Pre purchase of tickets to colosseum and Vatican

[luv2batsea]

I am totally frustrated!! I have been trying it call to order tickets for a tour in the colosseum and the line is constantly busy. If I order a regular entrance ticket does anyone know how difficult it is to get a tour? Also the Vatican site won't let me book for the end of October??

[ace1zoe2]

The Vatican tickets aren't available until about 60 days out. Then you chance if times & tours you want will be available.

 

We just booked for our group of 12 today thru a tour company so that we are all together & get early access.

 

The company name is Italy With Us dot com. They are highly rated in TripAdvisor.

 

We booked the exclusive early morning tour which is at 8am prior to the public opening at 9am.

 

This tour allows you to see the Sistene Chapel & Vatican Museum before the crowds descend in masses.

 

It is very reasonably priced at 50€ per person for a 2 hour tour of the chapel & museum. You can then spend as much extra time as you want and also visit St Peter's Basilica & Square.

 

The guided tour thru the Vatican was 36€ & that's after 9am when all the general public is allowed.

 

I think it's worth the extra expense to have a little room to walk around & not be so cramped together.

 

You can book online and are put with a maximum tour group of 25.

 

We're getting excited after 2 years of planning it's almost here!

 

I plan to call in the morning to try to get our underground & third ring tour (hopefully!)

 

The Tower of Pisa is even worse - tickets aren't available until 2 weeks before.

 

My OCD planning drives me crazy because I can't have everything done by now ;-)

Edited August 7, 2014 by ace1zoe2
added info

[Ceepot]

I share your frustration! I tried for 3 days to get through for a Colosseum tour. I was holding for ages, and then got cut off. Imagine my surprise when this morning, they answered within 3 rings! So my advice is to keep trying. Good luck!

P.s. I called at 9am Italy time.

[ace1zoe2]

I share your frustration! I tried for 3 days to get through for a Colosseum tour. I was holding for ages, and then got cut off. Imagine my surprise when this morning, they answered within 3 rings! So my advice is to keep trying. Good luck!

 

P.s. I called at 9am Italy time.

 

 

What tour dates were you booking for? I need 10/28 & I'm betting they have not released those dates yet.

[Ceepot]

I booked for 4 September. I'm not sure how far they are booking, but it know they haven't updated their website as it's still showing the 31 August! I think you'll be OK.

[ace1zoe2]

I had to wait up until 2am (9am in Rome) but I was finally able to purchase the Underground & 3rd Ring tour for 10/28/14. I called at 2:05 had a short hold time & was off the phone by 2:15. So glad that's done.

 

Now to concentrate on Sagrada Familia tickets next :)

[ace1zoe2]

We were finally able to purchase our Underground & 3rd Ring guided tour of the Colosseum for 10/28 by calling direct to Culture Coop (the official site for tickets).

 

I had to stay up until 2am (9am in Rome) to call as the office closed at 6am our time and I'm not a morning person. The office is open M-F 9-1 & 2-5 & Sat 9-1 only.

 

You can purchase normal entry tickets online but for the underground & 3rd ring tour you must call. Regular tickets are 14€ (12€ + 2€ reservation fee) & to add the guided tour is 9€. This also gets you "skip the ticket line access".

 

To call directly the number is 39 0639 967 700 the option 0 to purchase. They will answer in Italian but just ask if they speak English, which they did very well. The entire process took just 10 minutes & I received immediate email confirmation.

 

I called thru Skype and the cost was less than 50 cents.

 

Cindy

[Sun-Cruisers]

We arranged tours of the Colosseum Underground, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums and the Scavi tour far ahead of our trip in June. All ticket vouchers were in our hands 3-4 months before our trip.

 

For the Colosseum we used www.tickitaly.com and were placed on the wait list for the Underground tour as it was too early for sales. At that time the curators released reservation times 3-4 months in advance.

 

For the Sistine Chapel the general website follows. It is certainly worthwhile to book early as the lines are very long the day you will be there. Buying early allows you to completely by-pass the long lines.

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/index.html

 

For the Scavi Tours we emailed the separate office, ufficio scavi [scavi@fsp.va]. You will need to outline the date desired and the number of visitors in your group. Only a set number of visitors per day are accomodated. We received reply which was no guarantee of tickets but gave a separate address for actual request for tickets. The admission to the tour is timed and you will be scrutinized by the Swiss Guard to gain admission to the office where the tour begins. The tour is really worth the effort you extend to obtain tickets.

 

You might find the virtual tour interesting.

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/necropoli/scavi_english.html

 

Enjoy Rome

[jbmackinac]

We have used Walks of Italy twice - both were very good. For the Colosseum I recommend their VIP tour. It's easy to book on line.