Monday at 9:00 am (ROME time) for Colosseum scheduled time entrance... for the following week according to the weekly availability." The ticket covers entry to the Palatine and Forum as well, and I think it would be a shame to miss them.

Sistine Chapel: it's at the furthest end of the Vatican Museums, a good 30-minute walk from the entrance when slowed by the crowds. Unless you book an early-entrance museum tour or a Friday night late opening ticket, I don't know as it matters when you go as it's going to be very, very busy ALL the time. A significant amount of posters have sworn that early-entrance tours, such as "Pristine Sistine" offered by Walks Of Italy, while pricey, were worth every euro to be able to see the chapel and parts of the museums before they got just nuts. There are a couple more quality companies which offer these tours as well so give a shout if interested.

Otherwise, you might try getting general-entry tickets for the earliest time slot and making a beeline for the Sistine. The museum's own ticketing website is here

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/visitatori-singoli.html

This is the least-expensive, general-entry ticket:

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=gototipovisitapertag&tag=museibigliettiingresso&weblang=EN

For instance, does RS's tip for using the Sistine Chapel exit
directly to St. Peter's ....

That exit is reserved for tour groups so the ability of individuals to use it is up to the whim of the guards on any given day. While it's possible you'll be able to get through, it's not a given

We will have visited Pompeii the previous morning.

if you're doing Pompeii on your way from the AC on the 15th, you likely won't be settled into your Rome hotel until mid afternoon or later: allow 3 hours or more for the scavi (it's vast) + a couple more for the transfer process.

JMHO, but if your interest in Vatican City is ONLY the Sistine Chapel, there are first entry tours to see it. My wife is not a museum person but wanted to see this work of art so we booked a 7:20am tour with City Wonder - it takes you to the Sistine Chapel an hour before the general public is allowed in - guided tour on the way there but we got to see the Hall of Maps and Tapestries empty. Spent 15-20 minutes in the Chapel and then we were allowed to visit the rest of the museum on our own which is perfect as we had an 11am Scavi Tour planned. Since the Necropolis tour winds up in the grotto under St Peters, we were able to bypass Security and go right into the Basilica. The only issue I can see if you use RS's audio tour for the Vatican Museum is that I think you would have to go back to near the entrance and the SC is at the other end - a good 30 minute walk.

We also booked an afternoon tour for the Colosseum/Palatine Hill/Roman Forum (on a different day) and it was a 3-hour tour but well worth it - this was on a different day, though

It’s interesting that you note you will have just seen Pompeii because I think that will have a profound impact on your experience regarding the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Rome’s ruins are important, big, and iconic, but they really aren’t the best. After seeing Pompeii you may (like me) find them difficult to fully appreciate. I found the Colosseum to be a massive letdown. It’s awesome from the outside, but I spent about 10 minutes inside. Considering the effort and money you’ll have to expend to squeeze this in, I say skip it. I also say skip it because it’s becoming a binary choice between that and a full appreciation of the Vatican Museums and it’s incomparable art. I hate the idea of you blowing past Raphael’s frescoes to then get in line for the Colosseum. With a timed, early entry to Vatican Museums you’ll get a good opportunity to enjoy it.

All that aside, the Forum is a little more interesting and easier to see than the Colosseum interior. You can definitely see it later in the day, and it’s lovely to view in the evening. So, I’d really suggest spending the morning at Vatican, break for a nice long lunch/rest and see the Colosseum and Forum late in the day at a more leisurely pace.

Last June, my friends and family (6 of us total) went to the Colosseum and Sistine Chapel on the same day with Miles & Miles tour. Overall the tour was a good experience, but you we did make compromises and if I had to do it again, I would not have done them on the same day. Note that our tour did not include the Forum or Palatine Hill.

We went to the Colosseum when it first opened. The pro is that the lines are shorter (you will stand in line even if you have a ticket and are on tour) and the weather is cooler. The con for us is that we were there a little over an hour so that we could make our time at the Vatican. It was too fast for all of us and they guide was too pushy on this time table. We got to the Vatican around 10:30 and again lines. Here our guide shined and we spent over 3 hours in the museum, Sistine Chapel, and the Basilica. However, mid-morning and early afternoon the Vatican is a zoo. Too crowded and there were several times when we almost lost our friends in the crowd. If it wasn’t for the guide, it would have been difficult to get any real appreciation of the Vatican museum (Sistine Chapel is better with an explanation, but you can do that alone on your own).

If I had to do it over again, I would have done them across two days. As it so happened, we had to go back on a separate day for the Forum and Palatine Hill without a guide and again we made the mistake of going in the afternoon (hot and crowded).

If you can only go on one day, I like the suggestion of going to the early entry at the Sistine Chapel (especially if that is all you want to see) and then heading over to the Colosseum before it gets too hot and crowded.

We booked a tour one day for the Colosseum and the next day for the Vatican. A comment from our tour guide at the Vatican had us wishing we'd seen the Vatican first. She commented that a lot of the marble you see in St Mark's was taken from the Colosseum and buildings in the Forum, so imagine what they would have looked like. It would have been nice to have that marble fresh in our minds once we saw the Colosseum. So my recommendation is the Vatican in the morning, and don't forget St Mark's-it's jaw dropping inside.

spindoc, the lines which Sandy mentions are the security-check queues one must get through even with advance tickets or tours. While tickets/reservations in advance allow you to skip ticket-purchase lines, no one can skip the security checks. For the Colosseum during high season, I'd arrive 45 minutes to an hour before your scheduled entry time.

