Vatican AND Catacombs????

[jess427rn]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to see both the Vatican/Sistine Chapel AND the catacombs? I understand it's not possible to see everything in one day but my husband and I REALLY want to go to the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel but my kids are begging to go to the Catacombs. I do not plan on getting a guided tour of the Vatican so having said this, would it be possible to see both??? I don't know what the distance between these locations are so all thoughts would be appreciated.

Side note--- I know I'm pushing it now but would we be able to also squeeze in seeing the colosseum from only the outside (for pictures!) and the Trevi fountain to throw a coin???????

 

 

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[phillygirl63]

You will need to provide more information. Are you referring to the Scavi Tour below St. Peter's Basilica or the papal grotto or both? How old are your kids?

 

If you are talking about the Scavi tour, it is in the same area as the museum and the Sistine Chapel, and it ends in the papal grotto. It costs about 13-15 euros. However, if I remember correctly, kids under 15, will not be permitted into the Scavi Tour. Also, you will have to email your request in advance to scavi@fsp.va in order to get tickets, which are very limited. Make sure you provide your desired time for entry.

 

Since you said that you are not doing a tour, the amount of time you have to do all that you want, will depend upon the crowds and the length of the line for entrance into the museum. You can purchase tickets online through Viator, which will save you some time in standing in line. However, given all the terrorist activity, I would assume that the line to get through security will be quite long regardless.

 

May I make a suggestion? Skip the vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, and do the Scavi tour (provided your kids are of age and you are able to secure tickets) and St. Peter's Basilica. Then, you will not have to go through the museum security, and you will have plenty of time to see the other sites as well. Entrance to the scavi office is located through the gates on the left side of the Basilica where you show the Swiss Guards your tickets. At the end of the tour, you will exit into the papal grotto. In my opinion, the museum is so crowded that your kids will not be able to see much of anything through all of the people. The Basilica (inside and out) is one of the most impressive places in Rome, and should not be missed. The Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, Roman Forum are great for your kids as well.

 

Post back what you decide to do.

Edited June 9, 2016 by phillygirl63

[jess427rn]

Oh my! I feel overwhelmed! First of all- thank you so much for your response. My kids are 17 & 15.

It's my 17 year old son wanting to go to the Catacombs. Well little do I know.... There's several catacombs in Rome [emoji33]

The company I have reserved is Rome in Limo. Initially when I booked (it's a reservation in a private sedan for the 4 of us) I asked if we can do their Best of Rome tour but include the Catacombs. And that just what I said: "Catacombs". They responded that it would be possible as long as we only did the Colosseum from the outside as it would take too long to pass security and view from inside. We were okay with that cuz we would be seeing the "Catacombs"!

I recently emailed them to confirm the purchase time of the Vatican admission tickets. They had instructed me to purchase 2pm tickets. I emailed them to confirm that 2 pm for Vatican would still be okay considering we would be going to the Catacombs too. Well on this response they said that they usually don't add on the Catacombs. So initially they said yes n now it sounds sketchy whether the Catacombs would be included.

So having said all this... I love your suggestion of skipping the museum and not missing the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica. We want to see the Trevi Fountain and he Colosseum from at least he outside for picture purposes! Now, I have absolutely no knowledge of Rome and the distances between the places I want to visit. Can you suggest a "Catacomb" we could see to please our need to see the "Catacombs"?! It's obvious I don't know much about Rome and don't want to ask this tour company to take us places where time will not permit. Oh and we do not plan to get a formal tour at the Vatican. We planned to do a walk through to save time. That's what I meant by no tour. As of now, I have Rome in Limo reserved for private tour. This Catacomb thing is what is throwing me all off. I want to have my son see something that he really wants. Please help!!!!!

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

For the amount of money you are paying to be driven around you should go exactly where you want to go.

 

I suspect they suggest the later Vatican entry time because it's hard for them to gauge exactly when you'll get to Rome in the morning, but they have control over things in the afternoon.

 

So, you could head directly to one of the Catacombs in the morning from Civitavecchia and, afterwards, drive by the Colosseum, stop at the Trevi fountain, and end your day at the Vatican museums/Sistine chapel.

[euro cruiser]

According to Turismo Roma there are more than 60 (!) catacombs in Rome.

 

The three most popular are San Sebastiano, San Callisto, and Domitilla, located on or near the old Appian Way.

 

Check opening days vs. the day you are in town, that may narrow your choice.

 

San Sebastiano: http://www.turismoroma.it/cosa-fare/catacombe-di-san-sebastiano?lang=en

 

San Callisto: http://www.turismoroma.it/cosa-fare/catacombe-di-san-callisto?lang=en

 

Domitilla: http://www.domitilla.info/

[Langoustine]

The catacombs are very interesting, but you do realize they are mostly empty of their one-time occupants? He may be anticipating something different. If so, he might like the Capuchin Crypt, located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini. It contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars buried by their order. Every time I've taken people there it was fun to watch teenagers enjoying their parents reactions.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Langoustine

[phillygirl63]

Jess, Rome in Limo is an extremely reputable and knowledgeable company. They should be able to work out all of the timing with you. My kids were the same ages as yours on their second visit to Rome. On the first visit, we went to the vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, my kids could not get close enough or see over everyone to admire all the art due to the throngs of people moving through the halls. When we went the second time, we had a private driver, and we skipped the museum and got to see just about all of the major sights, including the scavi tour and St. Peter's Basilica. Therefore, I still think you and your kids would be better off skipping the vatican museum in order to see so many of the other sights that IMO are more interesting and not so crowded. By skipping the museum, you will have plenty of time to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and so many other great sights.

