Full-Day: Colosseum, Vatican Museums & St Peter's Guided Tour
Description
Experience Rome's top attractions—the Vatican and the Colosseum—on this full-day guided tour. With an expert guide, enjoy exclusive, reserved entry to the Vatican Museums and explore its magnificent artistic treasures, including Michelangelo’s extraordinary frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. After some free time for lunch (at your own expense), continue to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Take a guided tour of the stunning amphitheater and explore the evocative ruins of the Forum.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your English speaking expert guide for a tour of the historical heart of Ancient Rome. Dominating the center of the Eternal City, this ancient arena puts modern stadiums to shame. As you stroll through the vast walls of the Colosseum your guide will recount the gruesome spectacles, battles, and politics that played out here.
The heart of the Roman Republic that inspired many modern democracies. The Roman Forum was once home to a bustling marketplace and was viewed as the pinnacle of the city.
Then your tour continues to the Palatine Hill, where Rome originated in a battle between two brothers. You’ll be taken from the origin of ancient Rome to its hub. In the continued company of our expert guides, you'll traverse the slopes of Palatine Hill, listening to tales of myth and history that echo through the ages. No other tour takes you so close to so much of the history, significance, and fabulous riches of Rome.
After your Vatican tour, enjoy some free time to sample authentic Italian cuisine (at your own expense) before crossing the border from Vatican City back into Rome for the second part of your tour.
With your friendly guide, enter the ornate Vatican Museums through an exclusive partner entrance. Unlike the more than 200 tour operators offering standard entry, we provide you with special access through this Partner Entrance. This allows you to start your visit promptly, saving up to four hours during peak season and giving you more time to explore the beauty of the Museums.
Once inside, you and your small group will 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 frescos and La Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica to the precious relics, paintings, and tapestries adorning the museums’ gilded galleries. Throughout the tour, your expert, English-speaking guide will share fascinating insights only a local could know.
After your Sistine Chapel visit, continue with your guide to St Peter’s Basilica to explore the symbolic heart of the Catholic church. Learn about its history and see more Vatican art including Michelangelo’s La Pietà, which was sculpted when the maestro was only 24 years old. Gaze at the baldachino by Bernini, and then say goodbye to your guide in St Peter’s Square. Keep in mind that St Peter's Basilica and St Peter's Square might be unavailable on Wednesdays due to the weekly Papal Audience. As an alternative, you'll be offered an extended itinerary within the Vatican Museums.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Please note: All participant names are required at the time of booking in order to enter the Colosseum & St Peter's Basilica. If we do not receive the full customers names, we will cancel the booking. Name changes are not permitted once the booking is confirmed.
- Failure to present a voucher with all travelers' full names at the ticket office prior to entry may result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum & St Peter's Basilica
- Please note there will be approximately 2-4 hours free time between the two tours, depending on the selected time. You have to make your own way from your morning tour to the afternoon tour. There is plenty of time to travel either by taxi or metro.
Reviews(1,156)
We booked the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum with the full day experience. We did not set foot on The Roman Forum at all . Plus, the scheduling on our tickets was wrong and we wasted a significant amount of time at the beginning of the tour. When I contacted the company, they have basically called me a liar and denied our partial refund. The guide spent more time in a book than actually showing sites. It was extremely disappointing and I would strongly recommend not booking through City Wonders at all! Additionally, once I filed a complaint with Viator, they blocked me from leaving a review.
Hi susanlN9466KQ, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. We understand your frustration regarding the delay at the start of the tour and your concerns about the itinerary. The tour sometimes operates in reverse with Forum and Palatine Hill first, followed by the Colosseum visit. The Roman Forum is included in this experience, so we're sorry that you felt this part of the tour was missed. We also regret that the guiding style was not what you had hoped for. Regarding your refund request, our team reviews all cases based on the information and reports available to ensure a fair outcome, and we're sorry that the resolution was disappointing to you.
Ursus loves his Roman history, and we loved being on his tour so we could try to appreciate it as much as he did. It was a HOT afternoon, and we covered a lot of territory (Palatine Hill, Forum, and Colosseum) in just under 3 hours. I felt bad for Ursus when several people left the tour early. Even though it was hot, I still find that disrespectful. Ursus kept the group together and on-task despite the crowds and the lack of shade. Our group learned a lot and were in awe of what the Romans built (and destroyed). Not only beautiful, but fascinating!
Leo was such an amazing tour guide very good at explaining things and making the people around him laugh. Loved the experience. Though I didn’t enjoy the flying poop around us. Still this tour was a ♾️/10 I 100% recommend🔥🔥🔥!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really good guide company, would recommend them in future. This is a long day, just understand that. It would be better to split this us into 2 days if you can, getting the first tour for either the Vatican or Colosseum, it's just very crowded, hard to keep up with the group in those crowds during the day, not the fault of the tour company.
Leo was an excellent tour guide. I learned so much. He made it fun and enjoyable!
The best way to see the most of Rome in a single day. Both of our guides at each location were very knowledgeable and taught us a lot and answered all our questions. Our group had a wonderful time on the tour!
All tour guides were awesome so much knowledge and very kind. Much more walking then we anticipated but was definitely worth it. Check in folks were not super friendly or welcoming but guides made up for it.
Phenomenal tour of a great City. Spent 2 days in Rome, Italy after an Eastern Mediterranean Cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line on the "Norwegian Viva" ship. This tour of the Colosseum and the Vatican is perfect for first-time visitors to Rome, like us, with limited time, who want a stress-free, greatest-hits itinerary. It was an efficient tour of Rome’s top two sites with logistics handled, reserved or skip-the-line entrances, and a guide to keep you on schedule. The tour company guide provides headsets so you can hear what he/she saying because these sites are pretty crowded. We loved both tours, but the Vatican was the highlight. Seeing the Sistine Chapel and all the artwork was amazing. I'm glad I used this company to do these tours, as the tour guides were professional and knowledgeable. I will definitely be back in Rome to do this tour again, as well as the "Rome by Night" tour. I strongly recommend this company. You will not be disappointed.
Spent 2 days in Rome
The guides didn’t speak very understandable English. We had a hard time understanding them, particularly our children. The guides focused on details instead of painting the big picture. Both segments could have been 30 minutes shorter. We were all burnt out by the end.
