Are you planning a trip to Rome and don’t want to spend hours queuing? Here’s a list that will save you time and stress. At some attractions, you’ll only get in without a booking if you’re lucky – or not at all.

I know a thing or two about this. During several trips to Rome, I myself was unable to get into certain museums or galleries precisely because I underestimated the importance of booking tickets in advance.

• Our tips: Accommodation in Rome
• Public transport in Rome: which ticket options were best value for money

The 10 best hotels in Rome

💬 Do you know of any other places in Rome where you need to make a booking? Let me know in the comments below the article. I’d be happy to update the post based on your recommendations. Thanks!

Places where you can’t get by without a booking

Here’s an overview of places where you should book well in advance – ideally as soon as you’ve bought your flights.

The Colosseum + Roman Forum + Palatine Hill

Rome’s biggest tourist attraction – and it certainly looks the part.

All three sites can be visited on a single ticket.

💡 You can visit the Forum and the Palatine Hill at any time of day, but you must have a ticket with a specific entry time for the Colosseum.

• Colosseum – tickets are also available at the door, but only for a specific time slot, and may be sold out for that day
  • This is particularly likely at weekends between April and October
  • I recommend buying tickets on the official website as soon as you know the date of your visit
  • I describe my experience in detail on the Colosseum page
• Roman Forum + Palatine Hill – you can buy tickets on the spot without a specific time slot
  • With an online ticket, you’ll save yourself a queue that usually takes 20–30 minutes
  • I describe my experience in detail on the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill page

Vatican Museums + Sistine Chapel

It’s practically not worth going there at all without a booking.

Queues on the day can easily be 2–3 hours long. Even longer in peak season. I gave up just at the sight of the queue, which snaked its way through several streets.

• Entry is for a specific time (even if you buy your ticket on the spot, so you might end up queuing for three hours only to find the next available slot is several days away)
• Online booking is essential at least two weeks in advance, otherwise there won’t be any places available
• The official website is museivaticanitickets.com,and I describe my experience in an article about the Vatican Museums

Villa Borghese Gallery

One of the best galleries in Europe – and also the most restricted.

• Admission is by 2-hour time slots only
• Limited number of visitors
• Virtually impossible to visit without a booking; book via the official websiteborghesegallery.com
• It’s usually fully booked 3–4 weeks in advance

Book this first thing, straight after buying your flight ticket.

Where is the gallery and what will you see there? We’ve covered this in our article on Villa Borghese.

Passetto di Borgo

I didn’t manage to get in here precisely because I hadn’t booked my ticket in time.

It is an elevated walkway connecting the Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo and is only open twice a week to a limited number of visitors.

• Book your entry via the official websitecoopculture.it
• Ideally, at least3–4 weeks in advance

Where booking is advisable but not essential

St Peter’s Basilica

We’ll stay in the Vatican a little longer.

The world’s most famous church is open to the public free of charge without the need for a booking, but that is precisely why queues can form during the day, sometimes lasting more than three hours.

If you book your visit in advance, you’ll pay a small fee, but you’ll save a lot of time.

• Book only via the official website and not from scammers on the spot
• Booking is worth it if you want to visit the basilica and the dome between approximately 9.00 am and 6.00 pm
• Before 9.00, the queues are minimal
• The queue for those with a booking is only for the security check (around 20 minutes)
• I describe the details of how and when to book your visit in my article on St Peter’s Basilica
• I recommend booking online at least2–3 days in advance

Castel Sant’Angelo

It’s not as bad as St Peter’s Basilica, but queues do form.

• Booking isn’t necessary
• during peak season, however, it can save you up to an hour in the queue
• You just need to book 1–2 days in advance for a specific time

I provide detailed information in the article on Castel Sant’Angelo.

Galleria Colonna

The beautiful interiors of the Colonna family’s palace are open to the public only twice a week: on Fridays and Saturdays.

Although I managed to book a place on the day of my visit, I would recommend booking5–7 days in advance, particularly in summer and especially on Fridays, when only guided tours are available.

I’ve written about how much I enjoyed my visit and where I booked my tickets in my article on the Palazzo Colonna.

What worked well for me?

The best strategy is a combination of:

• booking the key attractions I definitely want to see in advance (for me, next time that’ll be the Vatican Museums and the dome of St Peter’s Basilica; I’d also like to visit the Galleria Borghese at some point, but you really do need to book that well in advance)
• keep the rest flexible
• and organise the itinerary around the time slots of the bookings

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How to save money (and avoid overpaying for tickets)

Official websites are often cheaper than resellers. The only exceptions are when:

• you want skip-the-line packages
• or combined tickets
• very common via GetYourGuide

Although I often use GetYourGuide to book trips (most recently, for example, in Koh Samui, Thailand, or Cancún, Mexico), in Rome I booked everything solely through the official websites listed in our guide to places to see.

Where to stay to save time

Location in Rome matters more than anything else.

The ideal option is:

• the historic centre (more expensive, but you’ll save the most time)
• Trastevere (better prices + atmosphere)
• the area around the metro (a compromise)

Compare hotels in Rome by location