4. April 2025

Rome & Vatican: Tour recommendations

Reading time: 4 min
Italy

Rome and the Vatican are among the most visited destinations in the world – if you want to avoid long queues and make the most of your time, you should definitely book tours in advance.

In this article, I would like to show you which tours we have booked and give you a short review. Transparency notice/disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you book a tour via these links, I will receive a small commission – there are no additional costs for you. By doing so, you support my travel blog and help me to continue providing helpful tips and content. Thank you very much! We arrived at Rome Fiumicino ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ airport. We had booked both the outward and return journey with GetYourGuide. However, we were unable to use the outward journey due to massive flight delays. However, as the return trip worked perfectly and we were therefore very satisfied, here are both links:

Airport Transportation

Provider: GetYourGuide
Fiumicino Airport (FCO): Bus Transfer to/from Rome Termini
Click here

Fiumicino Airport (FCO): Shuttle Bus from/to Vatican City
Click here

Castel Sant'Angelo

We didn’t book a tour for the famous Castel Sant’Angelo and turned up there spontaneously around midday. The queue wasn’t long and we were able to start the tour relatively quickly. However, we didn’t see the Passetto di Borgo because of this. This is the secret tunnel that connects the Vatican with Castel Sant’Angelo and serves as an escape tunnel for the Pope. We recommend these tours here:

Provider: GetYourGuide
Passetto di Borgo: The Vatican’s Hidden Passage guided tour
Click here

Rome: Castel Sant’Angelo Skip-the-Line Entry Ticket
Click here

Provider: Viator
Castel Sant‘ Angelo Tour with Skip the line Access
Click here

Pantheon

For the Pantheon, we definitely recommend booking in advance, especially if you are in Rome during the high season in summer. With the following tours you can skip the queue and save a lot of time:

Anbieter: GetYourGuide
Pantheon Skip the Line ticket
Hier klicken

Anbieter: Viator
Pantheon Roma Skip-the-Line Tickets
Hier klicken

Colosseum and the Roman Forum

Now let’s move on to our absolute Rome highlight! The Colosseum and the Roman Forum! You should definitely book this tour in advance and take your ID card or passport with you when you visit! There is also the option to book a tour directly downstairs in the arena area, I’ll link this tour too, but the normal tour was enough for us.

Provider: GetYourGuide
Rome: Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill Entry & Audioguide App
Click here

Provider: Viator
Rome: Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Fully Guided Tour
Click here

Anbieter: Viator
Colosseum Arena Floor, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Guided Tour
Click here

St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums

If you also want to visit the Vatican, then you won’t be able to avoid a pre-booked tour. If you want to visit St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Basilica, we recommend starting your tour very early in the morning, as otherwise you will waste an incredible amount of time queuing and waiting, especially in summer. We started our tour of St. Peter’s Basilica at 7am and then booked a tour of the Vatican Museums at lunchtime.

Provider: GetYourGuide
Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica & Dome Entry Ticket & Audio Tour
Click here

Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica Audio Guide with Dome Climb
Click here

Vatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance Ticket
Click here

Provider: Viator
Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica & Dome Entry Ticket with Audio Guide
Click here

Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St Peter’s Basilica Guided Tour
Click here

Hop-on Hop-off

For those of you who only have very little time and still want to see a lot, here is a recommendation for hop-on hop-off buses:

Provider: GetYourGuide
Rome: City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off Bus with Audioguide
Click here

Rome: Hop-On Hop-Off Panoramic Open Bus Ticket 3 Circuits x 1
Click here

Provider: Viator
Big Bus Rome Hop-on Hop-off Open Top Tour
Click here

Disclaimer for External Links:
I am not responsible for the content of external websites linked on this page. The respective providers or operators are solely responsible for their content.

The tours in the video...

If you would like to see the tours on video, then take a look at our YouTube video about Rome:

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