No matter whether for a detailed city trip or a short trip: Whoever is going to the Italian capital Rome wants to experience a lot and have little waiting time. Often the question arises whether it is worthwhile to book tickets online in advance for sights such as St. Peter's or the Colosseum? Definitely yes, because those who want to visit the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basilica and its dome have to expect long queues. Many visitors cannot estimate the crowds of people who meander through the entrances and exits of the sights in Rome every day. The fact is: it doesn't matter whether it is the famous Colosseum and ancient Rome, or the Vatican with its Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica, visitors wait and stand everywhere equally in long queues before they are admitted to the sights after a long waiting time. It is therefore faster and smarter, especially for the short holiday in Rome, to be able to go from one highlight to the next without queuing. Booking in advance saves you long waiting times and allows you to enter without queuing.
The Colosseum is Italy's landmark and every year around six million visitors queue at the entrance to the Colosseum to get a feel for the spectacular gladiatorial fights. The security guards patrol around the Colosseum and you just have in mind how to overlook the long waiting gueues. It does not really matter whether visitors want to go to the Colosseum during the day or just sit in front of the gigantic amphitheatre at night. Crowds of people stand and marvel at the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also the diagonally opposite Palatine Hill, the oldest part of Rome, enjoys countless daily visitors who roam the ancient ruins and want to learn about Rome's past. Unfortunately there are also masses of visitors, so that soon, the queues of the two sightseeings cannot be separated anymore. A tip to avoid waiting time may be to get up early. But even in the early hours of the day, many visitors stand in front of the entrance to the Colosseum and wait for admission. In order to save time and still enjoy a world-famous sight, especially visitors to Rome take advantage of the opportunity to book tickets for the Colosseum in advance without queuing. After all, they know that the thought of a quick entry into one of the two superlatives of Rome, without queuing, is a wishful thought, unless you have a VIP or Quick Pass. So take the opportunity to book your ticket in advance for a quick entry without queuing or long queues and enjoy your saved time as you wish.
Every day the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican State measures 20,000 visitors. But beside a trip to the famous chapel with paintings of Michelangelo, a visit to the Vatican Museum or the side trip to the St. Peter's Basilica is indispensable for believing Christians as also for interested tourists from all over the world. Already at nine o'clock in the morning in the middle of the week, four-lane queues are lined up in snail-shell spirals on St. Peter's Square, hoping to gain access to the sights during the day. To visit this highlight of the Vatican without queuing and with a guide sounds very tempting after an estimated waiting time of at least one hour. Many tourists make the mistake here and buy tours directly on the places of the Vatican that are completely overpriced and rather resemble a mass processing in order to get to the Vatican without queuing. We recommend that you compare prices for guided tours of the Vatican with preferred entry before you start your journey and secure a ticket without a queue for this unique sight. Comfortably and without flat feet, you will be able to use the time you would have spent waiting in the queue in the sights yourself. Save yourself the hustle and bustle in the queues and choose from the wide range of tickets without waiting time, perhaps in combination with a multilingual guided tour?
Since 1906, the Castel Sant'Angelo is no longer used as a castle but as a museum. Today, exciting tours with or without guides take place in it every day, so that every day dozens of people line up anew and face long waiting time. Always hoping to get quickly into the interior of the oldest castle of Rome, however, people usually wait longer than expected in front of the pompous entrance and the Castel Sant'Angelo, which Pope Nicolas III had built to create a connection to St. Peter's, is involuntarily looked at from the outside for a long time. After all, if you want to go to the Castel Sant'Angelo you have to queue, unless you have a VIP ticket that lets you pass the long queue without waiting. Especially short-break vacationers or city travellers are therefore better off not having to spend their precious time waiting and instead worming their way past the many tourists with a ticket booked before the start of their vacation. Tip: Those who want to visit the famous Castel Sant'Angelo without queuing and also want to learn something about the bridge in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo should book a multilingual tour with a local guide.
1. What is the best time to visit the Vatican? The best time is outside the high season during the months of November to February. At this time of the year you have a real chance to visit the popular museums without waiting. Exception: Christmas and New Year.
2. What is the best day to visit the Vatican? The busiest days in the Vatican are Saturday and Wednesday. On these days you should avoid a visit. On Saturdays the city trip travelers will visit and on Wednesdays the Pope holds his general audience. The best day is Friday! Attention: The museums in the Vatican are closed on Sundays.
3. What is the best time to visit? Against all expectations, the afternoon is the best time to get to the museums without queuing. Most of the tourists arrive already in the early morning hours, so that most visitors already left between 2 and 3 o'clock. Tip: the ticket offices close at 4 pm, but you can stay at the Vatican Museums until 6 pm.
4. Opening hours Vatican Museums:
Monday-Saturday 9.00 am - 6.00 pm (last admission 4.00 pm) - Sundays closed
5. Opening hours St. Peter's Basilica:
Monday-Sunday 7.00 am - 7.00 pm
Please note: In winter St. Peter's Basilica closes at 6.00 pm. The dome can be visited daily from 8.00 am - 6.00 pm.
6. Opening hours Engelsburg
April - September: Daily 9.00 am - 7.30 pm.
October - March: Daily 9.00 am - 2.00 pm.
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