Trying to squeeze in a look at Trajan's Market and the Trajan Column and San Pietro in Vincoli prior to our Colosseum tour at 11am. Is this doable? Looking at times San Pietro opens early. I see Trajan's Market opens at 9am. So if we do San Pietro first and get to Trajan's Market right at 9am is it easy to get to the Colosseum for our 11am tour? How long at San Pietro? We don't have to see all of Trajan's Market. Anything else around that area to see while waiting for the 11am tour? Easy to walk between all these places? Thanks
Posted by
Milan, Italy
308 posts
Edited: Its all walkable in that time. But if you don't want to feel rushed at both sites, I'd see San Pietro after the Colosseum. The neighborhood of Monti is one of my favorites and I love walking around the lower part off of the Cavour stop.
I spent a total of 15 minutes at the church but it depends on how interested you are in the Moses statue or the church itself.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7339 posts
I'd guess we spent 15-20 min in San Pietro as well.
From what I remember we had a bit of trouble actually finding the church/entrance.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15798 posts
If I were ranking sights in Rome, with 1 as must-sees and 5 as not worth visiting, Trajan's Market would be at 4. Trajan's Column is on the "main drag" and easy to see at any time. San Pietro in Vincoli would be a 2 for me.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12104 posts
Be sure to look at the hours for St Peter in Chains. As I recall they take a long lunch break.
On our 1st trip we failed to note that and it was on our 2nd trip that we got in.
DEFINITELY worth it
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
It's a somewhat long walk from the exit from Trajan's Market to the entrance to the Colosseum, longer than what Google maps suggests. Allow more like 20-25 minutes for the walk, plus some cushion to arrive before your tour. If it were me, I wouldn't leave Trajan's Market any later than 10:15, but an hour should be sufficient time to tour it.
Posted by
Sevilla
1307 posts
Trajan's Market is pretty impressive. Even if you rush through the excellent museum section and don't climb all the way to the top (good views), I can't see you spending less than an hour there. As the previous poster says it's a bit of a walk to the Colosseum, and if I remember rightly its steep in part (especially if going via the worth seeing via Magnanapoli stairs, but at least downhill), so I think you're right to get there when the market opens so to have enough time to see it at least in part before heading on for your tour.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC
238 posts
I agree with Jackie that I would do San Pietro after your Colosseum Tour.
They open from 8am to 12:30pm and then from 3pm to 7pm.
We stayed right across from the Borgia Staircase that leads up to the piazza on Via Cavour and spent around 45 minutes in there but since your Colosseum tour will end around when they re-open after lunch, I wouldn't kill myself trying to see that and Trajans before your tour
JMHO and YMMV
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Trajan's Market is definitely on our list for our next trip to Rome (our sixth). The new museum looks amazing. Here's a link to a virtual tour so you can see for yourself if you might be interested:
https://goo.gl/maps/5dXLUQeMCu42
One of the cool things about San Pietro in Vincoli is that they've recently installed lighting to replicate what would have been the light when Michelangelo sculpted the Moses. He created it for that specific spot, so he factored the lighting into the surfaces that he carved. Here's a video: https://youtu.be/dTOTbJNErC0