Wow, thanks for all the great info! Just booked a City Wonders First Entry Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum tour through viator.com - gets in at 7:30 AM, 90 minutes before the teeming hordes.

Now need to get the afternoon Colosseum visit sorted. awrzesinski, I appreciate your comments about the possibility of the Colosseum being underwhelming, but my daughter (who's been in Florence since January) really wants to see it (she got there too late in the day when visiting Rome earlier this Spring). Plus I'm kind of a history nerd...

I am so confused about the changes to the Roma Pass and entrance to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill.
I have read a number of things, but I am still confused. There will be 2 adults and 2 children (14 yrs & 17 yrs) old.
We want to go to all of these listed above on Sunday, June 9th.
Do I buy a Roma pass online ahead of time or can you only buy them onsite when you get there?
On the website to buy tickets for the Colosseum, you have choices on what kind of tickets you want.
Do I want 2 full tickets and 2 reduced tickets and is that the Roma Pass or is that just tickets to the Colosseum itself?
Then their is a choice to purchase Entrance Reservation with Roma Pass for only 2 euros.
I am so confused on what to do.
Thanks for your help.

"other options for early entry Vatican Museum tours?"

These are offered by Dark Rome, Walks of Italy (The Pristine Sistine) and the Vatican itself. There may be others as well.

Kathy, regarding the Colosseum ticket with tour you recommended, would that that confer any advantage by allowing us to enter through the group entrance? RS says: "Farther beyond these lines [ticket buyers, ticket holders, ticket pickup] there's a group entrance (with a Roma Pass, you can likely use the group line - I did)."

I'm not sure I understand the question but each type of ticket or tour will have a specific entrance you must use. I don't know why you'd be interested in the group entrance?

Also, be cautious of what " RS says" if you're getting that from a guidebook. There have been a LOT of changes to Colosseum ticketing this past year and some of those will have occurred after the latest book has gone to press. Same with "free days" at National Museums, required reservations with Roma Passes, etc. It's just not possible for the guidebooks to keep up with it all, although staff does make an effort on this part of the website:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/guidebook-updates

Hi Kathy. I'd be interested in using the group entrance if that meant a shorter delay in getting in.

Just booked a City Wonders First Entry Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum tour through viator.com - gets in at 7:30 AM, 90 minutes before the teeming hordes.

spindoc - you might want to double check that start time. It should be 7:20 and you'll meet at the base of the stairs at Via Sebastiano Veniero rather than at the top on Viale Vaticano. Just looke for the young adults in blue City Wonders shirts/jackets

And just a friendly tip - while Viator is a legit tour aggregator, it might be better to purchase tours directly from the actual operator as Viator charges more for the same tours. In this case, its only a matter of a couple of bucks but it can be more. Also, if there any issues - you need to cancel or change dates, etc, you usually have to go thru Viator rather than the tour operator which I have seen been an issue in the past.

spindoc, I've no idea about a shorter wait at one entrance versus another. What I DO know if that tickets disappear very, very quickly when they become available so you might want to snag ANYTHING that's still available for your dates.

Roger that, Kathy - snagged tickets for the 15:15 Colosseum tour which should fit with our timetable (they still had tickets available for all of the times that day). Will try the Group entrance if it looks like a good idea once we're there. Thanks again!

Also thanks Herfnerd. I know the meeting time is 7:20, museum entrance is supposed to be 7:30.

Will try the Group entrance if it looks like a good idea once we're
there. Thanks again!

I would NOT that as if you don't go to the entrance you're supposed to with your particular sort of ticket, you may end up being late once you find the right one and miss your entry time entirely. Do not risk it: go to the entry point stated.

If you've purchased this ticket:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=6C207193-B1F0-4F69-70C4-016523BDE15E&catalogid=1B972393-F85A-9A73-1906-0167A81DA806&lang=en

This is what the stated entry process is:
"It is strictly necessary to arrive at the dedicated access gate 30 minutes before the booked time, to pass security checks and to complete entry procedures." IMHO, I' d arrive even earlier than that during high season,

"It is allowed a maximum delay of 15 minutes after the booked time. In case of major delay, visitors will not be able to access the monument. Tickets will not be reimbursed and you can proceed with a new purchase based on availability."

On the booking page for this ticket (I chose a random date with some available openings) it states "Individuals entrance". That may also be stated in your ticket confirmation but you'd have to look. Reference the map (click on "Colosseum Entrances Map" on the right side of this page, right before "How to reach the Site" text) to see where that entrance is:

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

Actually that's not the ticket we booked, Kathy. I booked the one for the entry + 45 minute group tour that you'd recommended in your first post. Looking at the "Colosseum Entrances Map" it clearly shows an entrance for "Groups and booked with guide" next to the "Individuals" entrance. We'll prioritize getting there in plenty of time. Thanks again!

As I said above, what entrance you use depends on your ticket. You didn't mention previously that you'd booked a tour.
Still, the page for the tour you purchased indicates that you enter through the Individuals Entrance.

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=E6A1B5B3-BFDA-AC94-6929-0161B2E3A0C0&catalogid=BDB46B8C-0C49-10F2-6036-0167A8502B26&lang=en

Near the bottom, in bold text : "Access at the entrance for individuals."
Unless things have changed, the procedure for this tour would be as described in Donna's post (she is pretty much the expert on the Colosseum ticketing/tour stuff) at the end of this thread:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187791-i22-k11357910-What_did_I_reserve_Colosseum_English_Tour_Entrance-Rome_Lazio.html

I'm pretty sure you would go through security at the individuals entrance and then proceed to the events desk to check in for your tour. That said, you can always ask when you get there: just don't go to the STERN entrance.

Perfetto!