timing and teens for rome

[flaca]

We have a tour booked with RIL for our day in Rome. There are three teens in our group who I think would get a kick out of touring inside the coliseum, third ring and underground. The company seems to think its a bad idea to tour inside due to the security. They feel that it would take too much time from our day. My questions are: has it been that bad with the new added security? Would cutting the time in Vatican to 2 hours be a horrible thing? Did anyone travel with teens to two places and generally which did they prefer?

 

Thank you

[cruisemom42]

If anything, most teens probably would prefer more unscheduled time on a long day. That said, you really have to decide among your own group what the priorities are.

 

I suspect teens would enjoy the Colosseum more than the Vatican museum unless they are particularly interested in art. But can you do the Vatican in two hours? I'm not sure -- depends on whether you just plan to go into the museum and perhaps see 3 or 4 selected highlights plus the Sistine chapel with a guide. Two hours might just be enough for that. But it would not include time to see St. Peters.

[euro cruiser]

I've been to Rome (and elsewhere) with four kids at various times throughout their lives (from age 6 up to mid-twenties today) and each kid is different and has their own interests and priorities. By the time they were teenagers I insisted that they do a little reading themselves and help make these kind of decisions, so they would "own" the outcome. This was especially important when there were conflicting priorities that had to be worked out ahead of time.

 

Sometimes it took some probing questioning on my part to get to the heart of things. Even kids can fall victim to the "must see" mentality and put things on their list that they don't actually have a strong interest in but they've heard/read/been told that they "should" see it.

[Hlitner]

Have to agree with Euro cruiser that this is the type of question best put to the teens. DW and I are very independent travelers and generally go off, do our own thing, and make our own decisions (often on the fly) regarding the best way to allot time. But if you are going to spend the "big bucks" to hire a professional tour company/guide....then you might want to give a lot of consideration to their advice. Queues and waiting times have increased at many tourist attractions all over Europe (and the world) due to increased security. It can be very frustrating to spend 40 min waiting in an entrance queue....even when you have timed tickets. But this has become more the norm (rather then the exception). Tour companies deal with these delays on a daily basis and one ignores them at their own peril.

 

Hank

[SuiteTraveler]

I must admit, my tour of the Vatican was the worst I've ever been on (not because of the tour guide but because of the crowding). I will NEVER go back there again unless I can do a night time tour - like at 1am - as the situation in the Sistine Chapel was incredibly dangerous and I was actually afraid for the first time of my life of being crushed to death. I saw an elderly woman torn by the mob from her adult daughter who was swept out of the room and saw the elderly woman fall on the floor - and there was no way I could get to her. I was screaming for someone to help her and trying my best to hold the crowd back who was pushing and shoving so hard. Thank God the young man next to me managed to help the elderly woman to her feet - although he had to fight the crowd to do it. She might have been trampled to death without his assistance.

 

What you should know about the Vatican is that once you are in there, you are stuck on a path and you have to follow that path and there's no way out until after the Sistine Chapel. If you get caught, as I did between large competing tour groups who are focused on forcing their way out of the Sistine Chapel, it can become incredibly dangerous very fast. There were many people outside who had fainted and were bruised up from the incident. I would give the Vatican a pass.

 

I hope that you will give this tour a bit of a re-think and involve the teens in the decision making. I would think they would be more interested in seeing the city, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, have lunch at a sidewalk cafe, maybe even visit the Capuchin Crypt. If they are very interested in the Colseum, then I would make that the big thing to do for the day. But the Vatican? Heck no, I'd stay far away from that place - perhaps do it late at night on a land tour, but during the day with the incredible crowds in there? Absolutely not!

[Hlitner]

Reading the previous post about the Vatican Museums tour was interesting. We have visited the Vatican Museums (this is the tour route that ends in the Sistine Chapel) on 4 occasions. The first time was on a large Princess Cruise lines excursion (about thirty-five years ago) which we hated (we felt like cattle being herded through many other herds). Our other 3 visits have all been on our own (not all while on cruises) which were all quite fine. Yes, there can be big crowds....but on 2 of our visits the crowds were not too bad. The Sistine Chapel is the one place where crowding is an issue because it is a relatively small place with too many people. When you have lots of tour groups, with guides trying to explain some of the art works....folks talking, people trying to lean back (you can get dizzy) to stare at the amazing ceiling,,,it does get to be a bit much. We finally realized that there some benches located along some of the walls..and we found it enjoyable to just sit (we got lucky and found a seat) and watch everyone trying to look around (360 degrees) while in a crowd. However, we disagree with the comment to "stay away from that place" as it is an amazing tour (in terms of the building and many works of art) and the Sistine Chapel is truly one of the Wonders of the World! We first saw the Sistine Chapel before it was cleaned. When they finished the major cleaning/restoration (around 1994) and we returned....we were simply blown away about the art and colors that we had never previously noticed because of all the accumulated dirt and damage. On a subsequent visit around a few years ago we noticed that they had completed the cleaning of the wall frescos....making the room even more fantastic. Now, it is a glorious place worthy of dealing with the crowds. And here is our personal tip. When they need the most recent restoration, a small patch (located in one of the ceiling corners) was left in its bad condition...so knowing folks could appreciate the change. If you are on a tour the guide will point it out. Otherwise, look for that dirty patch on your own !

 

Hank