Does Rick Steves Italy tours no longer go into the Sistine Chapel or Roman Colosseum?

It isn’t so much that Rick Steves has changed as the ticketing procedures and policies for these locations have changed. Tour operators are no longer guaranteed tickets for particular dates and times in many cases. Some will still sell tickets for tours in hopes that they can get the tickets needed. If they don’t, last minute cancellations happen, particularly for portions of the colosseum.

I don’t presume to speak for Rick Steves Europe but my best educated guess is that if they can’t consistently provide a positive quality group experience at a location they change the plan to a location where they can.

Individual ticketing for the colosseum assures tour members that want to go there in their free time that they will have entrance tickets.

That is my current best guess.

Here’s the discussion in the forum when the notice first went out from the RS office.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/email-important-news-about-your-best-of-europe-in-21-days-tour

Yep, that previous discussion Jean helpfully linked will explain a lot of the reasons for the changes. Additionally, the Vatican capped the size of group tours at 20 for the Vatican Museums, and the RS tour sizes can exceed that number, That would mean splitting the group and trying to hire 2 guides instead of just one (guides in Italy must be licensed, and those licenses involve rigorous study and tests). As well, the "highlights" route/Sistine has become crowded during high and shoulder seasons to the point of misery, and practically all former "early entry" tours are no more: tours are admitted no earlier than the general public. All.of that probably ( I'm guessing) contributed to the decision to take it off the itinerary.

In general, things in Rome have probably changed a lot since a tour years ago. Same is likely true for Venice and Florence as well, most specifically in overcrowding of most-visited areas and attractions.

We did the Rome tour about 5 years ago. We did go to the Vatican museum/Sistine/St. Peters and our group was split and we had a guide for each group. I was so happy to have a guide go through the jam packed Vatican Museum.

We had a guide with is to go through the Colosseum and forum. It was great to have a guide in the forum, probably not necessary for the Colosseum.

You might want to call and chat with someone in the RS office.

Here is additional information from RS on the website:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/groups-visiting-the-vatican-colosseum

The Vatican Museums and Colosseum are world-renowned sights drawing huge crowds of visitors. Due to the overcrowding and unreliable availability for group reservations, our tours don't visit the inside of either sight as a group.

Colosseum
Our local guide walks the group around the outside of the Colosseum, explaining the significance and engineering of this ancient wonder. We also take an in-depth walking tour in the more enjoyable and less crowded Roman Forum, the true heart of ancient Rome.

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
As a group, we visit Vatican City where a local expert will introduce us to the world’s smallest country, and the greatest church in Christendom: the awe-inspiring St. Peter's Basilica, home to Michelangelo's sublime Pietà.

If you would like to go inside the Colosseum and/or the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, we encourage you to do so during your free time in Rome (or pre-/post-tour). Below you'll find our recommendations on when to visit and how to get reservations for each of the affected tours (this information is also available under Pre-tour Planning in your account.

Our free Rick Steves Audio Europe app also has great self-guided tours of both the Colosseum and Vatican Museums. Before you leave for your tour, we recommend downloading the app from the App Store (Apple phones) or Google Play (Android phones) and adding the Colosseum and Vatican Museums audio tours to your playlist.

Thank you for your understanding as we navigate overcrowding and group restrictions in the ever-changing tourism industry. We are always dedicated to bringing you the best experiences that Europe has to offer!

For example:
Best of Venice, Florence & Rome in 10 Days

Visiting the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel and Colosseum

We recommend booking tickets two months prior to the date you prefer to visit. Please note tickets may sell out quickly from the official site. Here are the best days and times to visit either or both sites based on your tour itinerary:

Day 8 at 11:00 a.m. or later for Vatican Museums

Day 9 at 1:30 p.m. or later for the Colosseum

Day 10 when the tour is over after breakfast

Post-tour if you're adding extra days

Please note: The Vatican Museums is closed most Sundays and may also close for special events and holidays. It's a good idea to check The Vatican Museums calendar before making reservations.

I think the last paragraph explains the situation on why RS had to change their itinerary.

“Thank you for your understanding as we navigate overcrowding and group restrictions in the ever-changing tourism industry. We are always dedicated to bringing you the best experiences that Europe has to offer!”

We toured with RS years ago when these were still included, so I understand your surprise. Back then the Colosseum was mildly crowded, but the Vatican was frighteningly jammed in the hallways. It’s gotten worse. We had a 1st time Rome visitor with us in 2019 and booked the Vatican for the end of the day (3:00 p.m). It was blissfully uncrowded as we walked behind the majority. We hired a guide (Sonia Tavoletta) and with fewer crowds we were able to move quickly. By the time we finished and moved on to St. Peter’s Basilica, it was practically empty.

My first trip to Rome was in May 2001. I just looked back at photos from that trip. The Vatican Museum, the Coliseum, and the forum were pretty much deserted. Fast forward to the present. We were on the Rick Steves Rome city tour the first week of December 2023. I could not believe how crowded everything was in the off season! We did get to tour the Vatican Museum and the Coliseum but it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder. Our Coliseum guide mentioned how difficult it is now to get tickets so I’m not surprised at the change.

We went on back to back tours a year ago. First was Venice,Florence,Rome then the seven day Rome tour. The Vatican Museum was so crowded we got nothing out of it. It was too crowded to really see anything. And you literally could not move from side to side to see what was each side of the room. We had been told it was crowded, but I can only compare it to a major sports stadium emptying out after a game and everyone leaves at once. The Sistine chapel was nice, but very crowded too. Trying to look directly overhead while standing up was hard todo for very long. On the Rome tour we could have gone back for a similar tour but opted out and chose to go back to the Roman Forum. While it was nice to check all these off my list I would do the inside of the Colosseum and St Peter’s.

