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Rome Full-Day Highlights Tour with the Vatican and Colosseum

• Roman Forum & Palatine Hill
• Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

• Perfect for brief visits or business trips to the city, get the opportunity to immerse yourself in the pinnacles of Italian culture
• Led by a local expert or historian
• Colosseum tickets are amongst the most difficult to secure in Rome due to the way the venue releases tickets for tour operators to purchase. In the event that we cannot secure tickets for your tour date, our team will be in touch with alternative options.
• This venue may require headsets on certain tours. We may add a headset fee to your order if it is required for your group. 

Full-Day Vatican and Colosseum Tour

Onto the vatican.

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ .

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Transformative experiences for travelers who love to learn

Discover the world through expert-led walking tours in over 60 cultural capitals and supplemental online learning for before and after your travel

Explore the Colosseum in Rome

In-person and online

Learn Before you Go: Colosseum and the Roman Forum in Context Seminar

Roma Antica: Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Explore the History of Venice

Introduction to Venice: St. Mark's to Rialto Walking Tour

Learn Before you Go: St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge in Context Online Seminar

Next week or next year, plan your learning journey with Context.

Where do you want to learn?

Online Learning

Walking tours, since 2003, context has run scholar-led walking tours around the globe. from the beginning, our biggest differentiator has been the quality of our experts — most of whom are phd or ma-level scholars. with context, you can walk the roman forum with an archaeologist who dug there, see the sistine chapel with a renaissance art historian, or sample aperitivos with a native venetian..

Our Experts are the Difference

Planning a visit to Rome?  Explore with our expert archaeologists, art historians, Ancient Roman historians, and more.

Borghese Gallery Walking Tour

Savoring Rome Food Tour

Bernini & Borromini, Battle in Baroque Tour

Vatican Highlights Tour: Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Meet Cecilia

Art Historian, Rome

Cecilia is an art historian and a native Roman with a Master's degree in Medieval and Renaissance Art from the Sapienza University of Rome. Although her specialty is painting and decorative arts, she has a broad knowledge  and a personal passion for ancient history, which she shares on many antiquity-themed itineraries. Cecilia has worked actively as a lecturer, teacher, and curator of exhibitions. She had been a staff member of the didactive service of the Vatican Museums, the Galleria Doria Pamphili and the Galleria Colonna where she still frequently consults. Learn with Cecilia  online  or  in-person .

Rome with Context

Before you Go: Borghese Gallery In Context with Cecilia Martini

Vatican City: Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica in Context with Cecilia Martini

The Water of Rome: From Ancient Aqueducts to Baroque Fountains with Dr. Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos

Rome: Ostia Antica Archaeological Site in Context with Livia Galante

Starting your learning at home?  Get inspired for your future travel with our live-taught, expert-led online seminars, designed to get you in the know before you go.

Introduction to Florence: with Accademia and Michelangelo's David

Florence in a Day, with Context

Florence Night Tour

Uffizi Gallery Tour: Crash Course

Planning a visit to Florence?  Explore with our experts in history, architecture, art history, culture, and more.

Florence with Context

Churches of Florence: Orsanmichele with Dr. Alessandra Becucci

Florence: Uffizi Gallery in Context with Dr. Alessandra Becucci

The Real History of ‘Medici Masters of Florence’: The Pazzi Conspiracy with Cecilia Martini

Churches of Florence: The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with Dr. Alessandra Becucci

Introduction to Venice: St. Mark's to Rialto Tour

Venice in a Day, with Context

Venice Aperitivo Tour

Murano Island Tour: The History of Glass Making in Venice

Planning a visit to Venice?  Explore with our experts in history, art history, ecology and more.

Venice with Context

Venice: Doge’s Palace in Context with Sara Grinzato

An Introduction to Venice with Matteo Gabbrielli

Lifestyles of the Venetian Rich and Famous: Palladian Villas with Sara Grinzato

Venetian Renaissance Painting at the Accademia Gallery with Dr. Susan Steer

See Venice in Context. Our  Five Days in Venice  itinerary is a curated selection of the best of our tours to ensure you get the most out of your time in the entrancing city.

Your Perfect Venice Itinerary

La Vita Napoletana Walking Tour

Ancient Naples: Above and Underground

Half Day Tour of Pompeii

Savoring Naples Food Tour

Planning a visit to Naples?  Explore with our experts in archaeology, history, art history, food, and culture.

