Is there a one stop shop to purchase tickets for the sites in Rome? I thought there was a site Pristine Sistine, or words to that effect, but the web is all over the place. Do they still offer line bypass or skips?
Vin
Is there a one stop shop to purchase tickets for the sites in Rome? I thought there was a site Pristine Sistine, or words to that effect, but the web is all over the place. Do they still offer line bypass or skips?
Vin
Hi Vin -
No, there's no one-stop shop for tickets to all of Rome's attractions. "Pristine Sistine" is a tour of the Vatican Museums operated by this company:
https://www.takewalks.com/rome-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/
Otherwise, this is the official ticketing website for the Vatican Museums. It sells general-entry tickets and a variety of tours:
https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
The official seller of tickets/tours for the Colosseum is here:
https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/
What other attractions are you interested in seeing? Not all of them - especially most churches - require tickets. I believe your trip is in September?
Editing to add: ALL tickets and tours for the Colosseum and Vatican Museums skip all but the security check queues: no one skips those. Your tickets to both will be timed-entry and nominative, meaning they'll be for a specific entry time, your name will be on them, and they'll be checked against your legal ID at the entrances. Obviously if you've booked a tour with an independent company, such as the one conducting "Pristine Sistine" you'll be booking for a specific tour time.
September is the month. We are still looking at other sites to take in. Any ideas?
takewalks.com must be having issues. It took 4 tries just purchase tickets. After I got the tickets, it took at least three tries to bring up my purchase. I had to constantly refresh the page.
I tried to buy tickets for Necropolis at the site you sent, but I do not believe I can purchase tickets this far in advance. One forum said that the takewalks Pristine Sistine tour included Necropolis. I could not not confirm that at takewalks.
The Colosseum seems to be the same. It is too far out to purchase.
Thank you for the help.
One forum said that the takewalks Pristine Sistine tour included
Necropolis. I could not not confirm that at takewalks.
Where did you see that? Never been the case before- AFAIK those tours are only conducted by the Vatican.
I booked the Pristine Sistine at https://www.takewalks.com/rome-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/ for September.
I tried to book Necropolis at https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html, but I could not book that far in advance.
I thought it was odd I could book one but not the other this far out. So, I decided to do some sleuthing and find out why. That was when I found the statement about it being included in the pristine tour. I could not find it listed as part of the pristine tour I booked through takewalks. I am looking through my history now to find it. No luck so far.
Vin
https://www.takewalks.com/rome-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/ includes the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and more, but does not include Necropolis...correct?
https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html just sells general-entry tickets and tickets to Necropolis.
This is where I got my my Necropolis comment about being included. It was from Rick's Travel Forum.
Posted by donna
Pa and Italy
05/25/14 08:08 AM
4152 posts
You cannot purchase just the tour of the Via Triumphalis. It comes with entry to the museums. There is no way around this. It's a package deal. If you want to take the tour book it for a different day than your museums tour and go in later that day to visit sites not covered on the museums tour.
Once your museums tour is over you won't be allowed back into the museums to visit other rooms not covered on the tour. This is because the tours end in the basilica and not in the museums. You ticket is not good for re-entry once you leave the museums and continue on to the basilica so if there are other rooms you want to see you can visit them after the Triumphalis tour.
Kristen, I don't believe the OP is talking about the scavi tour under the basilica, I believe she is talking about the Via Triumphalis tour with is different and comes with entry into the museums.
Donna
We would also like to take in Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine Hill as well. Viator will let me book all three this far out, but https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/ will not.
I have not this before, so I am a little skeptical that the official site will not let me, but Viator will. And then there is the quality and quantity of the tour. I really do not want to miss anything especially at the forum.
Vin
OK, there's a lot of confusion going on here...
First thing about the Necropolis via Triumphalis... You are using info from a post that's almost 11 years old and much has changed since that time so discard it, please. Currently, tours of that area appear only to be bookable exclusively on the Vatican's website, only for Fridays and Saturdays, and only through the end of February. That's normal: tours offered by the Vatican on their website usually are only bookable about 2 months out. They've been selling General Entry tickets farther in advance.
If "Pristine Sistine" ever included Necropolis via Triumphalis it was a very long time ago and not the case now.
