Best of Rome: Vatican & Colosseum Guided Tour
Recommended by 93% of travelers
Vatican City, Italy
- 9 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Save yourself the hassle of booking multiple attractions in Rome with a tour that combines two of the city's top sites in one tour. Begin at the Vatican Museums and immerse yourself in a world of art, architecture, and spiritual history. Choose whether to explore St. Peter’s Basilica before traveling independently to the Colosseum for a guided tour that takes you to exclusive areas most travelers don't get access to—the Gladiator's Gate and Arena Floor.
- A combination tour is the perfect option for time-pressed travelers
- Check off multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites in just one day
- Learn more than you would on your own with a guide leading the way at each site
- Walk in the footsteps of gladiators as you walk the same route they did at the Colosseum
What's Included
- Fully guided tour, broken into two segments
- Entrance to the Vatican Museums, Colosseum and Roman Forum
- Colosseum entrance ticket with arena access (valued at €24 per person)
- Note: Colosseum fees are as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services
- Exclusive access onto the Arena Floor
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Gratuities
- Personal extras
- Transportation from the Vatican to the Colosseum
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Via Sebastiano Veniero, 19, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Remember, this is a two part tour. Meeting point 1: 7:45 AM at Via Sebastiano Veniero 19 Meeting point 2: 3:15pm (1:15 November - March) Arch of Constantine in Piazza del Colosseo. There will be a representative holding an ItaliaTours sign to greet you. ID is required
End point
- Via dei Fori Imperiali, Roma RM, Italy
Your tour concludes as you exit the Roman Forum onto Via dei Fori Imperiali, close to Piazza Venezia
Operating hours.8:00 am
Itinerary
1
Vatican Museums
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Sistine Chapel
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Colosseum
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
Roman Forum
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Vatican dress code requires that knees and shoulders must be covered.
- Max group size: 20
- The ground in the Roman Forum is composed of large stone or dirt pathways that can be difficult to navigate with strollers or wheelchairs
- Wear comfortable shoes for walking and a hat, sunblock and bring some water during summer months
- Each traveler must present a valid passport or ID document that matches the name provided at the time of booking for successful entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Kindly note: This description is provided as a general example. Actual experiences may vary slightly depending on the season, local conditions, and other factors beyond our control
- Access to St. Peter's Basilica is not possible on Wednesday morning during the weekly papal audience.
- Please note that essential travel documents and final itinerary details might be delivered electronically closer to the activity date.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 43 reviews
Timothy_K, May 2025
Excellent tour guides in both locations. Vatican museum guide added a lot of context to the vast amount of art there. Coliseum & Forum guide was also superb, many discussion interactions with the group and enjoyed answering all manner of questions. Highly recommend both tours, but doing both in one day can be challenging. Not many opportunities to sit in the Vatican, there were places to sit during the Coliseum & Forum tours but did have more uneven ground & steps in the walk. The time gap between was fine for a meal and rest.
Ashley_S, May 2025
The tour guide was very knowledgeable and sweet. She made sure we knew where the bathrooms were and waited on us to enter. She was very informative!
Geannine_D, Mar 2025
Wow, what a day! We started early with our guide Maria, exploring the Vatican Museums. She was so knowledgeable about the Vatican and its history. She prepared us well to appreciate the Sistine Chapel once inside as there is no talking, photos or video in the space. Various members of our group branched off after a couple hours, when we explired St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Grottoes on our own before heading over to the Colisseum and Roman Forum. For that part of our day, Sandra was our guide and was amazing! She helped us learn so much about both and was entertaining while doing so. She had such enthusiasm that was contagious. What a fantastic day - thank you, Maria and Sandra!
