It has been advised to purchase tickets to attractions such as the Coliseum prior to going to Rome in an attempt to avoid long lines. Which ticket attractions do you recommend and where do you recommend I purchase them. We definitely want to visit the Coliseum, Forum and the Vatican in late May. Any advice is appreciated.

Definitely buy tickets for those two sites. You'll save a lot of time!

What else would you like to see in Rome?

Lee Ann

The Borghese Gallery requires timed entry only available by advance purchase.

Buy your Vatican and Colosseum tickets from the official sites, not Viator or other resellers.

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do

http://www.coopculture.it/en/events.cfm?id=6

With the Colosseum you will still have to wait as there is now restricted admission (3000 persons inside at any one time) as well as security screening.

The Vatican Museums ticket allows you to skip the outside lines - but you still need to line up for security screening - and the inside of the Museum will be packed. They have late admission on a Friday so if you're there on a Friday night, I would consider going at that time.

At the Colosseum, we had to wait almost an hour under the broiling sun this past June even though we already had tickets. If it weren't for my companions, American cousins who said it was a "must-see" for them, I would have left and used the tickets just for the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

You might want to go to the Colosseum very early and get an idea of how long the wait will be. If you decide to stay, you can walk a short distance to the entrance to the Palatine Hill and buy your tickets there; the line there is usually short to nonexistent. In fact, we had bought our tickets there, with no line at all, but before investigating how long the wait would be at the Colosseum for ticket holders.

We just returned from a vacation in Italy which included Rome.
We booked a private guide for the Vatican. Our friends recommended her and it was great.

mylovelyrome.com

This worked out great. We entered the Vatican Museum a half hour earlier than the general public.
She is very informative and passionate.

OTD

Maybe too late, but you might want to request Scavi tickets to visit the Roman necropolis under St Peter's.

http://www.vatican.va/various/basili...i_english.html

How to apply:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...090216_en.html

Am I right? The combined tickets on coop culture for RF/Palatine/Col don't seem to be dated or for a specific date. Only the guided tours require a date and time. What am I missing? Though I managed to get the Moon Over Colosseum tickets and am thrilled! Anyone else had the same experience?

In the meantime I am debating to Firenze Card or not...

You're right, the tickets to the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill aren't for a specific date. They're usually good for the entire year. You can use them on two consecutive days, for one entrance to the Colosseum and one entrance to the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill (which are treated as a single site, since there's an internal connection).

>>>In the meantime I am debating to Firenze Card or not...<<<

It's very difficult to get the value of the Firenze Card (72€). You need to be going to multiple museums per day for the 3 days as most entry fees are only around 10€.

KY, I did the math and hence the question. We are four with two kids under 18 (but over 12) and with the reservation fees etc for 4 musea/gardens plus the Duomo, I get to the threshold. Of course this is assuming we will do these sights over the 3N/4D we are there.

For the Colosseum on the other hand, we are in Rome on the first Sunday of the month and am wondering if we can get up early enough to stand in line for free entry in the morning.

KY, I did the math. We are four in all with two kids under 18 (but over 12) - with reservation fees and charges for 4 musea/gardens plus the Duomo, I can recover the cost of two Firenze cards. Of course, assuming we do that much in 72 hours.

As for the Colosseum, we are in Rome on a first Sunday and am wondering if we can get up early enough to stand in line for free entry in the morning provided we can go to the third floor. We are doing the night guided tour anyway.

>>For the Colosseum on the other hand, we are in Rome on the first Sunday of the month and am wondering if we can get up early enough to stand in line for free entry in the morning.<<

We were in Rome on the first Sunday in May last year. Since we didn't arrive until early afternoon, I went ahead and reserved tickets at the http://www.coopculture.it/en/events.cfm?id=6 site even though entry was free. I just had to pay the two-Euro reservation fee for the two of us.

We still had a brief wait in line to pick up tickets, but it moved quickly, and we weren't out in the sun for very long.

Lee Ann

Boolanger consider the Borghese Gallery, it's a treasure. Must reserve ahead though.

Boolanger, apologies for hijacking your thread! I was really frustrated using the websites for Florence sites. And hope you have gotten your Colosseum tickets as it seems pretty much full for the guided tours till 30th June.
Enjoy your trip.

Buy whatever tickets you can ahead of time. I know the Vatican has a dedicated website for tickets. I am unsure if the Colosseum has now done the same. I had to use a 3rd party for tickets to the Colosseum and Forum. It was ABSOLUTELY worth it and avoided standing in the heat in very long lines. We basically walked straight into everything.

P.S. I used www.tickitaly.com/ for the tickets.

Colosseum and Forum tickets direct site provided in earlier post
http://www.coopculture.it/en/events.cfm?id=6

Step by step guide and explanations for the website and ticket options available on tripadvisor

I apologize for the delayed response on my part as I had to go out of town suddenly and was out of touch. Thank you everyone for your input, it is much appreciated!