3 Days in Rome Before Cruise

[pajazz28]

DW, friends and I are taking a NCL cruise from Civitavecchia. We are arriving in Rome 3 days ahead of the cruise. We will probably use the frist days to walk around eat near our hotel or Airbnb. The second day we want to visit the Colosseum and Vatican.

 

Any suggestion on how best to do this?

Any combination tour anyone has doe and can reommned them? 

Any other sites we should see in Rome? 

 

Please any other suggestion or advise we be very helpful, thank you. 

[John Bull]

Don't waste your time & money on Rome's ho-ho buses.

I'm a great fan of them in many cities,, but that doesn't include Rome (or Florence)

They're forbidden down many small but important roads (and Florence's can only circulate round the edges of the old city).

Colosseum & Vatican are the only two worthwhile places on their route, they hang around at Termini station (looking for more passengers) and the Vatican (so passengers can walk around the corner to see t properly), and like in most cities they're useless as "transport".

But you could consider a night tour (different operator) on your first evening.

 

If you've got three days (at least two full days) IMHO you'd do better to split Colosseum & Vatican into two days 

- Colosseum (and Forum and mebbe Palatine Hill)

- Vatican (and Piazza Navona and  Pantheon and mebbe Trevi and Spanish Steps).

 

Colosseum and Forum and Palatine Hill are all  on one 3-venue tickets. Buy in advance to avoid the ticket lines.

For Vatican / Sistine Chapel you need to book well in advance - I think they're timed tickets but others will know better than I.

 

JB 🙂

[cruisemom42]

I agree with JB above. Don't try to do the Colosseum and the Vatican on the same day. There are several good reasons: 

 

-- Both take a fair amount of time to do if you want inside visits

 

-- They are not in close proximity to each other (although not THAT far apart)

 

-- The Vatican has several components (St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine chapel, Dome visit) which could take most of a day and there are other things nearby if you need more to do (Castel Sant' Angelo for example).

 

-- The Colosseum also has several other associated sites that are worth visiting: the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and also other nearby ancient sites: Baths of Caracalla, Trajan's Column and Market, Capitoline Museum, etc.

 

Really best to do each one of these on one day. On your arrival day, depending on where your BnB is located, I'd recommend a self-guided walk that takes you by Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon (go inside) and Piazza Navona at a minimum. 

 

[Hlitner]

Agree with above.  I think it is almost criminal how fast many tours move through the Vatican museums and St Peters.  One could easily spend most of a day in that area, especially if they manage to obtain a reservation for the Scavi Tour (which goes underneath part of St Peters.  Speaking of the Scavi tour, it is seldom included on tours and is something folks should try to book on their own.  Many of the online sites try to fool folks into thinking they are the Vatican, but they are simply private companies.  Here is the real link to the Vatican's own site:

Vatican Museums – Official Website (museivaticani.va)

 

The Scavi Tour also has its own Vatican site which is:

Reservations (scavi.va)

 

Lots of good info on these sites.

 

 

 

 

[erby2283]

Filled out the "Contact Us" form on the Scavi website for our trip in September.  Only put down September 5th as an option as we arrive on the 4th and our cruise embarks on the 6th.  Hopefully we'll be able to do this!  Now...if only we can get Colosseum tickets as well.  Maybe we can try and the Colosseum on arrival day (the 4th). 

[PKB]

I second the opinion to split up Vatican and Colosseum.  Vatican tickets go on sale 60 days prior and sell out in less than an hour.  Colosseum tickets go on sale 30 days prior and sell out just as fast.  We have used Romeinlimo for transportation every time we visit Rome and they are superb.  We will be using them on our visit in September.  You didn't say when you will be visiting Rome, so I hope you have at least 60 days to go.  Romeinlimo has also arranged a city tour for us before heading to the port, visiting Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, and other spots.  Romeinlimo will arrange for a guide but they do not purchase entrance tickets.  I was referred to a business partner who procures tickets.  I intend to use her services and not have to fret over missing the sales.  

[CeleBrat]

On 3/12/2024 at 1:35 PM, Hlitner said:

Agree with above.  I think it is almost criminal how fast many tours move through the Vatican museums and St Peters.  One could easily spend most of a day in that area, especially if they manage to obtain a reservation for the Scavi Tour (which goes underneath part of St Peters.  Speaking of the Scavi tour, it is seldom included on tours and is something folks should try to book on their own.  Many of the online sites try to fool folks into thinking they are the Vatican, but they are simply private companies.  Here is the real link to the Vatican's own site:

Vatican Museums – Official Website (museivaticani.va)

 

The Scavi Tour also has its own Vatican site which is:

Reservations (scavi.va)

 

Lots of good info on these sites.

 

 

 

 

What is the secret to getting the Scavi reservations office to respond?  I sent an email in Jan, and again in March, and have gotten no response.  Are there any other ways to contact them?

[euro cruiser]

As far as I know, the e-mail or fax (if that's even still active) is the only way to contact them.  They respond on their timetable and they don't make reservations very far in advance.  If you're asking for a slot many months from now, that would explain why you haven't had a response.  If you're looking for an earlier date, check your spam folder.

[cruisemom42]

16 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

As far as I know, the e-mail or fax (if that's even still active) is the only way to contact them.  They respond on their timetable and they don't make reservations very far in advance.  If you're asking for a slot many months from now, that would explain why you haven't had a response.  If you're looking for an earlier date, check your spam folder.

 

I agree with this.

 

The only question I'd ask is -- what email service/provider do you use? Some "play nicer" with emails from outside the US than others do. I learned this when I first started traveling a lot. I had an email account with bellsouth.net  -- sometimes they just didn't deliver foreign emails to me. (They weren't in spam/junk; they just disappeared into thin air.)

 

It was a problem with the Scavi office among others.

 

Because of it I got myself a gmail account about 10 years ago. It is much better; fewer things tend to get sent to limbo.

[Hlitner]

56 minutes ago, CeleBrat said:

What is the secret to getting the Scavi reservations office to respond?  I sent an email in Jan, and again in March, and have gotten no response.  Are there any other ways to contact them?

We agree with the others.  No secret.  I recall we sent in our reservation request a few months in advance, and a few weeks later got a positive response   I have heard that those with good connections inside the Catholic Church (such as being friendly with a Cardinal) can sometimes take advantage of who they know. 

 

Hank