Natasha_C, Oct 2017
Amazing guides ! Both extremely kind and helpful. They knew what they were talking about and did it well. Sabrina was our afternoon guide, I cannot remember our morning guide but I recommend this tour to all ! Definitely got my money’s worth
ljlacroix, Aug 2017
Colosseum was excellent! Dario our guide was SUPERB - he was on time, very knowledgeable about the history of the Colosseum, and answered all our questions. The Roman forum was great as well. Love Rome with all of it's history and mystery. Vatican City portion of the excursion was lackluster. It's a lot to do both Colosseum and Vatican City in the same day - we were pooped. However Vatican City was beautiful. the guide Suzanne or something wasn't good. She was short in answering our questions, rude to the guests, and was upset when i reported a broken audio device. She made the experience lackluster. She was rushed in explaining the exhibits, sculptures, and paintings. She got into a verbal altercation with a few other guides as well as the security personnel. Would def do this again with a different guide for the Vatican - only reason why i gave this tour a 3.
Max_E, May 2017
The Colliseum morning tour was realy great. Our guide Julian was the best guide ever. He was very professional , but friendly and very helpfull taking very good care of us. We have enjoyed and learn realy allot. We have only the best words about this tour and our guide.
From other side the afternoon Vatican tour same day with our female guide was a real torture. It was realy badly organised , late and chaotic.Quite unprofessional guide and at some moments even rude against some individuals of our group. Vatican museum was so overcrowded that we couldn't hear nothing have change the audio guide but it didn't help. It was running and pushing all the way till the exit. Definitely not recommended to anyone.
Max and Wanna
Lori_K, Apr 2017
We enjoyed our morning tour of the Colosseum and Forum with Giuliano. He was very knowledgeable and also very friendly. The meeting point was very close to the Colosseum. Our afternoon tour of the Vatican was unorganized. We had to meet at the office of When In Rome, which for us was quite a distance and certainly not walkable in the time frame allowed between tours. The tour guide was late can't remember her name and the vox devices required to hear the guide were not ready for us once we had gone through security so we had to wait again. The guide was very knowledgeable about the art, its history and St. Peter's Basilica. It was a very rushed day. I would suggest do each tour on a separate day.
Emma_S, Oct 2016
Our tour of the Colosseum was amazing! Our tour guide Chiara was the best guide we have had in all of Europe. Thoroughly enjoyed, thank you
Laura_H, Jul 2016
First part was good. Chiara was excellent your guide. Would have liked more time to wander through the forum. Great to skip the lines. Second part the Vatican tour.. Teenage kids were bored. Tour guide was extremely well versed in all of the art history but not recommended for teens unless not they're interested in art history
ClaireL_H, Jul 2016
This tour was fantastic. Both guides morning and afternoon were very knowledgeable and informative. They were friendly and entertaining and told stories about the locations history to help bring it to life. The time flies by and I wish we had a bit more time at the Roman Forum and in the museums. St Peter's Basilica is something to behold.
CharlesG_H, Jul 2016
The tour guide was the best of my life. I have traveled to 77 countries. So, I have many comparisons. Amazing guide!
Irma_L, May 2016
Excellent tour, both tour guides were amazing, unfortunately I can't remember their names, they were very knowledgeable and gave us enough time to view the places, take pictures and even show us places that were not part of the tour. You can tell they love what they do and they are proud of their culture and heritage.
Alex Y, Nov 2015
The Colosseum tour in the morning was excellent with a very good guide. The Vatican tour in the afternoon would only be rated as 3 stars as the tour guide did keep the group as a cohesive unit, which meant that some of her commentary was lost to us. The Vatican crowd control mechanisms are poor and could be improved by better staggering of visitors.
Keiron N, Oct 2015
Great way to see Vatican without spending too much time there, just right if on a short break
Be prepared to shuffle your way around but perfect for skipping the line and guide was very good
Lorna H, Jul 2015
loved both trips, would have like more time in the vatican but you van go on your own after the tour has finished which we did if your not to tired. Brilliant tours
douzi0108, Jul 2015
Good guides, both trips (to colusseum and vatican) were succinct in content which is good if you want a high level over-view of the places
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