We did the Heart of Italy tour this past September and went into both those places. Which tour are you looking at? It might be best to contact the tour office directly.

Its too bad that its a walk by instead of being part of the tour to go in as a group to the Colosseum,Sistine
Chapel and Vatican museums.

My wife and I were on the Venice Florence Rome RS tour last year in April 2023. The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and Colosseum were all part of the scheduled itinerary and thankfully so. If they are no longer included, I would advise to plan, plan, plan well ahead. These attractions were beaming with tourists and long lines when we were there...so convenient to have scheduled times, tickets and an awesome guide in advance.

I did the 7-day Rome tour in October '23. The visit to the Vatican museum was horrendous. Not only was it so crowded you couldn't breathe, they force marched you through, and you didn't get to see anything. Our guide told us to complain a/to RS so they would take it off the tour. I'm glad no one has to go through that again!

You may want to really plan the time you go to the Vatican as we just got back April 2024 from a tour and most all of us booked this on our own. Some the skip the line some not. Everyone said they wish they had not gone as it so very crowded you cannot really enjoy or see anything and wall to wall people pushing you along and you cant really see anything. I had heard that from reading the posts but decided to go anyway. We wish we would have listened. I got overheated from standing out in the sun and then from the many steps to climb up inside and had to quit the tour early anyway. If there is an option to go very early in the morning to beat the crowd by all means only do that option.

One thing RS tours should consider in this situation is doing the guided tour portion of the tour in the afternoon as the best time to visit the Sistine Chapel and Coliseum is in the morning.

We did the Best of Italy in October 2023 and we visited both of those places with the local guides. Our tour info was a little vague on those points as well but we contacted the RS office and were assured that we would be visiting both of those locations. We loved that Trip! (It had been 10 years since we were in Rome)

I was on the BOE 21 tour last year, and our guides said that this is the last year the tours go into the Colosseum. They said it's more of the site's policy than RS policy. They mentioned for future tours, they will advise people to reserve tickets in advance. Maybe that's why RS Tours doesn't cover the Eiffel Tower on any of their France tours.

Besides the Eiffel Tower, I also made advance reservations on Van Gogh, Anne Frank House, etc.

I've been to the Vatican Museums a couple times, most recently in 2009 in the off-season (January). Busy, but not terribly crowded back then. I'm curious, when you recent visitors describe the unbearable crowding, is that throughout the entire museum, or just the parts most visitors want to see most (e.g., route to the Sistine Chapel, Raphael rooms)? Those museums are vast and as I recall there were plenty of rooms with few visitors -- but of course, usually for good reason, as most people don't want to see rooms full of Roman funerary stelae or porcelain rather than the famous highlights. But those rooms were a restful interlude and pretty much any part of the museum has something worth looking at.

We went Spring 2023 when it was still on the Rick Steves tour. It was packed from the beginning and continued until we made our way to the Sistine Chapel. The Map room was shoulder to shoulder and you couldn’t get a good look at anything unless you happened to be on one side and it was right in front of you. We didn’t even go to the Raphael room since it was a choice of remaining with the guide and using the back door entrance to St Peter’s or standing in yet another long line( in the hot sun) to get in there, I will say St Peter’s didn’t seem crowded at all and was very beautiful..

Edited to include a memory our visit. Our Vatican guide with Rick’s tour said that after Covid when the museums were going to start tours up again in a big way she was invited to visit with some of the other guides. They were basically alone in the museums and she said she was almost brought to tears at being able to see all the details she had missed even though she had been hundreds of times before.

Did the BOE in April 2024. They were not part of the tour. St Peter's Basilica was part of it. I mailed 3 postcards from the Vatican and still haven't seen them 4 months later :-)

We were advised for our Roma tour starting 15 Sept 24 that the Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum was not included. I have visited the Chapel and St Peters before--but once is never enough.

I accessed the RS suggested Vatican Museum website--I am going to see my Caravaggio there!---and easily got a 25 Euro ticket for the Wed afternoon post our St Peter's tour. I prefer to visit my art by myself in museums/Churches. I do my research and have prior knowledge tho. But there is always more to learn in situ.

No trouble to get tix; reasonable price, good timing. Caravaggio, here I come. (As a Renaissance/Baroque/Impressionist specialist teaching in my history classes, and as a European traveler, I have seen over 30 Caravaggios. Now more to come in my next Roma visit).

Can't bemoan what's not there. Enjoy and enlarge the experience with what is there. Peace, ab

I’m just going to be honest the Vatican museum ranks as the worst travel experience I’ve had in Europe personally I would just skip it. Yes the Chapel was wonderful. The rest of it is a nightmare because overcrowding and even the chapel is hard to enjoy because it’s so crowded

I’ve been back to Rome twice since that awful visit and I haven’t gone close to that museum. There’s so much wonderful art in Rome. There’s no need to subject yourself to this mosh pit experience

Adding to what others have regarding the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel.
Good news: Beautiful artwork.
Bad news: Overcrowding. The people running this facility should, IMO, be ashamed. Their goal appears to be to maximize attendance & revenue vs providing visitors a world class experience.
The Sistine Chapel is Disney World, or Six Flags, or any other amusement park on steroids. Our experience was a huge let-down.

The Sistine Chapel, and some of the other artwork in the Vatican Museums, was one of my best travel experiences ever. But based on what everyone is saying about the crowds/circus atmosphere, it sounds like Disney World is a better experience because there's so much room for those crowds to spread out. Apparently the Vatican officials do not have the proper respect for the artwork, which makes me lack respect for the person with whom that buck stops.