Something made me go hmmmmm

[RTR 21-0]

Looking online at all of the many, many, many companies that offer tours with skip the line tickets to Vatican and Colosseum made me wonder....... since it's something that's so commonly preached online, "buy skip the line tickets", if just as many people have skip the line tickets with or w/out tour groups, wouldn't the line for those groups or individuals eventually back up just as much as the line to purchase tickets on site?  

[carlmm]

First a warning: "Skip the line" is a phrase that might be used by third party vendors and by some people on forums, but rarely by the actual sites.

Thus it is good to look at what is actually offered by the sites themselves.

Eg. for the Vatican museums you can buy timed tickets. These are limited per time slot, thus the lines for these are very short.

[cruisemom42]

"Skip the line" has sort of become a marketing mantra for a lot of private vendors. There was a recent thread on the same topic, I think. In reality, you are usually just skipping the TICKET line, not necessarily any secondary lines such as security screening. 

 

In some places it works pretty well just showing up with a regular timed ticket -- such as at the Vatican or at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence). But that's just for entrance -- no guided tour. 

 

Both the Colosseum and the Vatican museum offer an almost bewildering array of options. In particular, the Colosseum has changed some of the previous policies -- these changes took place in the year or so before COVID but many return travelers haven't experienced them. Previously you could buy a ticket that included entry to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill (one entrance for each) and it was good for two days. That has changed.  And if I read this info correctly, it has just changed again -- check out this informative post on Tripadvisor for a summary:  Colosseum underground, upper levels, full experience .... - Rome Forum - Tripadvisor

 

Also, some search engines don't exactly make it easy to figure out which is the actual, official website. For Colosseum tickets, this is the official site:  Ticket Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine_24h | CoopCulture

[marazul]

And here is the site for the Vatican.

https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en.html

If you have a timed entrance or a guided tour, you simply show up 15 minutes before the ticket time.  There is a dedicated entrance line for those tickets.

[erby2283]

We had to purchase a Skip the Line ticket for the Colosseum for a tour we were taking.  It was sold out - so we had to get a ticket that had an accompanying audio - basically any ticket with a certain time slot.  However, it was the security line that took forever when we got there. It was insane - although it was August.  It limited our time to around 15-20 minutes by the time we got inside.  I was sad I didn't get more time. 

[CRUIS4ME]

When I began planning, the “skip the line” ticket phraseology was so confusing.  We booked a private tour but had to purchase our ticket separately.   I used the Vatican sight and tour company explained how to get the tickets and what ticket to look for.   The tickets “opened” 30 days in advance.   Being on the east coast and being a six hour time difference, I got on the computer at 6pm east coast time which was midnight Italy time and the tickets opened exactly a few seconds after I got on.   
 

We also used the colosseum sight for tickets and a tour.

 

Seems the skip the line phrase is used everywhere.   I did research and saw security line is time consuming so it is advised to allow a bit of time for security check.   

[NoWhiners]

On 8/29/2022 at 2:07 PM, CRUIS4ME said:

 The tickets “opened” 30 days in advance.   Being on the east coast and being a six hour time difference, I got on the computer at 6pm east coast time which was midnight Italy time and the tickets opened exactly a few seconds after I got on.   
 

We also used the colosseum sight for tickets and a tour.

 

 This is very helpful. We will be going to Rome in late October and then back for a few days in mid-November and I will try and book our tickets 30 days in advance. It appears from your post that tickets are available at midnight Rome time on the 30th day out, do I understand that correctly?

 

We are in the Mountain time zone, so 8 hours different than Rome. It would be really good to be able to book at 4 in the afternoon! 

 

I am also a tiny bit confused about the ticket options. On the official site, I am looking at a "Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground".  I have no clue if this will give us access to all that we "should" see. This is our first trip to Rome and I'm not sure if visiting the Palantine or forum (maybe those are the same??) would be good. We really just want to see the highlights but not miss anything. The ticket says it is good for 2 days from first use, so if there is a lot to see, we could go back!

 

If it helps, we are looking at doing this Oct 29 or 30, otherwise it will have to be Nov 15 or 16. I don't see any issues with those days but I could be missing something.

 

Bonus help--any ideas on how long it would take us to walk from Hotel Navona (near Pantheon and Piazza Navona) to the Colosseum? Or is it too far and we should just take a cab?

 

Any advice/insight would be appreciated!

[carlmm]

27 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

 This is very helpful. We will be going to Rome in late October and then back for a few days in mid-November and I will try and book our tickets 30 days in advance. It appears from your post that tickets are available at midnight Rome time on the 30th day out, do I understand that correctly?

 

We are in the Mountain time zone, so 8 hours different than Rome. It would be really good to be able to book at 4 in the afternoon! 

 

I am also a tiny bit confused about the ticket options. On the official site, I am looking at a "Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground".  I have no clue if this will give us access to all that we "should" see. This is our first trip to Rome and I'm not sure if visiting the Palantine or forum (maybe those are the same??) would be good. We really just want to see the highlights but not miss anything. The ticket says it is good for 2 days from first use, so if there is a lot to see, we could go back!

 

If it helps, we are looking at doing this Oct 29 or 30, otherwise it will have to be Nov 15 or 16. I don't see any issues with those days but I could be missing something.

 

Bonus help--any ideas on how long it would take us to walk from Hotel Navona (near Pantheon and Piazza Navona) to the Colosseum? Or is it too far and we should just take a cab?

 

Any advice/insight would be appreciated!

Yes , the ticket mentioned Covers almost everything. Most visitors do not even have the underground included 

Palatine an Forum are two different places, albeit next each other and the area is entered together through the same entrances.

The forum is the square where "everything happened" in the politics of ancient Rome. Here you have many temples,  meeting halls, the speakers' point, monuments and more. 

The Palatine is the adjactend hill on which mainly  imperial palaces were bit.

Read beforehand about all these sites to be able to understamd and appreciate. Both are definitely worth a visit.

 

[marazul]

35 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

"Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground".

These are the areas open to the public now. The third level of the Colosseum is currently closed to the public. If you want a guided tour choose "Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground with didactic visit". I suggest doing a couple of dummy bookings on the website so you are familiar with how it works.

The Palatine and Roman forums are adjacent to each other. Actually, they are two sections of the large area of ruins next to the Colosseum.  Yes, get that ticket and at least walk around there some. Read about it too. There are some very interesting structures you can visit there.

Also consider visiting the Domus Aurea which requires a separate ticket.

 

You can walk from your hotel to the Colosseum in about 20 minutes,  but these are very busy streets with lots of traffic. The taxi is only 10 euros.

Edited September 4, 2022 by marazul

[NoWhiners]

3 minutes ago, carlmm said:

Yes , the ticket mentioned Covers almost everything. Most visitors do not even have the underground included 

Palatine an Forum are two different places, albeit next each other and the area is entered together through the same entrances.

Both are definitely worth a visit.

 

 

3 minutes ago, marazul said:

These are the areas open to the public now. The third level of the Colosseum is currently closed to the public. If you want a guided tour choose "Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground with didactic visit". I suggest doing a couple of dummy bookings on the website so you are familiar with how it works.

The taxi is only 10 euros.

 

Thanks to both of you for the quick replies and advice. A taxi it shall be! And I have time to read more about the different sites and discuss what we want to do with DH.