Skip the Line? And Rome on our own!

[AtoZgirl]

Hey all,

 

We're planning to do Rome on our own. We want to pre purchase tickets for the Colosseum and the Vatican. I'm assuming these give us skip the line privileges. My main concerns though is with the a Vatican tickets.... They want me to choose a time on their website. Obviously we can shoot for a time we'd like to be there but depending on the ship, train, etc....I won't know the exact time we'd hit the Vatican. How does that work? I'd hope the ticket would be good for the whole day?!

 

Also, do you suggest Vatican first then the Colosseum, or vice versus? Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

I know our time in Rome is limited, so we'd only be at each place maybe an hour or two each and squeeze in a few other sites on foot before we head back to the ship.

 

Any other suggestions are welcomed. :)

[cruisemom42]

The Vatican tickets are timed. You will have to plan your day so that you can arrive on time. It's been reported that the Vatican may allow people in who are a few minutes late (or early), but I wouldn't push it past a half hour -- and of course it's entirely up to their discretion.

 

The Vatican museum lines are generally less in the afternoon, but it can still be crowded inside. You can really plan your day either way, I would just do it so that you have a minimum of backtracking. You can get off the train at Ostiense, go 2 metro stops and be right at the Colosseum. Heading back, if you do the Vatican second, you can get on the train at the San Pietro station.

[MeHeartCruising]

I've done various things in Rome on my own a few times now. If you're content to do fairly quick stop sightseeing in order to see a lot of things, this might work. I did this day with my parents (in their 70s). It was a long day and we were all tired, but they would likely never be in Rome again, so they wanted to "see it all".

 

We took the train from port to Ostiense station and then switched to the Metro to the Colosseum. I had pre-ordered tickets and we went right to the front and were scanned in. We spent about an hour or maybe a little more exploring the site. Then we walked into the Forum and briefly explored it. We didn't study things here much, mostly just observing the structures as we walked. But it probably took another hour or so. We exited at the other end of the Forum and continued walking along the streets to the Pantheon. We spent about 30 minutes in the Pantheon and surrounding area, which included a quick stop for a slice of pizza and a drink for lunch. We then took a taxi from the Pantheon (taxi stand nearby) to the Vatican. Our pre-booked tickets to the Vatican Museum were for 1:00pm and it was only about 12:15, so we had the taxi drop us off in the Square so we could experience it for a few minutes before our appointment at the Vatican Museums. It is a long walk from the Square to the Museum entrance and we had to hustle, but we made it to the doors in time for our 1:00 entry (passing by the lengthy line of people who did not pre-purchase). There is a lot of walking inside the museum. We did not have time to linger and explore it at all (and we knew that in advance). Our primary goal was to see the Sistene Chapel, but you still need to walk for 20-30 minutes to get there. The path is well signed and you're herding along with hundreds of others doing the same thing. We'd stop now and then to glance at things, but mostly we kept moving due to the time constraint. We only spent about 10-15 minutes in the Chapel itself. It was incredibly crowded the day we were there and challenging to enjoy its magnificence, but we did the best we could. We then exited at the back of the Chapel via the secret tour guide doors that took us down into the area for entry into the Basilica. We only had about 30 minutes for St. Peters, unfortunately as we felt we needed to head to the train station to get back to the ship. So we walked to the San Pietro train station for a 4:15 or so train back to port. We were exhausted, hot, sweaty and a bit hungry. But my parents were thrilled with the day and felt like they had crossed a lot of things off their bucket list. It's not for ever one. It truly was a fast pace sightseeing day. But if that's what you choose to do, it certainly can be a rewarding experience to do it on your own like we did.

[CathyCruises]

I have done that exact itinerary--it works!

[Markanddonna]

We were allowed to change our ticket time to an hour earlier in Nov. We ordered them in the US and just took them to the ticket window and it was no big deal. I don't think I would try that on a really busy day. Ours was an average busy day. Things might be pretty busy in the next several months with a new pope!

[RJHNorthyorks]

We arrived early for our last visit and were allowed in without any problems . This was an afternoon timed ticket and there were a lot less people visiting than our previous morning visits.

[AtoZgirl]

Wow!!! Thanks for all the invaluable information everyone.

