We have literally 24 hours & our daughters have never been. Would like to have them do the Colosseum on the afternoon we get in & the Vatican/Sistine Chapel the next morning before we leave. They are also teenagers & not up exactly at the crack of dawn. Our outbound transfer is picking us up at 2pm on Saturday. Do you think we need to book private tours for one or both and, if yes, any recommendations?

If you were doing a analogous visit to NYC, would you need to book a private tour of MoMa, the Guggenheim, or Yankee Stadium??

No - I really don't want to spend the $$, but am worried about time...

You can purchase an English-speaking tour of the Colosseum right on-site. They run the tours every so often and it only costs like an additional 7 euros or so. Otherwise, the Colosseum is pretty self-explanatory if you have a decent guidebook with you to refer to the important parts of it. I would buy tickets for the Colosseum at Palatine Hill (which is right next door by the Roman Forum), otherwise you will be standing in a pretty long line at the Colosseum.

As far as the Vatican goes, you can get into St. Peter's Basilica without a tour and without much of a wait, but it will be markedly more difficult to get into the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel without showing up really early and standing in line outside of the museum. Even so, you will likely be in a one-hour line in the morning. They don't pre-sell tickets or take reservations, so your only choices are to wait in line or to book one those expensive tours that get you past the line without waiting. Once you get in, it'll take a good hour just to snake your way to the Sistine Chapel through the crowds. We had the good fortune of finding a local guide (American living in Rome) at St. Peter's Basilica that gave a free tour of the basilica and then charged 20 euros for a tour of the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel if you were interested in continuing (she even had headphones for narration). There are several people like her just standing around in the basilica's square trying to drum up tour patrons. I would recommend hiring one of these guides (the information you get from them is invaluable in understanding the significance of the many works within the basilica and museum.

Good luck!

I wouldn't go to the Sistine Chapel. I went, got there an hour or so before opening time, still stood in line for two hours and then when I finally got to the Sistine Chapel itself it was so full of tourists, it was impossible to really take it all in. (And this was in November in the rain.) I'd go to St. Peter's instead. I'd go to the Broghese gallery. It's open until 7 pm. The Bernini's are fantastic and it's in an old villa.

When I went to the Vatican last year I took a bus tour via Amex. I did notice more than one group of private tours (4 people or so) cut in the line between bus groups and no one seemed to notice or complain. We took about an hour in line and they probably waited 10 minutes. For me not counting the cutting issue, I realized later a 4 or 5 person private tour group would have been the same or less price than 4 or 5 tour bus tickets. YMMV

In Rome I was accompanied by several teens in a tour group and they had NO interest in the Sistine Chapel or anything cultural for that matter.

Seriously, with 24 hours think of gelato at the Trevi fountain, walking down the Spanish steps and on to Piazza Navonne, sitting in cafes, a ride on a Vespa, etc. Ask the teens what they think of when they think of Rome. They will be back and can see the major sites some other time. For now, enjoy the city!

What you said! ^ ^ ^ And get them to Trevi Fountain and snap their pictures throwing coins. You may have to take a few taxis along the way and put up with some overcharging, but it shouldn't be a really significant problem with a metered taxi. I wouldn't recommend the metro for teens seeing Rome the first time. Taking taxis would allow them to see the city rather than primarily the metro.

Toss the coins at Trevi Fountain and snap the pictures. Assume that they'll find their way back to Rome someday and wait in line for the "must sees" ("must sees" for adults, that is). In the meantime, let them see something of the spirit of Rome. (I don't mean Rome as in crossing busy streets and dodging Vespis, I mean Rome as in going to look at fountains--you know.) You can tell your taxi to drive past the Colosseum on your way to whatever and point out the window: "Look, guys! The Colosseum!" If they want to stop and stand in line for a tour (by tour, I mean self-propelled, as in, your own two feet), they will let you know.

Best of all: Have their pictures snapped with some of the costumed "soldiers" that are standing around outside the Colosseum for picture-taking opportunities. Price--gratuity, whatever-- ought to be the equivalent of a few dollars. The teens will have something to show their friends back home. (If you see that the ticket line is short, you can always buy tickets and go inside and walk around for awhile, but if the ticket line is long, they've got their memories anyway.)