The Vatican's site does sell more than general-entry tickets and tours to Necropolis via Triumphalis. They also sell tours of the museums, the gardens, the Papal Palace at Castel Gandolfo, etc. Also, the Sistine Chapel is IN the Vatican Museums so does not need a separate ticket. What the Vatican's museum tours currently do NOT include is St Peter's Basilica: you are correct that Takewalks' Pristine tour does include the church.
We would also like to take in Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine
Hill as well. Viator will let me book all three this far out, but
https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/ will not.
Viator is a 3rd-party consolidator that doesn't operate their own tours. Same with Get Your Guide. Many of us won't use 3rd parties because if there's a problem, you want to be dealing directly with the company who IS operating the tour and not a middleman. You are too early to acquire Sept. tickets through the https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/ site and so are 3rd party consolidators; they are just assuming they will.
Now, if you're looking for a guided tour of all 3 sites, the official website doesn't offer one of those; you will need to use a company like Takewalks/Walks of Italy, The Roman Guy, Through Eternity, etc, that does, and they usually run 3-4 hours. Browse their websites for options:
“Donna’s” post above doesn’t make much sense. The Scavi/Necropolis/Via Triumphalis are the same. AFAIK again the “Via Triumphalis” never came with your Vatican entry tickets- at least not in the last 10 years or so (if it ever did?).
That post is also over 10 years old. When you do a search be sure to filter by DATE so you get the most recent info.
There are dozens of threads 9n the past year/6 months addressing how and when to get tix for the Rome sights.
We took the Pristine Sistine in 2014 and I can say for certain it did not include the Via Triumphalis or Scavi or Necropolis.
Viator is a third party reseller - they do not actually run any tours. Same with Get Your Guide and others. Book with the actual tour operator- whether that is Walks of Italy, Through Eternity, Context Tours, etc- all get good reviews here and have for years.
Viator doesn’t actually have any tickets yet- they are just selling you the “possibility”.
It is way too soon to purchase those tix anyway.
The Scavi/Necropolis/Via Triumphalis are the same.
There's confusion here too because the Scavi (excavation) under St Peter's is also a necropolis but a different one than Via Triumphalis. It appears that they've discarded the previous label of "Scavi" altogether.
Previous booking site for St Peter's Scavi:
http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/prenotazione.html) altogether.
New booking site:
https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/products/the-necropolis
It can't be booked on the Vatican Museum's website like Necropolis Via Triumphalis can, and is in a different area.
More on Necropolis Via Triumphalis:
https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/aree-archeologiche0/necropoli-della-via-triumphalis/necropoli-della-via-triumphalis.html
Clear as mud? Not the first time these two archeological areas have been confused! :O)
Thanks Kathy!
I was hoping you'd respond.
You're welcome! Really, I wish they'd use "necropolis" in the title of only one of the two - even if that's what they both are - to help alleviate confusion. There has even been confusion with these two and the Vatican Grottoes, which is another burial area a level above the Scavi/Necropolis, and which is accessible without a tour or ticket. Oy.
Good call on the filter date.
I was able to book a Premium Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill through Walks of Italy for September 23rd.
I will keep checking for the other sites.
Thanks to everyone for helping. This got confusing quickly for us.
Vin
For other sites to visit that don't require advance ticket purchase and are never crowded, consider the Capitoline Museum (includes a great view over the Roman Forum and a nice rooftop cafe) and the Museum of Trajan, giving you access to the inside of Trajan's Market.
Vin, a couple of important mentions about the Pristine Sistine tour if you didn't see them on the website: While it usually includes St Peter's basilica, and accesses it via an inside passageway, there are exceptions. The website states this in their "Know before you book" section:
"Please note: starting December 2024, access to St. Peter's Basilica may be limited due to the Vatican's Jubilee Year 2025, which includes special events and ceremonies. These closures are determined by the Vatican and are beyond our control. Thank you for your understanding."
"Note: The special access passage between the Sistine Chapel and St.Peter's Basilica is closed on Wednesdays and subject to other unexpected closures during special celebrations/festivities, including the Easter ceremonies. On such days we will instead explore the magnificent Pinoteca Gallery.Your guide will still give you an introduction to the church should you wish to visit this on your own at a later occasion. We are unable to provide refunds or discounts."
Make sure to read the rest of the info in that section too, OK?
Thanks again for the responses. I will read the know "before you book". We booked for Monday, but I will read up.
Vin