puravida1984

My wife and I will be in Italy from June 1st - 14th. Our schedule for the first few days in Rome were scheduled doing:

June 1st: Traveling to Italy.
June 2nd: Arrive in Rome at 8:10. Buy Roma Pass. Go to Hotel to drop off luggage. Visit Ancient Rome. (Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc.)
June 3rd: Borghese Gallery, 11:00 Tour. (Already purchased tickets). Evening Vatican Tour. (Already purchased tickets).
June 4th: National Museum of Rome. Baths of Diocletian. Appian Way.
June 5th: Pompeii Day Trip. (Train tickets already purchased).

I just found out that due to the June 2nd National Holiday that the area around the colosseum is a zoo due to a parade. My only option would be to swap the Ancient Rome visits with the June 4th National Museum and Baths of Diocletian visits. However, the purpose of doing Ancient Rome on the first day was to take advantage of skipping the long Colosseum lines with the Roma Pass. If I buy the Roma pass on June 2nd and use them for National Museum of Rome and Baths of Diocletian, then I'll have to stand in the long lines at the Colosseum to get my discounted tickets.

Thoughts about how to change this? If I kept the itinerary as is, would the crowds be that much worse on June 2nd? Or if I swap it, should I just not bother with the Roma Pass and go with a tour through the colosseum to bypass the crowds?

puravida1984

Quick update: I just read that the Colosseum and Roman Forum open at 1:30 on June 2nd. I'm assuming the parade is in the morning? If I stick with Ancient Rome on that day, is it feasible to do it from 1:30 until close?

kybourbon

I don't see the point of buying the Roma Pass. For your itinerary, I can't see you would get the value of it at all. Buy tickets for the Colosseum/Forum on their web site (coopculture.it). The tickets are good for two days (consecutive I think - one entry to the Colosseum and one to Forum/Palantine).

>>>If I stick with Ancient Rome on that day, is it feasible to do it from 1:30 until close?<<<

Yes, but it might be really hot that time of day.

love_travel11

Agree with kybourbon - I dont think the ROMA pass will add value to your itinerary.
Please try to make a reservation for the underground areas as well when you use coopculture.

bilboburgler

buy the ticket at the Palantine entrance and dodge the colosseum queue completely.

puravida1984

Thanks for the replies. I didn't provide enough detail for you to compare costs. I believe that the Roma Pass is the way for me to go. I'll switch the June 2nd with the June 4th itinerary. Roma Pass will cost 36 Euros and get me into the first two museums for free. Those first two that I would use it on are the National Museum and the Colosseum. (Borghese has already been purchased. Outside of that, nothing else we'll do in between the National Museum and the Colosseum are Roma Pass Activities).

If I paid for everything separately, it would be 61 Euros per person. (12 for Colosseum, 15 for capitoline museum, and 10 for national museum, plus an estimated 24 Euro for bus fares). While the Roma Pass would be 36 Euros and cover bus fares, Colosseum and National Museum and would total 51 Euro per person.

If I'm off base, let me know. Thanks again for the help!