We have tickets for the Vatican Museums for Monday afternoon at 3:00. Would like to spend the morning at the Forum/Colosseum. Is that ridiculous?

No, but if you are going in the summer, you may be pretty wiped out in the afternoon because of the heat.

as artsbabe says, you'll get really hot at the Forum/Colosseum. Take an umbrella, as there is no shade there.

You're going to be doing something in the morning. It might as well be the Forum and Colosseum.

thank you.....we knew we'd be dealing with heat - but an umbrella is a good idea to take for shade.

Go early and avoid the midday sun. I recommend having a long leisurely lunch in between these two activities

If you're spending the afternoon at the Vatican Museum when do you plan on seeing the other parts of the Vatican (St Peter's, Scavi etc.). There's no way you can do all this after 3 in the afternoon (in fact I'm not sure how you could do the museums after 3 in the afternoon).

It's true you could go to the Colosseum when it open, see it quickly and then see part of the forum (not the whole thing) grab a quick lunch and get to the Vatican - but it would be a rush.

nytraveler - I'm with you - its not hard to spend a day at St. Peter's and the Vatican museums. We LOVED climbing the dome as part of our visit there. I'd try to separate "ruined Rome" from the Vatican - give each one a day.

I sincerely hope you plan on getting to the Vatican way before 3pm to see St. Peters. There is a lot to see there, and we spent a good part of a whole day. And I'm not Catholic and could not give a fig about the Pope, but it was still very interesting.

I also think that the Forum/Colosseum and the Vatican each deserve a day. They might not take the whole day each, but I can't imagine trying to cram all that in one day, it would be pretty rushed imho.

thanks for all the input. St. Peters is amazing...I've been there before, and will want to walk through....maybe we'll have to rethink the plan. Not sure yet...seems to be conflicting opinions.

If you've been to the Vatican before, and you just want to see the museum, that's a different story. I think it's doable.

I would not do it in one day myself. Why rush through some of the most amazing art and antiquities anywhere?

The answer partly depends on how much time you have in Rome and how many things you want to see. If you are only there for three days, I would definitely do both in one day. If you are there for a week, you could slow it down.

Make sure to wear good/comfortable walking shoes... you'll walk a lot.

Yes you can do it and without much hassle, if you start early. Be at the forum by 9am

Enter the forum from Via Imperiali. This ticket is also good for the Colosseum, so you don't have to wait in line. When you enter, go over to the Vestal house, next is a walk by Basilica of Julia, up to Temple of Saturn. Next over to Arch of Severus. If the Curia is open see that next. Now down Via Sacra to Church of San Lorenzo and if open see the back of Cosma and Damino. Continue up the path to the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine. Now go over to the Arch of Titus and exit the forum to the Colosseum. This might take you an hour or so.

Where the ticket line is, don't stand in line, go to the outside walkway-you'll see signs that say things like "Purchased Tickets" and "Roma Pass". Go straight to the security checkpoint. Spend an hour or so inside the Colosseum.

When you exit, cross over to the Colosseo Metro. You can either take the metro to Termini, then change to the A line and go to the Ottaviano stop. This puts you closer to the museum, but farther from St. Peters. You can also take bus 87 to the Cavour terminus. This is on the opposite side of Castel Sant'Angelo and is about a 10-15 minute walk to St. Peters or the Museums.

You can also leave the Colosseum and walk down Via San Gregorio, past the Arch of Constantine to the Palatine Entry. On the way down you'll see the stop for the 81 bus. Take this to it's terminus at Piazza Risorgimento, which is about 5 minutes from St. Peters and 10 minutes to the Museums. Either of the bus trips will take less than 20 minutes.

dave

Are you asking CAN I do it, or SHOULD I do it? Because you can do it, if you must. We had three days in Rome, and we did those two on separate days.

You can use the Vatican website for a reservation at the Museum. We did the tour offered by the Vatican and were very happy with it.

See the Museum first, then St Peter's Basilica, to a avoid standing in line for St Peter's. Because from the Sistene Chapel back door, you can go directly to the Basilica, without another security line. I forget what time that door closes, like 4:30 or so.

Can I do it depends on our stamina - which is pretty good. We're used to walking. Should we do it? I think yes...if we put together daveesl's suggestions and your suggestions, PeaceOut, I think the answer is that, to do the other things we want to do, including sitting and doing very little but watching the world go by, we ought to try to do both those venues on the same day. Our favorite part of traveling is cafe sitting and people watching, so if we run out of steam, so be it. We have 5 days in Rome - unfortunately, one of those days is Monday, where most things are closed. We made reservations at the Vatican on Monday for that reason, but since the Forum/Colosseum/Palatine area is open that day, we'll try to do both.

My understanding is that once we have used the Roma Pass at the Forum/Colosseum/Palatine for a free entrance, we can go back another day to finish exploring without needing another ticket. Is that true?

I think the Forum/Colosseum/ Palatine tickets are valid for 2 days (so you can come back the NEXT day) rather than any other day. They are stamped with the date when you get them.
Maybe someone with a better memory can confirm or contradict this!


Your plan sounds good.

You can visit the Forum/Colosseum/Palantine each day of the pass once you have visited the first time.

thank you.....I must say that the fodors.com forums are just wonderful! The last "big" trip we took was a 3 week trip in 2006 to SE Asia (Thailand,Cambodia,N.Vietnam), and I found the forum then. We had a magnificent, magical time and with the exception of our first hotel and guide in Chiang Mai, Thailand - every other hotel, guide, event, restaurant - was booked because of a recommendation on the Asia message board. I have a better grasp on Italy, sort of, so I have fewer questions, but thank you so much for all this input. It helps so much.