Naples with Context

An Introduction to Naples, Italy with Fiorella Squillante

Pompeii and the Naples Archaeological Museum in Context with Fiorella Squillante

"Dimosthenis is not only knowledgeable but his communication skills are formidable. He is affable, very aware of his audience and engaging. It was like having a conversation and not a lecture... He takes your questions seriously and in doing all of this makes the Forum come alive. His professional, academic, archaeological experience from digs at the Forum enables him to give insights and fun and interesting facts and information. Highly recommend him."

- Jane, Traveled in Rome with Dimo in Sept. 2021

Don't take our word for it:

Florence and Tuscany: Walking in History with Professor Kate Bolton-Porciatti

See Florence and Tuscany unlike ever before on our  Context Journey with Professor Kate Bolton-Porciatti . Over the course of 6 fully planned days (including luxury accommodations, select meals, and local transportation) you'll experience a blend of art, history, while traversing the city and Tuscan hills — including stops at the Uffizi , Boboli Gardens, Florentine churches, Chianti Vineyards, Passignano and more!

Introduction to Milan: From the Duomo to the Castle

Duomo Rooftop Tour: Milan From Above

Alta Moda: Fashion In Milan

Half Day Lake Como Excursion

Planning a visit to Naples?  Explore with our experts in history, art history, food, fashion, and culture.

Milan with Context

Milan, Italy: Top 10 Highlights for Curious Travelers with Laura Benitti

Milan and Food Traditions: A Culinary Love Story with Laura Benitti

Milan Museums: Masterpieces in Depth with Laura Benitti

The Marvels of Lake Como with Laura Benitti

Dreaming of spending the holidays in Rome? Learn about the must-do December activities in the Eternal City on our blog post:  Four Days in Rome: Holiday Itinerary .

Your Rome Holiday Itinerary

Mount Etna and Sicilian Wine Full-Day Tour

Savoring Sicily: Palermo Street Food Tour

Palermo (and Monreale) in a Day, with Context

Agrigento Half-Day Tour: Valley of the Temples

Planning a visit to Sicily?  Explore with our experts in history, archaeology, geography, food, and more.

Sicily with Context

Villa Romana del Casale: Luxury, Mosaics, and the Sicilian Countryside with Alice Bifarella

Savoring Sicily: 2,000 Years of History in 100 Dishes with Francine Segan

Explore Context Travel

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• Top Destinations
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Tokyo, Japan
• Paris, France
• Rome, Italy
• London, United Kingdom
• All Destinations
• Upcoming Experiences
• Private Walking Tours
• Small-Group Tours
• Tours for Kids
• Museum Tours
• Food, Wine and Market Tours
• Newly Added Tours
• Audio Guides
• Pre-Trip Lectures
• Admin Dashboard
• My Experiences
• My Favorites
• Cookies Preferences
• Client Orders
• Monthly Commissions
• My Advisor Profile
• Advisor Toolkit
• Guide Dashboard

Credit Balance

Transactions are based on current exchange rates and performed in USD. There maybe slight variations in the price estimates.

3 Days in Rome: Best Rome Itinerary for Lifelong Learners

Aerial View of Rome, Italy

When you’re planning your next vacation, you’re thinking of a million different things: what city to visit, what neighborhood to stay in, what sites to visit, what restaurants to book, and more importantly, what tours to take. Since you’ve ended up on this blog post, it’s safe to say that you’ve got your heart set on Rome. And what a great idea it is! From the expansive history of the Colosseum to the awe-inspiring ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, visiting Rome is full of excitement. We understand that planning can get overwhelming, so we’re here to help.   

Rome Itinerary: 3 Days in Rome

Whether you're visiting Rome for 3 days or 3 weeks, you can elevate your trip to Rome with a local expert and storyteller who will guide you through Rome's culture, history, and experiences. Dig out Roman ruins with an archaeologist, taste Roman traditions that date to the days of gladiators with a food expert, or join an art historian who will bring the Renaissance to life.  Experience more than you ever thought possible, and fill your  3 days in Rome  with Context.