 

Definitely add Santa Maria della Concezione church as well as an alternative to the catacombs. I was going to suggest it before, but I just could not remember the name at the time of my previous post. I am so glad that it was recommended here. Check out the pictures on line and tell me that your young teen boys would not absolutely love it!

 

Just tell Rome in Limo the sights that are must-sees for you, and they will work it out. Of course, the number of sights you get to see really depends on the amount of time you spend in each one. We did not dilly-dally around and got to see a lot.

 

Hope all this helps.

[jess427rn]

Thank you to all of your wonderful suggestions. I really do appreciate all of your input as I was starting to feel extremely overwhelmed! I had a few minutes at lunch to google the above mentioned Catacombs and I believe the Capuchin Crypts will be a great choice. We will talk this over as a family over the weekend and decide. I will then contact RIL and request my must-see's and wait for their okay!

Once again- I thank all of you for responses your great suggestions! They are very much appreciated. I love Cruise Critic!

 

 

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[Langoustine]

You're welcome. And if you ever take your teens to Paris, the catacombs under the city there will absolutely knock their socks off; they hold the remains of six million people, and have quite a fascinating history.

 

As to the Sistine Chapel, I've only been in it once, and absolutely hated the experience because of the crowds and the noise ("Stop taking flash photos!" shouted constantly by the guards), but I am told that the late-night tours are quite lovely, very uncrowded, and worth every penny..

Edited June 11, 2016 by Langoustine

[sippican]

I agree with the previous suggestions to skip the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. However, not seeing the inside of the Coliseum would be a shame. It is one of our favorite places in the world, and I would imagine, it would be a huge hit with your children. Wa are returning to Rome for the third time and it's on our "must do" list, again! Visiting the catacombs will be a first for us.

You could easily do the Coliseum outside of your Romeinlimo tour. In fact, Rome is very easy to DIY. Remember, RIL provides a driver only, they will not accompany or "guide" you inside of sites. That being said, we have used RIL for tours; their drivers provide nice commentaries and know the ins and outs of efficiently geting you from place to place.

If you have not done so already - download the Rick Steves Eirope audio tours (free). They are as good, if not better, than most private guides.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

Edited June 11, 2016 by sippican

[Flatbush Flyer]

Some good and bad info here.

First lesson is, if this is your first visit (and via cruise), make Rome start or end port and plan 3-4 days pre or post cruise stay.

 

As aforementioned, the imagined teenage vision of catacombs may be a disappointment in reality.

 

On the other hand, the Vatican museum is stellar! To skip that (as well as the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's) would be a huge mistake. And it really should be done with a licensed guide. BTW, you can (and should) pre-purchase the tix directly from the Vatican website.

 

As for the Colosseum: Because of recently enhanced anti-terrorism practices, expect to spend a long time in the security line (which precedes the also daunting entrance line).

IMO, there are far better examples of arenas elsewhere in Italy (e.g., the arena in Taormina, Sicily)

[slidergirl]

I want to be sure the OP understands that, for most people, "Vatican" and "museum" are the same thing. You have to go through the Vatican Museums to get to the Sistine Chapel. You do not have to go through the Museums to get to St. Peters - you just queue up with the masses on St. Peter's Square. There are metal detectors and bag checks you must go through before entering the Basilica.

Someone please help here - I'm thinking that, unless you are with a tour guide, there are no "bypass the LOOOOOONG line" tickets for entering St. Peters. I waited at least 90 minutes to get inside and out of the unshaded heat of the Square. I got in line between the barricades and the yellow Vatican Post mobile facility. I was lazy that day and did not get to Vatican City until around 11am.

And, for the OP - remember, St. Peters has a strict dress code - shoulders, knees covered for everyone!

[euro cruiser]

You're right, slidergirl, the only entrance tickets to be purchased for the Vatican complex are for the museums/Sistine chapel.

 

There is an exit from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's that has always been reserved for group tours with a guide. In the past people have mentioned being able to use this exit, at other times folks have reported being "caught" and told they could not use the exit.

 

Recently on Trip Advisor someone posted that they now have a deposit point for audioguides at this exit door, so perhaps the powers that be at the museums have given up on trying to police the exit. This is the only way to avoid waiting on the security line for St. Peter's.

[phillygirl63]

We made the scavi tour and St. Peter's Basilica our last stop of the day (per suggestion of our tour guide) before making the trip back to the ship. Our guide dropped us off at a side entrance and the swiss guards directed us right to the scavi office. The scavi tour ended in the papal grotto. After that, we went to the Basilica. At that time (I believe about 2:30), we didn't have to wait in line very long.

[jess427rn]

I've contacted RIL regarding my request to go to the Capuchin Crypts and they said it wouldn't be a problem. All they requested me to do was to purchase VIP tour and skip the line tickets for the Vatican and skip the line tickets for the Colosseum.

I'm so excited!

 

 

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[jess427rn]

Thanks again to everyone for all the input!

 

 

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