Popular Culture & History in Rome

The skip the line ticket was a great recommendation from friends. We saved so much time and hassle by using this option. Even though it costs a little extra, I highly recommend it. If you don't like crowds then I highly suggest you don't go round these museums or go to the Sistine chapel. We did not go during peak season, but even so it was so busy that we were basically just pushed along the whole time. We somehow managed to get a few of the seats around the edge of the Sistine chapel and were glad of it so we could actually appreciate what we were seeing. You are otherwise made to stand in silence in the centre of the room, or ushered straight out. There was of course an overwhelming amount to see and it was a great (if claustrophobic) experience.

Definitely do the option to skip the queue, else you’ll waste the day stuck on the sun for hours. Beware of the tours trying hardest to make you buy additional tickets. You’re not told you can’t take photos of the Sistine chapel until you’re about to enter. After about 2hrs of a crowded line of cattle trying to get there through the museum, it’s disappointing not to be able to take photos! However, saying that, the Sistine chapel itself is actually awe inspiring. But the problem being so crowded, the security staff usher you through very quickly! Not ideal, so be prepared to be treated like cattle.

There is so much to see and so many people it does become overwhelming. The guide was great and informative. I noticed the sound system did not work as well the farther I was from him so I made sure I was close to him so I could hear everything. I heard a little tip that it's better to go on this tour later in the day (2pm etc) because there are not as many people and you still get the full tour. I would recommend doing that because we went earlier in the day and we felt like a herd of cattle plowing through the massive amounts of people.

It was a great experience, having a guide is always the best option when you want things to go as smoothly as possible and get all the information you would struggle to get if you went by yourself. Our guide was jolly and answered our questions as best he could. The only issues I had were that we didn't have time to visit the gift shops and it went on for longer than initially told so I would advise bringing lots of water, some lunch, and a sunhat if it's a hot season. Best be prepared! Other than this it was an interesting guide!

We were in a group of 24 people with basic interest to advanced knowledge of ancient Roman history. The guide Antonella Palma had the abilty to capture and maintain one's attention for 3,5 hours with superior knowledge and answering to all levels of interest. After the tour one could really put the Roman jig-saw puzzle together in one's imagination in a very understandable way and one really felt that the tour answered to why one participated in the tour.