Then there is the Forum, which I would rank second, after the Vatican/Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's basilica--ahead of the Colosseum anyway. (Vatican City first, Forum second, Colosseum third.) But the Forum takes energy and time and an interest in the subject, so much energy that with a group, you'd be facing a Mutiny-on-the-Bounty situation.

I hope that advice doesn't sound superficial, but seeing either the Vatican or the Forum is a major effort that will take the entire day and leave you and them exhausted. The Colosseum can be done easily if there are no lines. But there is so much overview of Rome that can be done instead, on a first visit, for those who will presumably be back someday. . . .

The Vatican is wonderful, unforgettable, a reason itself to see Rome but a lot of exhausting work, and you just don't have the time, and a group would not have the energy or focus that getting to the Sistine Chapel would entail.

Start on an off-on bus. It will take you by all the major areas.
Of all tours, I think one of the forum is necessary. It just will make little sense without one.
For such a short time I'd try and not cram everything in.
The lines at the Vatican are not most any line you have experienced. You could go with a tour group there before you left, but again I think you would be better letting them choose.
I once took my 3 teenage daughters to Rome.
They wanted "to see" a lot, but not necessarily tour most places.
Piazza navona (day and night), Trevi/Spanish Steps, and having their picture taken outside the colloseum were their highlights.
That is,except for shopping. They loved the crowds and the fact that I would leave them alone in the Navona area for a certain amount of time. Ditching their parents was also a popular thing for them to do during our trip to Europe.

I'm tending to agree with just letting them be... Could I at least have them read a guide book & see if there's anything they'd like to see??

Are the "Roman Guards" by the Palantine or the main entrance? Maybe go in thru the Palantine & out to find the guards for photos. since the 'Girls Next Door' did that, I'm sure they'll want to... Gives you an idea of the cultural sohpistication of my 16 year old

Certainly give them a guidebook, it can't hurt. The costumed figures are usually around the Colosseum, not the Palatine.

24 hrs is far too short a time to develop a must see/must do list. Walk around the Colosseum, the Forum, go to theSpanish steps which is the heart of Italian couture clothing, throw coins in a fountain and invest that $$ from entrance fees into a really nice dinner in a restaurant overlooking beautiful sites instead.

Any suggestions for a great restaurant they would enjoy? Not too expensive, as there will be 10 of us (ranging up to 82 years old!). They also only eat chicken - no meat or seafood. Obviously pasta & pizza fine. Still trying to figure out how 2 such unadventurous eaters came out of my house... Aaaargh!!!

The Vatican policy changed in January and now individuals cannot enter before 10am - and with the crowds, to get in at 10, you have to get there much earlier than that and wait on line (people I know that arrived at 8:30 waited over two hours, and that was in March, in off-season!).

There are a couple of very informative threads about this on the slowtravel website:

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...422#3601024422

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...5/m/1951007692

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm reconsidering one point: Seeing St. Peter's Basilica. Taxi there and back shouldn't take too long, and they could see the Pieta. (That will spare you from hearing them chide you years later--How could you take us to Rome and not . . . even . . . take us to see the Pieta?) To say nothing of the astounding vastness of the Basilica.

No one so far has mentioned the Pantheon. If you're in the neighborhood there. . . ?

But yes, definitely have them check a guidebook and tell you what they prefer to see. And if you yourself would like to see the Sistine Chapel, round them up, tell them they and you are going. . . .

(DH reminds me that we did both Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel and Colosseum in one day, on our first visit to Rome. I say yes, but these are teenagers! I can't see teenagers wanting to see much Raphael or even Michaelangelo. After college, after they have had art classes, yes. . . . But opinions differ, people differ. YMMV)

The Pantheon is quite close to Piazza Navona. You should plan a stop there.
If you go to St. Peter's try and hook up with one of the free tours. These are done by university students (tips allowed). It lasts about 45 minutes.
Try and eat at da Baffeto .It's on Governo Vecchia near Piazza navona and is very popular. Some consider it the best pizza in Rome.Get there when it opens at 6pm (this is very early for an Italian dinner). Another great pizza and other good food is at La Sagrestia at Via del Seminario, just besides the Pantheon.
I've eaten at L'Orso 80 many times for it's inexpensive antipasti,but lately it seems to be going down a bit in quality.