Vatican tours

To quell further debate about the specifics - we will take the morning tour to the Vatican museums and buy a normal ticket for the Colosseum and book in advance if we can. The Colosseum tours get you onto the arena floor, and lower ground areas, but really once you have seen one dungeon you have seen them all. It is cheaper during the day, which also includes the Forum.

The only time I have been to the Vatican museums was in June 1998, and the Sistine was packed to the gills then. The queue for the Colosseum was not that bad, but I anticipate that it will wrap around these days. You could argue that it is more impressive from the outside, but since we want to go the the Forum/Palatine I figure we should pop in to the Colo as well. And get the photo with the "gladiators" outside.

Grumpy and Crotch ... Expensive Europe for the Very Cheap

I was thinking of something along the lines of Top Gear, except for travel.
You of course would be the big pompous blowhard character, and I'd be the smartass little gerbil guy and um, maybe we could recruit lucapal as the guy who actually knows what he's talking about. Or maybe in a silent role, sort of The Stig of travel. Or both, in an ironic twist! Maybe we could superimpose cartoon thought bubbles over him. Maybe not.

Hmmm, a silent character... I may have to reconsider role assignment.

All sounds good ... Top Gear was my model as well. And Luca would be ideal in the third-man role.

And we could add unsubtle political texture, for more colour ... I would spout bolshevik solidarity with the workers and peasants, and cast class-warfare aspersions on every grand palace, outrageous villa, and expensive church that you insist we visit.

You on the other hand play the wide-eyed unschooled Yank from Toledo Ohio, who thinks every piece of tat put together by eons of self-indulgent European aristocrats and papists is the height of sophistication. I would pour scorn on the "great art" that we visited, much to your on-going chagrin.

Of course we would have a culinary bent, where my preference for a simple plate of pasta or pizza is counter-balanced by your unbridled snobbery, and demands that we get down with locals food-wise, at every opportunity, or spend vast amounts in classy joints of dubious heritage.

There needs to be a distinct female angle as well, to cover all the glam, goss, bling, and frocks ... a few candidates come to mind. It should b e a winner!

Sorry to open this thing up again but regarding the Pantheon? Recent reviews of the thing on TA report that it's still free entry. I wonder if they tested the concept, it didn't go well for one reason or another so they're still working out bugs?

No there is now a charge - I mentioned it a few days ago. See #15 above.

Yeah Mike, I saw your post and don't disbelieve you but very recent posters on TA are still saying it's free. Doesn't mean they all visited within the past week but it's odd that there isn't a single mention of an entry fee in the first 5-6 pages of reviews. Also, a poster on RS was just there two days ago (complained about the crowd size/queue) and reported that entry was still free. Weird.

I was there a week last Saturday. There was a notice up about being open late that evening (2245 if I remember correctly) and having been on several previous occasions I didn't bother to join the queue. I read somewhere that charging was due to commence on 1 May. Perhaps someone else can check it out - I don't expect to be back in Rome until late summer!

Yes, i can find articles about the plan to begin charging a fee.
But I haven't seen any about that plan actually taking effect.
And I think that would be news.

I guess the issue is: where to put a ticket office?
I hope they don't end up doing anything too terrible to the building. Or the piazza.

I guess the issue is: where to put a ticket office?

There is already a ticket-box as you go through the right (IN) side of the big front entrance. But that would be very inefficient ... and slow. Probably 50% of the punters would either not want to wait, or wouldn't want to pay for a quick look-around.

You don't need a ticket office just a coin operated turnstile.

The last time I was there the problem with the queue was not the volume of people but that just about everyone would stop at the top of the entrance line to take a photo. We had to squeeze past a number of people doing this to get in - and this was in July.