Hi all, just been notified that our tour has a change. Due to difficulty with changes in regulations in visits to Vatican Museum/Sistine chapel this has now been taken off inclusion in our tour.
It has been suggested by Rick that we book ourselves after 11:00am on Day 13 but we were also going to book a colisseum tour the same day, my question is can they both be done on the same day?
Cheers
Rob
I have not been to the Vatican/Sistine chapel but did a Colosseum night tour. Tickets were difficult to get and it was fantastic at night. Not crowded at all. If you've seen Gladiator I saluted the crowd from the floor of the Colosseum. It was magical
It is doable even in the afternoon
What is their alternative to the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel?
No alternative, a $100 discount on cost
What a bummer for you! Obviously NOT the best of Europe! Have you used Google to find another tour company option to sign up for?
No alternative, a $100 discount on cost
A Best of Europe tour that doesn't include the Vatican or the Colosseum in Rome. Not so much.
But yes. If you can get tickets, you could do both in one day.
Three cheers for RS tours to have the integrity to make a change for the good of the travelers. When they knew they could no longer provide a quality experience at this location in a group format, they admitted it and gave options ( and a small refund) to travelers.
I would say the biggest disappointment I had on a Heart of Italy Tour was the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel cattle stampede (er.. tour). This was voiced by many of my fellow tour members as well. The crowds really impact the quality of the experience, and recent changes by the Vatican on obtaining tickets have simply added to the challenges.
Both tours can be done on the same day, but I would plan on a taxi between them to save time.
OP,
We have been fortunate enough to see both the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum. Rome is packed with colossal sightseeing venues. In a way, you can’t go wrong.
Both were so special, must sees, along with several other must sees. We were lucky enough to linger in the Sistine Chapel, evading the guards chivvying people to move on quickly. We kept circling the room until the seats(benches) at the perimeter were available. We stayed a long time. Remarkable. BUT, I am very glad we didn’t have to rush to another venue the same day.
Someone on our Best of Italy tour had booked a
private tour in advance which entitled him to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum with a small group, which seems like the best alternative for those who want to see them. If I was seeing this venue for the first time, I would try to do that. He loved his tour and saw many artworks and learned so much.
Another thing some people did was to go to the Vatican post office and send home a postcard. We didn’t do that, but it would be a unique souvenir.
We just found out about it the itinerary change for our upcoming BOE tour. We decided we are fine with not going back to the Sistine chapel.
As incredible as it was to stand inside the Colosseum and to have a guided tour by a local tour guide, we won’t be revisiting. There is so much to do in Rome. We may go to the Borghese Gallery, or look for another site we haven’t explored yet.
My favorite sculpture is the Pieta, inside St. Peter’s Basilica, which is an astounding architectural wonder. St. Peter’s is still on the BOE agenda. Very excited to see that again.
Oh, but then there’s the Pantheon…..and the Trevi fountain…the Spanish steps…the Forum…see them all, if you can!
This is a good article. https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-01-12/photos-incredible-painted-ceilings-in-rome A little dated but you could check the individual websites for hours and other details. Here is another more recent one with a slightly different list. https://www.througheternity.com/en/blog/art/5-amazing-ceiling-paintings-in-rome.html
Rob honestly there is so much more to do in Rome, Sistine chapel and colosseum on your own on maybe extra days booked look for times with fewest crowds, but RS ditching the Vatican is smart, we did Heart of Italy and the Vatican Sistine chapel part of the tour was still on, the guide was superb but the experience was not great, packed like sardines and in the Sistine chapel also packed like sardines ( you could nt even move your arms) the guards were constantly yelling ( yep yelling) SILENCIO SILENCIO) also with covid still being around I think it would be a guarantee everyone would come down with it after shuffling down that long corridor to the chapel with hundreds of others, so dont be bummed about that part being left out, we have been on 6 RS tours and never disappointed once, you will have a terrific time, Onward and Upward!