[Gracie115]

I think you would be hard pressed to do the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel and St Peters in just two hours.....there is SO much there...we spent 4 hours there our first visit and came away feeling we had barely touched the surface, and we had a guide that kept us moving along continually....I would recommend doing all the other sites first so that you have the freedom to stay a bit longer at the Vatican if you feel you want/need to....

[AtoZgirl]

I think you would be hard pressed to do the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel and St Peters in just two hours.....there is SO much there...we spent 4 hours there our first visit and came away feeling we had barely touched the surface, and we had a guide that kept us moving along continually....I would recommend doing all the other sites first so that you have the freedom to stay a bit longer at the Vatican if you feel you want/need to....

 

Yes, I'm definitely thinking we should do the Vatican later in the afternoon. With the suggestions here, we would essentially be backtracking if we did the Vatican first. So we'll plan to hit the Col. first, then everything in between and then maybe plan to be at the Vatican around 1pm. There's still a few weeks before we can even buy tickets, so just enough time to get a preliminary itinerary together. I know our time at each place will be rushed and limited, but we will prepare ourselves for that and just enjoy every moment knowing how lucky we are to just be there. Next time we go to Europe, we'll definitely plan for at least two days in Rome so we can explore more :) Always nice to have something to look forward to :D

[Gracie115]

Yes, I'm definitely thinking we should do the Vatican later in the afternoon. With the suggestions here, we would essentially be backtracking if we did the Vatican first. So we'll plan to hit the Col. first, then everything in between and then maybe plan to be at the Vatican around 1pm. There's still a few weeks before we can even buy tickets, so just enough time to get a preliminary itinerary together. I know our time at each place will be rushed and limited, but we will prepare ourselves for that and just enjoy every moment knowing how lucky we are to just be there. Next time we go to Europe, we'll definitely plan for at least two days in Rome so we can explore more :) Always nice to have something to look forward to :D

 

 

Don't forget to see the Pantheon....just an amazing building.....have a wonderful time....I love Rome!!:D

[Perki]

I was wondering based on reading this, as long as you pre-purchase tickets to the Vatican you get to skip the line right? The 'line' is people buying tickets that hadn't done so previously, they aren't just standing waiting to get in using tickets already purchased right?

[Loonbeam]

You get to skip the purchase line by pre-buying. There may be a line to get in, no guarantees there. When we did the Vatican, we pre-bought tickets but it still took us 20 mins to get in, it was a very busy day however.

 

Collisseum the entry line was maybe 5 minutes, the ticket line was over 90 mins.

 

I was wondering based on reading this, as long as you pre-purchase tickets to the Vatican you get to skip the line right? The 'line' is people buying tickets that hadn't done so previously, they aren't just standing waiting to get in using tickets already purchased right?

[BratDet]

We took Cruise Ship tour train in. It parked at the train station- waiting for you to be back at 3:30...this upcming visit- we will get the BIRG ticket.

 

Ok...the train stopped by the Vatican. We went into the square and went to subway and took it over to Colloseum. You walk outside, book it is right there...We had pre purchased tix and walked right in.

After that we kinda got misdirected...and wandered....then went by Victor Emmanuel monment...kept walking....got to a grocery store- bought a pre made sandwich and drink to share eventually....went inside Pantheon....forgot to go to Piazza Navona and the coffee shop/gelato stop we had wanted to make....left there...walked to Trevi fountain...and then Spanish Steps...took subway right at Spanish Steps to Vatican...

did the short museum tour..went to St. Peters and also Sistine Chapel.took the secret door to save time...it also took you past a really nice store on the left that had nicest religious items and murano glass crosses and religious medals/prayer cards in many languages...it was the most intense day ever!! hot as heck...carry a water bottle...24 ounces is good...carry some

packaged GatorAde to flavor the water from drinking fountains...and keep your strength up! Most intense day EVER, BEST day ever.

 

Going back this year and debating if we want to go back to Vatican again..if we do- we will prepurchase tickets again...

BUT do the cheaper Birg tix into Rome that also give you subway priveleges.....

 

Bernadette

[lavalleem]

Per-purchasing tickets is the only way to go! Time abroad is so precious and you must maximize each and every minute. In some cases you must arrange a specific time with a reservation or you may be denied entry, such as Galleria Borghese. Wasting your time standing in line when you could get in a few more sights and experiences!

 

 

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