Combine a trip to two of Rome’s greatest sites in one day. Take advantage of skip-the-line access to the Colosseum and no-wait entry at the Vatican and during this full-day tour. While others wait in line, you experience the ancient glory of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum followed by the majesty Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, all with an expert guide.

Full-day Rome combo with skip-the-line walking tours of the Colosseum and Vatican Museums
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 Colosseum and Vatican 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

L.go 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
Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Only very small bags are allowed.
Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. 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.

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.
Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women to enter to the venue
Please note: All participant names are required at the time of booking in order to enter the Colosseum. If we do not receive the full customers names, we will cancel the booking. Name changes are not permitted once the booking is confirmed.
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.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

1,119 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 1,119 reviews

Incredible

Max_C, Apr 2024

Both Tours guides Maria and Roxanne were amazing! Very knowledgable, friendly, professional, and knew all the questions that were asked

Fantastic tour

Nancy_M, Apr 2024

A great combined tour. Our guide were fantastic. Barbara at the colosseum and Cosmo at the Vatican. Both were very informative, were willing to answer any questions. Would highly recommend. The only downside was after the colosseum we had to find our own way to the Vatican. We took a cab. Thank you Cith Wonders

Walk, Learn and Enjoy

Willie_W, Apr 2024

These tours were wonderful. The guides were easy to understand and very thorough. The group was small enough to be join and enjoy. Keep in mind, there is a lot of walking so comfortable shoes are a must . I would take the tour again.

Fantastic Tour

Holly_W, Mar 2024

Both guides were very knowledgeable. We walked away with a new appreciation and perspective of Rome's history.

Good guides, but more than moderate walk

Kent_D, Mar 2024

Guides were very knowledgeable and provided lots of history, however, the headset system was very poor quality which made it hard to understand at times.This is a walking tour which required much walking up/down stairs and over cobblestone and uneven pavement. We were surprised that we had to find our own transportation from the coliseum to the Vatican, even though this is advertised as a combo tour.

good tour, but a little rushed

Ian_K, Mar 2024

good tour, very informative. we didn’t spend any time in lines, which was great. there wasn’t much time between the colosseum and sistine chapel, though. i wound up missing the second part of the tour.

Lot of history packed in one day

Carey_D, Mar 2024

The Vatican was our favorite! So clean compared to rest of Rome. So much knowledge from our tour guide: Fabio for 2nd half of day. Also he was extremely nice but good humor too! We were exhausted the last hour but it was worth it to see as much as we did!

Beautiful, breathtaking once in a lifetime memorable and unique experience

Clara_M, Mar 2024

I appreciated the tour guide explanation of the history and Information of the colosseum and Vatican. I think the pacing and amount of time allowed for viewing and pictures during the tour was perfect and plenty it did not feel rushed. Guides were knowledgeable and professional. I think the check in process was organized, efficient, and smooth. The radios were helpful for listening.

Best tour guides ever

Christopher_R, Mar 2024

Oscar (Vatican City) and Maria (Colosseo) were great tour guides! They were very knowledgeable and gave us many fun facts about the areas, as well as details that weren’t necessarily related to the attractions but enhanced our experience. Oscar, especially, was hilarious and cracked jokes throughout the whole tour. I would highly recommend both tour guides!

Not worth it

Savanna_H, Mar 2024

Felt really rushed, didn’t get to stop at gift shops or anything and isn’t clear at all that it’s two separate tours and you have about 3 hours in between to then find transportation to the second tour.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Savanna_H, Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding your experience with our Full Day Combo: Colosseum & Vatican Skip the Line Guided Tour. We appreciate your insights as they help us improve our services. We apologize if you felt rushed during the tour and if it was not clearly communicated that it consists of two separate tours with a break in between. Your feedback is invaluable, and we will work to enhance the clarity of our tour descriptions to ensure our guests have a better understanding of the itinerary. Regarding the lack of stops at gift shops, please note that our tour itineraries are carefully crafted to provide guests with a comprehensive and insightful experience of the historical sites. However, we understand that some guests may wish to explore gift shops independently, and we encourage them to do so during their free time. Thank you once again for your feedback and exploring the wonders of the Vatican and Colosseum with us. Kind regards, The City Wonders Team

Rome in a day

Kevin_W, Mar 2024

What an experience. A little hard hearing at times, even with the radio and earpiece but all in all, it was a great trip. The price was right as well and having a guide along with the skip the line passes, it was worth it just for the skip passes alone. It was a good value.

Both sites are a must see...

Pjhogan, Jan 2024

Both sites are a must see in Rome. The guides were a little hard to understand as the acoustics on the speakers weren’t working properly. We had to walk from the Colosseum tour in the morning over to the Vatican in the afternoon so it made it a long day.

Great way to see much if you’re limited to one day.

Christine_P, Dec 2023

Our afternoon guide, Amil was a delight! Fresh and entertaining! We thoroughly enjoyed her informative and upbeat style.

