Ideas needed to see Coliseum and Vatican in one day

[feenix]

What do you recommend as the cheapest and least stressful way to see the coliseum and vatican in the same day?  I am open to all ideas, we are a party of 4 (two parents and kids ages 19 and 17).  We don't mind if we see some other sights as well, but these are our main priorities.  Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Are you talking about getting from the port to tour, or are you staying in Rome? If coming from the port, and having time restrictions is a far different situation than if you are staying in Rome and have a full day available.

 

If you are staying in town, it just takes a little planning and a taxi ride or two.

[euro cruiser]

But in either case, the only way to get through both of these sites in one day is with pre-purchased, timed entries.

[MBP&O2/O]

The last time we stayed in Rome we spent the better part of a full day at the Vatican, over half a day in the Vatican Museum and came out of both feeling that we needed more time. I couldn’t contemplate a satisfactory visit to both the Coliseum and the Vatican in one day .... 

[John Bull]

Buy admission tickets in advance over the internet.

And check out train times from Civitaveccha to Rome, and from Rome's San Pietro or Ostiense stations back to Civi. Best of luck with Trenitalia's website, I find it awful.

 

Free shuttle from ship to  port gate.

Payable (pennies) bus from port gate to Civi train station.

Buy regional return train ticket to Rome (if there's a line at the ticket office, buy at the news-stand in the station, same price). Cost now probably about 12(?) euros.

Double-check the return train times - Trenitalia do seem to quite frequently change their train times. Figure which is the latest train that'll get you back to the ship in time - and plan to take the one before it.

Validate your ticket at the station.

Rome-bound train (likely to be a bit packed) to Rome's Ostiense station, takes about an hour.

Follow signs to the adjacent Piramide metro station. 

Your train ticket is good for free travel on Rome's metro and service buses (not ho-ho buses)

There are two metro routes, you want the BLUE route in the direction of (either) Corco d'Oro or Rebibbia .

Get off at the third stop, Colosseo.

https://www.rome.net/metro

Tickets-in-hand you can skip the Colosseum's ticket line, but there'll be a line for security.

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We weren't interested in an inside tour at the Vatican, so we made our way there via other sights, so I'll leave others to suggest best way from the Colosseum.

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From the Vatican's St Peter's Square it's a 15 (?) minute walk to San Pietro station.

The train back to Civi will be packed like sardines, don't expect a comfy ride but everyone will be able to get on

.........................

The above if your main objective is the Colosseum.

But if your main objective is the Vatican, do this in reverse (out to San Pietro, back from Ostiense).

I think you can get timed tickets for the Vatican (or parts of it), I don't know whether you can get timed tickets for the Colosseum, but you don't have to.

 

JB 

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by John Bull

[feenix]

Thanks  - yes I am coming from a cruise ship.

[feenix]

Am I better off getting a tour that takes care of all the details?  

[CruiserBruce]

I would say the most efficient would be a private tour, that would allow you to go most direct from point to point, and back to the ship. As others have suggested, purchase your admission tickets in advance with scheduled times...one in the morning, one in the afternoon. 

[John Bull]

59 minutes ago, feenix said:

Am I better off getting a tour that takes care of all the details?  

 

As Bruce's reply.

Significantly more expensive than DIY by train, but if you're keen to go in-depth at both it will give you more time & avoid grief.

Which kinda demonstrates that there's no such thins as " the cheapest and least stressful way " - it's the one or the other. 

 

JB 

 

[euro cruiser]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I would say the most efficient would be a private tour, that would allow you to go most direct from point to point, and back to the ship. As others have suggested, purchase your admission tickets in advance with scheduled times...one in the morning, one in the afternoon. 

 

(italics mine)

 

This is an important point.  Even if you pay for the expensive private car service you still have to buy your own tickets.  This makes sense and is a necessary safety measure for the tour service operator, after all if you cancel your trip (for any reason, including those out of your control) they would be left with an unrecoverable expense.

 

Therefore, the value of the private car service tour is the ease of transportation, which is considerable.  You are paying to avoid several steps:  free bus from ship to port exit, bus or walk to train station, train trip to Rome, bus, metro or walk from train station to your stops in Rome and back to the train station at the end of the day, bus or walk from Civitavecchia station to port entrance and shuttle bus to your ship.

 

Only you can assess the monetary value of this.