Day One in Rome

Rome Attractions We’ll Visit With Context:  Campo de' Fiori, Jewish Ghetto Neighborhood, Piazza Navona, Santa Maria della Pace, Chiesa Nuova, and Ponte Sisto

Day Two in Rome

On your own, exploring Rome in a day is not an easy task. To absorb everything the Eternal City has to offer in all its intricacies, you need a perfectly curated itinerary that allows you to visit the sites you need to see. Day 2 is when we’ll get to the historical meat of Rome, a city teeming with historical landmarks and archaeological digs. This day will center around exploring  Rome in a Day, with Colosseum Access . From beginning to end, you’ll get a sense the Eternal City’s deep layers, unearthing strata upon strata of Roman identity. Discover the home of the Roman gladiator and stand amongst the ancient Roman ruins.

After the Colosseum, you’ll head over to Centro Storico to view other famous sights like the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. We’ll also explore lesser-known sites and discuss their importance in Rome’s history.

Rome Attractions We’ll Visit With Context:  Pantheon, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain

Day Three in Rome

If you’ve got the time, we recommend pairing this with our 3 hour  St. Peter’s Tour  - covering the Basilica and Treasury museum - for a truly holistic, in-depth Vatican experience.

Wine tasting can be complex, especially when learning about the nuanced differences in wines across the different regions in Italy. With this tour, Context does what it does best: gives travelers the power of knowledge and true context on their favorite cities, subjects, and interests. 

Rome Attractions We’ll Visit with Context:  Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, a local winery and Rome’s most traditional wine bar

Rome Itinerary 5 Days

Though this blog post covers a 3-day itinerary in Rome, we’ve got the perfect Rome Itinerary for 5 days here . This curated collection of tours can be mixed and matched to create the perfect itinerary for your holiday. To expand your journey in Rome, we have 40 additional tours in Rome . 

Rome in a Day Itinerary 

Only in Rome for a short visit? Our multi-day Rome itineraries may not be of much help, but our Rome in a Day Tour will be! You can tour Rome in a Day with the Vatican or Rome in a Day with the Colosseum and truly make the most of your time in Rome.

With Context

Context Travel  is known for our scholar-led, immersive walking tours around the globe and our complementary suite of online learning that allows you to learn about a destination or topic before you travel. Our tours are designed to give travelers a memorable learning experience, offering a new takeaway each time. Our tours are guided by  PhD and MA level scholars and experts , who live to learn and teach others while doing so. Context is the only travel company that enables and encourages travelers to start learning about their destination - through  Context Learning  - before they even hop on a plane with live-taught online seminars and courses on art, history, and culture, which are often led by some of the same experts you'll find yourself on a tour with!

Other blog posts you may enjoy:

• How to Visit the Vatican
• How to Tour the Colosseum and Ancient Rome
• 10 Best Things to Do in Rome with Kids 
• The Local's Guide to the Best Gelato in Rome
• 4 Days in Rome with Context— Your Holiday Itinerary  

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Via Santa Maria Maggiore 145

Serving Roma Area

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Overall rating

Unreliable. Unprofessional. Rip-off. Like other reviews I saw on TripAdvisor... I booked a tour months in advance. They confirmed. They took my money. The night before my tour, they changed everything (time, place, duration, etc.) No apology or explanation. I guess they just decided to do what would be most convenient for them. They added stress to my trip as I scrambled to find an alternative at which point I discovered that they were also ripping me off because I found an identical tour for a quarter of what they were charging me. Apparently, they resell other people's tours with a huge mark-up. Stay away. Don't risk your vacation with Context Travel.

We engaged Context in advance of our scheduled trip to Rome in December 2021. But, when the Omnicron variant made international travel virtually impossible we canceled our wine tour. Context was supportive and agreed to credit us. We then rescheduled our trip for July 2022. And Context applied the credit to our July 7th wine tour. The tour and the sommelier who guided us were exceptional. We truly enjoyed the experience.

We have used Context on many occasions. We cancelled our most recent tour more than 2 weeks out because of the state of rail transit in the UK. They claimed to have bought all of the tickets already, including those for parts of the tour we expressly said we would not be doing, prior to our cancellation. They refuse to refund those tickets and at the same time refuse to provide those tickets to us, even though we paid for them. This is a total scam. Stay away.

We travelled to Lisbon in October of 2018 from San Francisco and met our dear friends from Boston there. We had booked a private tour with Context to Cintra. When we arrived to meet the guide there was another couple there who had been added to our tour. We had paid extra to be on this privately with our friends. At first I thought oh well, we will get a refund for the extra we paid. But the entire tour was occupied by the couple who were incessant about asking the guide questions and occupying her time. When they were not incessantly asking the guide questions they were asking us questions or telling us their political views. It was so unpleasant and such a long day and very disappointing having spent months planning this trip with our great friends who we do not get to see very often. When we returned I rated our experience explaining what had happened and asked for a refund. We never have received a response from Context. The guide I must exclude from this because she did her best and was very knowledgeable. But I would call this breach of contract right? We signed up for a private tour and they just changed it on is without asking or adjusting our fees. I would not use them again.