Great tour but know in advanced if the am portion is the same group as the pm portion.

renevalles, Dec 2023

I would have rated this tour 4 starts rather than 5 starts but I did not wish to penalize our wonderful tour guide for a Viator issue. We booked this full-day tour which was supposed to be a full day with the same group and tour guide which we didn't find out later. The am tour was separate from the pm portion of the tour which were both excellent. We wished to avoid finding our own way to the next portion of the tour as to the reason why we booked this full-day tour. Again, this tour was wonderful, and would do it again but just be careful to find out if you need to meet up with a different tour group for the pm portion of the tour. This is especially important for people that may have a hard time navigating Rome on their own.

Very good tour guides!

Norman_L, Dec 2023

Both my tour guides, Simon for the Colosseum, and Amil (for the Batican City) were very good… knowledgeable and funny

Excellent!!

Sara_P, Nov 2023

Everything was excellent. Our Colosseum guide (Amber/Amba) was very knowledgeable and friendly. The only “downside” I would say is that is a lot of walking for one day. I would suggest to do the tours separately as for us we were exhausted by the end of the second one. I could barely move the next day. Unless is means that I’m getting old and need to do more cardio, LOL. Other than that, I would recommend the tour to everyone.

Family Rome trip!🧳✈️

Jeraldine_D, Nov 2023

Maria Louise from City tours is very knowledgeable, friendly and feels like you are going with a friend whom you knows. She makes us feel comfortable and we enjoy every historical facts and the story behind all structures. Very entertaining and educational. Highly recommend 👍👍👍

Wish I could do two reviews

ROBERT_B, Nov 2023

This tour is for the “ whole day” it is actually divided up into two parts. The first part of the day our guide was Sara and she was amazing. Her English was perfect. She was kind and friendly, and she was extremely knowledgeable. We even had a gentleman in our group who had some challenges, and she was able to accommodate him without interfering with the flow of the tour. She was the best! She deserves five stars There was a break in between, and we met back up for the second half of the tour, which was the Vatican, museums, Sistine chapel, Saint peters Basilica. The guide this time was Olga. Olga spoke very poor English, did not maintain control, or management of the group, did not have very much knowledge of the items that she was discussing, particularly just pointing to signs for us to read. The same gentleman with the walking issues was also in this group and unlike Sara, she was unable to manage the group and prevent that from causing our group to lag the schedule we were supposed to. She was extremely disorganized, and at one point had us walking around, looking at absolutely nothing without telling us that our group had been delayed from entering the Sistine chapel due to a back up because we got there later than we should have. Eventually, she told us that we had been “given” an extension so we had to wait. All the while, misleading us about the actuality that we were going to end up with exactly 1 minute in the Sistine chapel, and unable to see Saint peters, because it would be closed by then. Several of us had to actually ask her what was happening for her to be upfront and admit that this was a situation I have never been to Italy, and have been planning for this my entire life. A very big part of what I was anticipating was the Sistine chapel and more importantly, St. Peter Basilica. When I spoke to her about this, I was quite upset, and she continued to say the same thing over and over about the extension. Eventually, the Vatican officials decided to keep Saint peters open for an additional hour due to the fact that so many people did not get to see it. This was the day before national holiday, and all of the monuments were going to be closed the next day. This was also not disclosed in any of the reservation process. Thankfully, no, thanks to Olga, we were able to enjoy St. Peter’s Basilica, with a one minute run-through of the Sistine chapel. I believe this is a good tour company, and this is a great tour in general, however, we had the misfortune of being assigned to this particular tour guide, who almost ruined a trip of a lifetime for us. To reiterate, Sara gets five stars plus!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Hi ROBERT_B, We appreciate your detailed review and your understanding of the tour being divided into two parts. We're delighted to hear that you had a fantastic experience during the first part of the tour with Sara. Her dedication to ensuring a positive experience is commendable, and we'll make sure she receives your compliments. We sincerely apologize for the issues you encountered during the second part of the tour with Olga. We understand that her management and communication skills did not meet your expectations. Your feedback is essential, and we'll be addressing these concerns with our guide management team to ensure that similar situations are prevented in the future. It's unfortunate that you missed some of the highlights, but we're glad to hear that you were still able to visit St. Peter’s Basilica, even with the unexpected delays. Your feedback helps us improve our tours, and we're committed to ensuring that future experiences with us are exceptional. Thank you for choosing our tour and for taking the time to provide your valuable feedback. We hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a flawless tour experience on your next travels! Thank you again, Edgar J. City Wonders

Our trip took is back in time, we felt like we really were there.

Terry_Y, Oct 2023

Very educational, and friendly staff. Christina helped us really understand our tour she explained everything with precise details.

Tours

Nick_C, Oct 2023

Both tours and tour guides were excellent; Maria Louisa and Oxanna were clear, knowledgeable, helpful, passionate for Rome.

...