Edited November 21, 2019 by euro cruiser

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, euro cruiser said:

 

(italics mine)

 

This is an important point.  Even if you pay for the expensive private car service you still have to buy your own tickets.  This makes sense and is a necessary safety measure for the tour service operator, after all if you cancel your trip (for any reason, including those out of your control) they would be left with an unrecoverable expense.

 

Therefore, the value of the private car service tour is the ease of transportation, which is considerable.  You are paying to avoid several steps:  free bus from ship to port exit, bus or walk to train station, train trip to Rome, bus, metro or walk from train station to your stops in Rome and back to the train station at the end of the day, bus or walk from Civitavecchia station to port entrance and shuttle bus to your ship.

Very well stated. This efficiency is frequently well worth the extra cost.

[mapleleaves]

I didn't find the train stressful or complicated.  We didn't have any tours planned; just a list of several sights we wanted to see so it was a DIY day via train and a few cab rides. 

We took the free shuttle from the ship to Largo Della Pace, where there was a woman selling tickets for the city bus. 2E I think.  Then the city bus to the train station. Each ride was about 10-15 minutes.

At the train station there was a line of people waiting to buy tickets, but we noticed a sign at the shop next door, 'RT TICKETs ONLY' so we bought tickets for the 9:30am EXPRESS train to Ostiense, 15E RT,  but disembarked at Roma S Pietro. Arrived at S Pietro at 10:15 and walked 15 minutes to Vatican.  You see it from the train station so it's an easy walk.

From there we worked our way towards the Colosseum which was our last stop of the day. From there we took a cab to Ostiense and took the 4:30pm EXPRESS back to Civi, then the city bus, then the shuttle.

We found cabs to be very reasonable compared to US prices. We usually paid 12-15 E for the 4 of us.  ie after the Vatican we walked to Castel Sant Angelo and then to piazza Navona.   No map, no sense of direction, so we wasted a lot of time.  After that we took cabs.

Since your priorities are the Vatican and Colosseum, it would be easy enough to book one tour in the morning and one in the afternoon; say 2 hrs at each, so 11am and 2pm.  Gives you time to get to each location and grab a pizza in between.

As to which option to choose,  it all comes down to your travel style and what you're most comfortable with.

 

p.s. the EXPRESS train was great.  I think there were only 7 or 8 of us in the car !  so it was a comfortable, uncrowded ride with no stops.  The downside is the 9:30am start time.  If  you need more time in Rome, you would need to take an earlier train.

https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/new-civitavecchia-express-non-stop-train-cruise-passengers

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by mapleleaves
link

[Thejuggler]

Coliseum is a couple of hours, Vatican depends what you want to see.  If its just the city  from outside again a couple of hours.

 

if you want to see a very small part of the museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's at least half a day.

[cruisemom42]

Can you be a little more descriptive in regards to what you want to see?

 

For instance, I assume at the Vatican you want to see the Sistine chapel (most everyone does...), which involves a long march through the museums. As well as inside St. Peter's?

 

At the Colosseum, you want an inside visit?  Do you want to see the ground level as well as the basic circuit? Or the top level?  All of these have specific tickets associated with them and some need to be purchased well in advance of your visit.

 

 

 

 

[feenix]

Thanks everyone -we found a good semi-private tour through www.italytours.eu, so we are going with that.  It was not too much money and they take care of the driving also.

[MURCOTT]

On 12/4/2019 at 4:33 PM, feenix said:

Thanks everyone -we found a good semi-private tour through www.italytours.eu, so we are going with that.  It was not too much money and they take care of the driving also.

We are interested in the type of tour you mentioned. Is there a specific name to your tour as Italytours doesn't seem to list it. Did you contact them and contour this to suit your group? We'd so appreciate any information you could provide. I'm sure you know, after doing research how dizzy you can get looking at the volumes of tours available!  Thanks

[feenix]

Yes, go to www.italytours.eu And we chose the best of Rome tour semi private option.

[MURCOTT]

8 hours ago, feenix said:

Yes, go to www.italytours.eu And we chose the best of Rome tour semi private option.

Thanks so much for the reply. Since I see no "semi private" option, can I assume you chose "small group" option?

[feenix]

Sorry for the confusion, yes that sounds right.

[MURCOTT]

4 hours ago, feenix said:

Sorry for the confusion, yes that sounds right.

Thanks again.

[Ashland]

On 12/4/2019 at 1:33 PM, feenix said:

Thanks everyone -we found a good semi-private tour through www.italytours.eu, so we are going with that.  It was not too much money and they take care of the driving also.

A very good choice ... We used them this past May and would certainly recommend them...Enjoy !!!