This is an amazing tour group. They offer small groups tours, 6 people or less, and are very customizable. We were traveling with 2 boys, aged 12, and the tour guide was so engaging with them. He brought a picture book, a hand drawn timeline, the Vitruvian man drawing and a few more items to help illustrate points about the history of Rome and the Colosseum. All the tour guides of this company are highly qualified, experts in their field and very knowledgable. Instead of the point and discuss tour, they really tried to create a full picture of what it was like to live in this time period, physically, socially, spiritually, morally. I was so happy we found out about this tour company. They do not come up in many searches so you have to look specifically for them.

Refused to give full refund when tours had to be cancelled due to Coronavirus, Louvre closing, France being declared a tier 2 country, hundreds of schools closing & WHO guidelines. Fat Tire and apathy Charms both have full refunds and we will absolutely book with them again. Context is unethical and unprofessional and will never receive any additional bookings with us.

I found out about Context tours from a coworker who ranted and raved about their tours. The selling point for me was that the docents all have graduate degrees that center around the tours that they lead. My husband I signed up for Savoring Rome: A Culinary Stroll. We are fascinated with food and culture, but had no idea what to expect. Honestly, this tour was one of the big highlights of our trip (second to the Canonization). Our docent, Gina Tringali, was so informative and took us to so many amazing places that we know we wouldn't have visited if we did not sign up for this tour. She has a masters degree in Italian Gastronomic Culture and worked with Tom Colicchio. We were able to visit one of the oldest confection shops in Rome, a coffee shop where they roast their beans on site, an authentic pizzeria, a cheese shop, an Italian snack shop and a gelato shop. Each place was truly special. Along the way, Gina also pointed out restaurants that she would recommend checking out during our stay in Rome. We were able to learn so much and try some of the best food we've ever had. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants a truly unique culinary tour of Rome.

As one of the most expensive tours we were disappointed that a tour of the catacombs "Undergound Rome " was booked by Context on day Saturday they were closed Our tour the next day of Jewish Rome was better but had about an hour of content as the Synagogue uses its own guides and our guide rightly suggested she was not necessary.

We had a wonderful tour through the Vatican with a guide named Livia Galante whom we found through Context. The company puts together "Walking tours for the Intellectually Curious" led by scholars all over the world and it was my favorite part of our trip to Italy. I am a huge religious art aficionado and Livia was very friendly, passionate, and overall everything I would have wanted in a guide for a tour of this nature. If you are looking for an in-depth, intelligent, and very well organized tour, I would highly recommend Context.

This is the only way to tour! Small groups with guides that know their stuff. Rich was our guide through the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. He was amazing!

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• Top Destinations
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Tokyo, Japan
• Paris, France
• Rome, Italy
• London, United Kingdom
• All Destinations
• Upcoming Experiences
• Private Walking Tours
• Small-Group Tours
• Tours for Kids
• Museum Tours
• Food, Wine and Market Tours
• Newly Added Tours
• Audio Guides
• Pre-Trip Lectures
• Admin Dashboard
• My Experiences
• My Favorites
• Cookies Preferences
• Client Orders
• Monthly Commissions
• My Advisor Profile
• Advisor Toolkit
• Guide Dashboard

Credit Balance

Transactions are based on current exchange rates and performed in USD. There maybe slight variations in the price estimates.

See the world in Context Personal tours for the intentional traveler (4.78) See all 65,340 reviews

For the curious.

Some people are deeply curious about the world. They’re interested in how it works. How history and architecture and food and fashion and art and everything sensuous, exciting and intelligent is connected. How their own way is never the only way.  So when these interested people travel, they travel deeply.  Our Context experts add to this experience. Academic insights alongside untold stories. Beautiful nuance and local subtlety. Genuine world wisdom.

Over twenty years of conversations

Conversations, not scripts, experts, not guides, tailored, not one-size fits all, ways to experience context.

Just you, an expert, and your travel companions

Connect with other travelers

Explore the city at your own pace

Inspire future travels and learn before you go

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Perfect for young, curious travelers

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Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ .

• Our Experts
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