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Icons of Rome in 1 day: Vatican & Colosseum Skip the Line Tours

Badge of ExcellenceRoma, Italy
Full Day Combo Vatican and Colosseum Skip the Line Guided Tour

From $143.92

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Up to 24 hours in advance.
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  • 8 hours 15 minutes
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

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Overview

Combine a trip to two of Rome’s greatest sites in one day. Take advantage of special no-wait entry at the Vatican and skip-the-line access to the Colosseum during this full-day tour. While others wait in line, you experience the majesty of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel followed by the ancient glory of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum, all with an expert guide.
  • Full-day Rome combo with skip-the-line walking tours of the Vatican Museums, and Colosseum
  • Combine two best-selling Rome tours in one memorable day, led by expert guides
  • Avoid the lines at the Colosseum and explore its first and second tiers
  • Enjoy free time between the Vatican and Colosseum visits

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Skip-the-line passes to the Vatican Museums and Colosseum mean you can save hours of waiting-in-line time during high season. Although not all areas require special clothing, be sure shoulders and knees are covered for when you explore holy sites.

What's Included

  • Professional English-speaking guide
  • Reserved Skip-the-Line Accessn to Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica
  • Reserved Skip-the-Line Access to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
  • Audio headset so you can always hear your guide at the Colosseum
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Food and drinks
  • Transfers between the two tours

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Largo Gaetana Agnesi, 5
    Largo Gaetana Agnesi, 5, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

    Morning Tour - Colosseum (9AM, 9.15AM or 10AM depending on time selected): meet at Largo Gaetana Agnesi, above the 2nd floor of the metro line B (blue line) stop "Colosseum" Afternoon Tour - Vatican (2.30PM): meet at the bottom of the steps across the street from the Entrance of the Vatican Museums

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Start the day with a border crossing into Vatican City, where you breeze past the long lines and through an exclusive partner entrance into the ornate Vatican Museums. More than 200 tour operators have “Skip the Line” entry to the Vatican, but this Official Partner Tour grants you special access through the Private Partner Entrance, which allows you to enter immediately, saving up to four hours during peak season and giving you even more time to explore the beauty of the Museums.

Once inside, you and your small group enjoy all the highlights of the Vatican with an expert guide by your side. The tour takes in a treasure trove of artistic wonders, from masterworks such as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes. Throughout the tour, your expert, English-speaking guide shares fascinating insights only a local could know.

After your Vatican tour, enjoy free time to sample some authentic Italian cuisine (own expense) before meeting your next expert guide for a tour of the historical heart of ancient Rome. Begin by skipping yet another line to enter the Colosseum immediately. Dominating the center of the Eternal City, this ancient arena puts modern stadiums to shame.

Then your tour continues to the Palatine Hill, where Rome originated in a battle between two brothers. You are then taken from the origin of ancient Rome to its hub: The Forum, that bustling marketplace where business, politics, and religion mixed. No other tour takes you so close to so much of the history, significance, and fabulous riches of Rome.

Please note: During the low season, the itinerary described operates in reverse. Tour the Colosseum and Roman Forum in the morning, followed by the Vatican Museums.

Colosseum

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Roman Forum

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Palatine Hill

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Vatican City

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Vatican Museums

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Only very small bags are allowed.
  • Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women to enter to the venue
  • Near public transportation
  • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
  • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • Depending on your morning tour start time (9am or 10am), you will have between 1h30 and 2h30 break between the Colosseum and Vatican tours.
  • You have to make your own way from the Colosseum to the Vatican. There is plenty of time to travel either by taxi or metro.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

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Traveler Tips

Take pictures when possible, so you can look at details later.
Travellers be aware though that the two tours involve a lot of walking, so pack your most comfortable shoes!
Bring sunscreen and a hat, and possibly a parasol, but mind your belongings.

