Rome is one of those extremely touristy cities, which could mean falling for stolen. Here are tips from Rome to know before you travel: most of them will help you try to bypass the crowd and not spend precious euros on unnecessary things. In the Tours of Rome the followings are the ones you need to be aware of.
- Buy Roma Pass arriving at the airport
If you are going to visit the basic attractions (the Colosseum, the Galleria Borghese, the Capitoline Museum), the pass is great. It includes two free admissions (of your choice) and reduced admission in several others, and entitles you to use all public transportation in the city during the pass’s validity (48 hours for € 28 or 72 hours for € 38.50). And even better, it lets you queue up in the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and museums. Even if you only go to two attractions and use public transportation, it’s already worth it for the price. So you don’t have to look for shops around the city, buy your pass at the tourist information centre as soon as you arrive at the airport and train station.
What is not included in the Roma Pass, airport transfers and admission to the Vatican Museums?
- Do not queue to enter the Colosseum and Roman Forum
Rome Tips: Nothing more inconvenient than wasting hours of your stay in Rome, a place that has so much to do in these lines. You can avoid them in two ways: with the Roma Pass, which we mentioned above (the same ticket goes for both attractions), or by buying tickets on the site. Later in the afternoon there are also usually fewer queues, but this may vary.
- Go to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica in the late afternoon / evening
On Fridays between the end of April and the end of October, you can buy tickets for the Vatican Museums between 7 pm and 9:30 pm (and stay until 11 pm). It’s a chance to avoid the procession-style, elbow-and-selfies-style visit that occurs elsewhere in the museum galleries. In the Sistine Chapel, you may actually admire the paintings and not have to deal with the security guards shouting “silence” and snatching the cell phone from people who break the rule that prohibits taking pictures. Buy the ticket through the site and calculate about an hour to visit the St. Peter’s Basilica, which usually has no queue in the late afternoon. To go to the summit you have to pay € 6 (by stairs) or € 8 (by lift).
- Don’t buy unnecessary tours to visit the Colosseum and the Vatican
Several companies advertise “visit the Vatican morgue” or “visit the third floor of the Colosseum” as their own tour and charge up to € 70 for a guided tour (ticket included). If you choose one of these, be aware that you are paying only for the guide, because on the attractions website you can buy these different tours: no company has access to exclusive hours or parts of the attractions.