Just to be clear i have no issue with RS removing this from our tour given the ongoing issues when visiting & also reading other peoples experiences, also the discount.
My question is more about doing the sistine chapel AND Colisseum during our free time
As for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, I would say that how crowded it will be depends on your tour dates. We were on the Rome City tour the first week of December and while there were plenty of people in the Sistine Chapel it was the least crowded that I have seen it in my three visits. We even were able to grab a seat.
Rob, you can definitely do the Vatican Museum/Sistine chapel AND the Colosseum on the same day. If possible, I suggest giving at least 2-3 hours of free time/rest between when one ends and the other tour begins. It may be exhausting mentally (sensory overload?) and possibly physically (Vatican Museum is big and involves a lot of walking). If you have the stamina and desire, go ahead and do it!
Since you only have the 1 full day in Rome on the 21 Day tour, you'd have to schedule it for the same day as the Colosseum. The good thing is that after Rome you are headed to the Cinque Terre where you have a day off from your vacation and you can take it easier.
There was a time a few years ago when there was some kind of special pilgrimage year at the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel had to be taken off the itinerary for the RS tours. I agree with Carol NR that it's very ethical for them to notify customers ahead of time that these itinerary things cannot be provided plus giving a rebate.
IF you decide to do the Sistine Chapel, I'd book one of the early entry guided tours so you can get in there with fewer people (although some reports vary on this), then do the Colosseum later.
I think the way the ticketing is being done for the Colosseum has also changed thru the years and that is why they cannot offer that either.
This is a wonderful tour! I have such fond memories of "my" guide, my group and my vacation. Wow.
There are no longer tours being offered at the Vatican Museums before they open to the public--which now happens at 8 AM. It's possible there will be somewhat fewer people going at 8 AM than a bit later, so grabbing a ticket for that early time-slot may help a bit. During peak season, though, I imagine online tickets will sell out for all time periods, so you'll be part of a large group of similar size no matter what time is printed on your ticket.
The huge crowds everywhere in Europe are really impacting tour groups. I took the BOE21 ten years ago. In addition to everything still on the tour itinerary, in 2014 the Anne Frank House, Colosseum, Vatican, and actual guides inside the Louvre were all included in the tour.
If you arrive in Amsterdam ahead of the tour, I recommend getting timed tickets for the Van Gogh museum for first thing in the morning. Allow yourself a couple of hours. Both the Anne Frank House and the Resistance Museum are also well worth seeing.
BOE21 s a fantastic tour. You’d never be able to cover as much ground on your own, and not having to worry about train schedules or driving removes so much stress. I agree that even with the disappointing itinerary change you’ll still have an amazing time. You may decide trying to see both the Colosseum and the Vatican in one day is too much. So even if you plan to do both, decide in advance which of the two you want to see more than the other.
I did the Best of Europe 14 day tour back in 2018 and the Sistine Chapel was not included so I booked tickets for the afternoon free time. Visiting the Sistine chapel was a nightmare, it was probably the most unpleasant thing I did on the tour. It was so packed with people you could barely move and literally shuffled around pressed up against what seemed like hundreds of other tourists. Incredibly claustrophobic and not enjoyable at all. If you want to tour I'd recommend picking a time that is the least popular. I understand why RS has dropped it if they can't give tour members a quality experience. I've toured the Colosseum a couple of times and although it is also very busy being outside makes it much easier to deal with. Good luck.
While on a cruise years ago, we did both the Forum and the Sistine Chapel/Vatican on the same day. (We did the Colosseum tour on our RS BOE in 14 days a few years later.). We used a wonderful private tour company romeinlimo to accomplish that. We paid extra through them for a private guide in the Vatican and he was wonderful at getting us around the crowds and providing context for what we were about to see. My husband and friends still do impressions of him. I think that you can do both in a day but agree that either a taxi between them or a private guide would be helpful. Enjoy your trip!