Reviews

4.5
1,094 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 1,094 reviews
Colosseum Tour Great - Vatican Tour Awful
lcaporale, Sep 2023
The tour guide Emanuela was fantastic. Showed us around the Colosseum and Forum. Was very knowledgeable and friendly. She was easy to understand and the listening device was clear. Would give this portion of the multi-tour 5 stars. Now for the awful part…Ellena, the Vatican Tour guide was terrible. She rushed people through like cattle. We seriously were not able to look at any of the exhibits and she openly chastised people for not keeping up. The crowds were large and our group was separated several times and she yelled at each one! The listening device was terrible with static and she had a thick accent. Worse tour I have taken in my life.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Hello lcaporale, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding your Icons of Rome in 1 day: Vatican & Colosseum Skip the Line Tours. We appreciate your detailed review and want to extend our apologies for the contrasting experiences you had with our tour guides. We are delighted to hear that you had a fantastic experience with Emanuela during the Colosseum and Forum portion of the tour. Her knowledge, friendliness, and clear communication are truly appreciated, and we will certainly pass on your kind words to her. However, we sincerely regret that you found your Vatican Tour with Ellena to be subpar. We apologize for any rush and discomfort you experienced during this part of the tour. This does not align with our standards of providing informative, enjoyable, and unhurried experiences for our guests. We will communicate your feedback to our team to ensure improvements in the future. Your comments regarding the listening device and accent have been noted, and we will work to address these issues for a more seamless experience. Thank you for choosing City Wonders, and we genuinely value your input, as it helps us enhance the quality of our tours. We appreciate your booking and your review. Warm regards, The City Wonders Team
Very good
Keith_D, Sep 2023
Carlo was great! His knowledge was good , he was very informative. The tour was Very organized.and punctual.
Amazing
Dennis_S, Sep 2023
Amazing amazing amazing will book again so much info I was shocked in how much they knew great work guys
Great tour!
Luke_H, Aug 2023
Fantastic tours with incredibly knowledgeable guides! Vatican was of course incredibly busy so felt as though we rushed past some beautiful pieces but is understandable. Wear comfortable shoes!
Two Separate Tours, no transpo provided
Rosalie_L, Aug 2023
Our tour guide is endowed with tremendous knowledge in Roman History. We're glad that "Eddy" was assigned to us in the Colosseum tour. He made us laugh with his impromptu icebreaker chats. The main drawback of this Full Day Tour was we were not informed that the Colosseum and Vatican were two separate tours. We had to ride a taxi to get to the Vatican fast at our own expense after Colosseum tour ended at 12 noon. Paola is our guide in the Vatican tour, she's also knowledgeable but I guess more serious type. Tour started at 2:30 pm.
Colosseum and Vatican in one day.
ROBERT_S, Jul 2023
The coloseum and Vatican tour are same day with 2 hour break. Two different guides. Both were excellent. Great knowledge of history and art. Makes for a long day. May want to split it up if you are not up to it. St Paul's Basillica is amazing. So beautiful and so much art. Every wall floor and ceiling covered with mosaic. All made that much more impressive with a knowledgeable tour guide.
A Tale of Two Tours
William_H, Jul 2023
Our guide for the Colosseum and Forum was Fabio and he was amazing. Took the time to memorize the name of all 15 or so people in his group. Knowledgeable, considerate, funny, passionate, helpful - maybe the best tour guide I’ve ever had. Our guide for the Vatican was terrible. He knew his subject matter, but was rude, impatient, and condescending. Completely opposite experiences.
Absolutely a must do!
Keahaulani_H, Jul 2023
Our guide Sylvia was exceptional. Being an archeologist she provided details regarding the coliseum that we would have never known. She was filled with excitement and eager to share her knowledge. Exceptional guide and person.
Worth it just to skip the line
James_H, Jul 2023
The price is woth it just for skipping the lines, for both the lines were 1km long at least. Patrick was fantastic for our tour at the Colloseum. He was super knowledgeable and kept the tour interesting. We had a different guide at the Vatican who we did not enjoy. Not sure if it was a language barrier or lack of knowledge but there was a lot of floundering and um & ahhhs, we eneded up wondering off on our own
Find your own ride
Julie_S, Jun 2023
We expected the tours to include transportation to the second part of tour, cost us 150e in taxi's. !
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Hello Julie_S, Thank you for leaving us your feedback. We'd like to clarify that we do advertise prior to booking that our package includes skip-the-line access to both the Vatican and the Colosseum, but transportation between the two sites is not provided. We understand that this may have caused inconvenience and additional expenses for you. However, we hope that despite this, you enjoyed the tours of the Colosseum and the Vatican. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we'll take it into consideration to provide clearer information in the future. Thank you for choosing our tours, and we hope you had a memorable experience overall. Kind regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders
A full day of information and fun
James_D, Jun 2023
Great experience and lots of history. Be prepared to walk. The guides were knowledgeable and good with the various groups.
Vatican was very unorganised and very rushed
Denise_B, Jun 2023
Colesseum was great , the guide was great and very knowledgeable, vatican not so good you were rushed through with not much chance of taking in the beauty and history
Good tour but very crowded during our time
Kathleen_F, May 2023
