We are grandparents traveling with grandkids (age 13 and age 15) visiting Rome for a couple of full days in mid-May; Friday and Saturday, then traveling on up to Venice, Salzburg, etc...... On one of those days in Rome we plan to visit the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, etc. and the other day visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc. What day (Friday or Saturday) would you chose to visit the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica? We plan to make our reservations soon. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Since your time is limited in Rome I would suggest visiting the Vatican area on Friday. I would visit the basilica around 5pm and then head to the museums. They are open on Friday nights from 7pm so you would need to visit the basilica first. The night time at the museums is much less crowded and not nearly as hot as going during the day. This will also free up the rest of the day for other sites such as the city center.
You can find out about the Friday nights here at the official site:
http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking
If you decide to go during the day I would still go on Friday.
Donna
Posted by
Spokane, WA, USA
191 posts
Could you do a tour? We have a reservation for a Saturday 7:30AM four hour tour, a full hour before it opens to the public and other tours. By starting that early, we will finish at noon, and have the afternoon to visit the Villa Borghese! Google "early morning Vatican tours." Oh, the biggest advantage is that we will begin with the Sistine Chapel, and it will be virtually empty! The last time we went, it was so packed that we could barely move. We had to view the entire ceiling from one spot. Months later, we saw a video of the amazing floor in there -- that we did not see at all!
Jan
Posted by
Spokane, WA, USA
191 posts
On your colosseum day, be sure you also go over to Piazza Navona, the Panthion, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps! These are places the kids will remember for the rest of their lives.
Jan
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
I have to disagree with Jan, with only two full days in Rome and with teens I would not suggest doing a 4 hour tour. The kids will be bored after the first hour and you have so much to see that 4 hours is a huge chunk of time. Save that tour for your next visit when the kids are older and you have more time. Also, I would combine the city center with the Vatican day and save the Borghese gallery for the colosseum day. This will get you out of the heat and break up the day a bit better. Also, you can take the metro from the colosseum area to the Borghese area. That will save you a lot of walking time.
For the Vatican area if you start in the city center and see the trevi fountain, spanish steps, pantheon and piazza navona you could then walk to St. Peters and then on to the vatican museums. If you do the night openings you'll visit the museums when they are the least crowded and be able to enjoy the chapel with very few other people. We did this in July and shared the chapel with about 45-50 other people. There was plenty of room on the benches for us to sit and examine the ceiling and the Last Judgement.. You can go through the museums as fast or as slowly as you wish. These night openings are not crowded at all and we had most of the rooms to ourselves while there.
Donna
Posted by
OP
12 posts
WOW!! Donna and Jan, thanks so much for this information. Did not know of the Vatican Sat morning tours or being open on a Friday night. Since our hotel is not nearby (free with reward miles) we are strongly considering Friday night. Jan thanks for suggesting the Piazza Navona and Panthion; the kids should love it!! Happy travels!