Hi. I'll be in Rome for 3 nights and 2 full days in late September. I have never being there. I want to be able to get into some of the sites without so many crowds, and learn about the history. My 2 full days in Rome are Tuesday and Wednesday. In Venice I will be staying for 2 nights and 1 full day which will fall on a Friday.
Does anyone have a recommendation for good guided tours or visiting this sites on your own?
How long in advance do I buy entry tickets or reserve a tour?
Many Thanks
Wow - these are all good questions. Here are some tips based on my own experiences.
Vatican - buy advanced, reserved tickets online for Vatican museum. Stay to the right of the long line along the wall waiting to enter Vatican museum. With your reserved ticket, proceed to the front of the line by staying on the right hand side. Visit the museum. Take the door from Sistine chapel into St. Peter's church. Use the free Rick Steve audioguide for St. Peter's church.
Roman forum - go to the side entrance off Via Fori Imperiali road. Buy a combo. ticket. Use the free RS guide for the forum. (Bring a bottle of water!). After 3 pm or so - take the shortcut from the basilica of Constantine to the colosseum. Use your combo. ticket to skip the ticket line and head straight to the entrance turnstile of colosseum. Use the free RS audioguide for colosseum.
These tips will save you time and aggravation and help you avoid long lines.
I forgot your Venice question. Go to Correr Museum first and buy a combo. ticket. Eat lunch and use restrooms there as well as visit it. Then, march (or stroll) across the square to Doge's palace. Skip the ticket line and use your combo. ticket to go through the reserved ticket line (if there is one). Visit Doge complex. I believe you can use your combo. pass for Marianni library as well (directly across from Doge palace). Visit San Marco. If you have more time, try to get to Frari Church or the San Rocco complex. We got lucky and got to see a free music concert at night at Frari. I believe there is a free RS audio tour of San Marco.
In Venice, Rick Steves audio guide on the Grand Canal. Maybe more than once, if you have a pass instead of just a one-trip ticket (night ride is gorgeous!) Walk!!
You can book entry tickets or tours of the Vatican museums and the colosseum online. Both will allow you to bypass the very long ticket lines.
For the Vatican museums you cannot use the bypass door into the basilica unless you're on a tour. They have become very strict with this and check tickets. If you take a tour just show your tour ticket and you can use the bypass.
https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do
For the colosseum, you can buy entry tickets at any time, they are not time nor date specific. This will allow you to bypass the long ticket lines. This ticket is valid for two consecutive days giving you a single entry into the colosseum, forum/palatine hill.
http://www.coopculture.it/colosseo-e-shop.cfm
You'll need to go through the security check point for the colosseum. This can get backed up and also the colosseum has a capacity limit which is often reached. When that happens they hold the lines until enough people leave. There is no way to tell when or if this will happen but just be aware that it can happen.
Donna
We did the Pristine Sistine with Walks of Italy and I thought it was soooooo worth it. It was great having the guide explain the paintings!
Kim
There are three places I always recommend that people use guides/guided tours, and two of those are in Rome: the Colosseo/Palatino/Foro Romano and the Vatican Museums. I second the endorsement of Walks of Italy and their Pristine Sistine tour. Fabulous! I've been 3 times.
For the Colosseo, et.al., a worthy splurge is a private guide, although if you are traveling alone you might enjoy more being with a small group such as Walks of Italy provides. They do a max of 12 in a group.
Note that if you see the Vatican Museums during the normal hours, even with a pre-booked tour, you will be experiencing it with a gazillion others (really - Grand Central Station at rush hour has nothing on the Vatican Museums). So, if you really want to see it without large crowds, you have to book an before or after hours tour, such as the Pristine Sistine often recommended on this Forum. This means not only paying more, but waking up early (it starts at 7:30 AM). But the experience of seeing it during normal hours was so miserable (and this was in 1994!) that I'll definitely do it this way next time.