There are both early morning/breakfast and late afternoon/evening and seated, heavy hors d'oeuvres tours that run daily for reasonable prices. Tickets available on the Vatican website. We did the evening tour (with a Vatican employee) which takes a stroll through parts of the museum on the way to the Chapel. We spent 30-40 minutes in the chapel with about 40-50 other people (two groups) and no one shouting at us to be quiet. Everyone was anyway, and it was glorious. The food afterwards was enough for dinner and the "meal" included bread, wine, cheese (antipasti, really) and several other things. There was a bit of a stressful entry time, because of the long line to get in to the museum. However, you'll have advance-purchase tickets, so get someone to go up to the head of the line and speak to the guards/ticket-takers. Once we figured it out, we walked in, had a seat behind the ticket windows and waited for the tour start. There was no marked separate line for tour ticket holders. You should plan to arrive about 30-40 minutes before your tour time, but the website explains everything. I'd visited the Chapel several times before, which was nothing short of a fiasco each; even with my husband in a wheelchair we were trampled. We were there a couple of months ago; with the ticketing changes, I'm not sure the ticketing process/entry times remain the same, but even if they don't, I highly recommend this tour method.
The late tour sounds like a smart option, assuming it will still be offered this year, but I believe it's not available every day (maybe only one day a week?) or outside high season. There are no longer early-entry tours that get you into the Museums before the general public.
Smart decision. We did the Vatican Museum last May and it was a horrible experience. A retired law enforcement officer on our tour said it was unsafe with so many people....if there was any kind of emergency, there would have been a stampede and so many would have been injured or worse. They do not limit the crowds - just pack them in, I have never been in such a crowd. Wise decision
We did not plan on doing both the same, day but did and regretted it. When we were in Rome in 2018 we booked a private tour guide to the Vatican. It was wonderful. We were taking a coffee break before heading to St. Peter's when we started discussing the possibility of getting to the Coliseum too. We thought "why not?!"
We had to rush the rest of the Vatican, catch a cab, and make our timed entry. Once inside, it wasn't that great. Just remnants of the bleachers, a wood platform over much of where the poor animals and slaves were kept until their demise in the ring.
I wish we just stayed the course and stayed at the Vatican. There is so much to see and do at the Vatican. I was kicking myself for this misstep and hope to get back to the Vatican to revisit what we missed. Now of course it depends on what is priority for you. We wanted to do it all and thought we could--my reco is: I would choose one site, spend time there and be present with what you are seeing without playing beat the clock.
The last time we visited the Vatican I couldn’t wait to get out. The problem was we were caught up in the slow moving mob of people. There was no place to go but to go with the flow. It was awful. I’d been before, back in the 80s, and was shocked at how overcrowded it was this last time. Both visits were then followed by a visit to the Colosseum. It was far more than broken down seats and a wooden floor. Make sure you take a guided tour.
@MO R:
Exactly the info i was after, thanks to everyone. I think we know how to approach this now.
I am so glad to help you and your wife/significant other/family with your decision making process.
I hope you all have a great time in Rome.
BTW: If you do the Vatican, if you see any souveniers of interest in the Vatican, buy them in the Vatican. Especially anything related to the Sistine Chapel. Our tour guide said there was a place to buy souveniers at the end of the tour--yes, but it is in the public area--anyone can get in there and it was a giant TT. (tourist trap) The TT shop specializes in religious items and you can find the same things at St Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. Luckily I had bought some Sistine Chapel post cards and a book mark at the official Vatican souvenier/gft shop in the Vatican. These items were not available at the TT. My assistant wanted a Rosary, and I had to buy it at the TT and not within the Vatican because our tour guide told us to shop after the tour. My assistant didn't know, but I did, and was disappointed that I couldn't get her a truly official Vatican Rosary.
Along the lines of the Vatican. If you want to see St Peters Church, go when it opens at 7:00 a.m. We did this on our BOE trip in 2022. There were no crowds and we had quiet time in the church. The security lines were less than 5 minutes and we almost had the place to ourselves. By the time we left, the crowds were just starting to show up.