Sistine chapel was too crowded, everyone was talking in the silent places. It wasn't the tour's fault but the rude guests. The best part of the Vatican was St Peter's basilica.
Keep transportation in mind!!!
Sandra_M, May 2023
Tour guide was great. But, beware, there is no transportation between the Colosseum and the Vatican. You are on your own. Rome is a crazy place. Our ticket said our tour started at the colosseum but when we got there, they said it started at the Vatican. $20 taxi ride to the Vatican and then had to taxi back to the colosseum $48!!! Was not expecting the extra expense or hassle of finding our own transportation between places.
A long but rewarding day.
Nigel_B, May 2023
Guides to both trips were excellent, hitting the right levels of information without over killing the subject matter. They were enthusiastic and understanding, perfect English- thank you !!! The trip to the Colosseum was perfectly timed for early morning. The afternoon trip to the Vatican was chaotic, I did not like being ordered around the Sistine Chapel, it was overcrowded and there was nothing spiritual about it.. The Basilica made up for it.
Horrible
Carisa_T, May 2023
Viator messed up our time and squeezed us into a different tour. We made it to the colosseum but did not get to make it to the Vatican because viator messed up our times compared to what they had us scheduled for in Rome.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Hello Carisa_T, We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced with your tour schedule. We strive to provide seamless and enjoyable experiences for our customers, and we regret that your expectations were not met on this occasion. We would like to investigate this matter further to understand what occurred and ensure that it is properly addressed. To assist us in resolving this issue, we kindly request that you reach out to us directly at edgar.chavero@citywonders.com with your booking reference number. Providing us with this information will enable us to investigate the discrepancy and take appropriate measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we appreciate your cooperation. We look forward to hearing from you and resolving this matter to your satisfaction. Best regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders
WORST tour group (CITY WONDERS)!!!!!!
Cherry_D, May 2023
We booked for a guided tour inside vatican museum, sistine chapel and st peter’s basilica. Instead they just gave us a ticket to go inside without a tour guide. They said that they were sold out on the guided tour but I booked the guided tour 3-4 months ago. It was a headache as I was with my toddler and we even got lost inside. I will NEVER ever rexommend this tour group (CITY WONDER). They even said that they will just me a partial refund. I reached out to viator and they don’t want to give me a partial refund.
Response from Host, May 2023
Hello Cherry_D, We are disappointed to read about your inadequate experience with us at the Vatican. Please reach out to us via email at edgar.chavero@citywonders.com with your booking reference number so that we may look closer at your case. We have already processed a partial refund for the downgraded experience, and we will absolutely work to ensure this does not happen again and all our experiences are up to standard. We thank you for your feedback, and once again apologize for the inconveniences caused on your travels. Kind regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders
Beware!
JANET_M, May 2023
When you plan some very historical sights as a tour and to hear when you get to both of these that you're not down on their list, this brings undue anxiety and frustration. Who wants that after the money you paid, almost seems like a scam. It wasn't just us, there was at least 3 other couples this happened to. They said wait at the end of the line and "see" if we can fit you in. We all did get to go, but it did not put us in a good frame of mind. This is not professional at all, I don't know if it's Viator or City Wonders Ltd, but to take everyone's money and then treat them like that is not right. Viator, you should look into this.
Response from Host, May 2023
Hi JANET_M, We apologize for the frustration and anxiety you experienced during your Icons of Rome in 1 day: Vatican & Colosseum Skip the Line Tours. We understand that being informed that you were not on the list upon arrival can be distressing. We assure you that this is not the standard of service we strive to provide. To assist you further and address your concerns, we kindly request that you provide us with your booking reference number. Please send it to us at edgar.chavero@citywonders.com. With this information, we can investigate the issue thoroughly and take appropriate measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. We regret any negative impact this had on your tour experience, and we appreciate your patience and understanding. Our aim is to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience for all our guests. We will work closely with our team to address the situation and ensure improved professionalism and communication moving forward. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your cooperation in providing us with your booking reference number. We look forward to assisting you further. Best regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders
This was a good tour just...
Wanda_M, Apr 2023
This was a good tour just a little shocked to have to take a taxi from one destination to another without much time for lunch
Group Colosseum tour..Vatican sprint and chaos
Preeta_B, Apr 2023
The Colosseum tour was great..The guide was very knowledgeable and engaging The Vatican tour was a mess. The guide spent a very long time outside talking about the paintings in the Sistine Chapel and then literally sprinted through the Vatican..She rambled on about this and that but it was very hard to follow - there was no coherent thread in the narrative and she walked too fast without checking to see if we were following. Our family and another got separated from the group and the guide didn't even wait.
...

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