Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour

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Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour

This Rome accessible driving tour focuses on the two great powers that have existed in Rome. You’ll spend the first half of your day visiting the wonders of the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. After lunch in an accessible restaurant, you’ll travel back in time 2000 years to walk/roll among the ancient city of Rome with accessible visits to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine and more!

The Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour starts with a wheelchair accessible van greeting you at the Civitavecchia cruise dock. After an 80 minute drive to Rome, you’ll arrive at Vatican City where you’ll skip the line to enter. Your morning will be spent visiting the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican contains over 70,000 pieces of art spread over 5 miles of corridors, and 16,000 visitors pass through each day. Your tour guide will use the most efficient and accessible routes to avoid the crowds while not missing any of the highlights. A wheelchair accessible van will bring you to the St. Peter’s Basilica entrance where you’ll be able to view the tomb of John Paul II, Michelangelo’s Pieta, and Pope John XXIII’s actual body!

The Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour continues with a visit to the most famous Roman ruins, the Colosseum. Your professionally-licensed tour guide will tell you the truth behind the facts and rumors about what happened here.

After leaving the Colosseum, you’ll follow a wheelchair accessible sidewalk to the most historically significant ruins in Rome, the Roman Forum. A special wheelchair with two assistants will allow you to venture all over this fascinating destination!

Your accessible Rome driving tour finishes with a comfortable ride back to Civitavecchia.

If you would like to add the city center sites to your tour (Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, etc…), the Best of Accessible Rome Cruise Excursion would be your best option. Another option would be to replace the ancient sites with the city center sites. In this case, you should choose the Vatican & Essential Rome Accessible Shore Excursion.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
– Please let us know the arrival time and departure time of your cruise ship in Civitavecchia cruise port when making the reservation
– Please let us know the height, width, length, and weight of the wheelchair or mobility scooter when making the reservation.
– The order that you visit the sites may be adjusted to avoid crowds, protests, construction, etc…
– There is a €50 discount if you book the tour as part of an accessible cruise & excursions package.

Tour Highlights

– Vatican Museums
– Sistine Chapel
– St. Peter’s Basilica
– Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)
– Roman Forum
– Arch of Constantine
-National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II

Accessibility Description

The Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour has a 5 Star Sage Accessibility Rating because it uses a wheelchair accessible vehicle to transfer to Rome and between the sights. The tour route is also completely step-free. A special wheelchair will be used to go over the Roman ruins in the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill.

This excursion avoids the port shuttle without a wheelchair ramp that is required on similar accessible Rome shore excursions. It uses the wheelchair accessible van shown in the photo below.

When you arrive at the Vatican, you’ll enter the Vatican Museums using a ramped entrance and a manual door (shown in the photo on the left). The tour will use multiple elevators inside the Vatican Museums.

A wheelchair lift and ramp is used to bring you into the Sistine Chapel.

To get between the Sistine Chapel and the St. Peter’s Basilica, most visitors will need to circumvent a flight of stairs by exiting the Vatican Museums and walking/rolling outside the 1 km Vatican walls to the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. On the Vatican & Ancient Rome Accessible Driving Tour the wheelchair accessible van will bring you between the two buildings.

The accessible Vatican tour will finish with an accessible guided tour of St. Peters accessible. Disabled access at St. Peter’s Basilica is possible by an elevator and a ramp.

When visiting the Colosseum with a disability, your tour guide will escort you past the long line of visitors to the entrance. To visit the upper level of the Colosseum, your guide will use the wheelchair ramp (shown on the right) that leads to the elevator.

An accessible visit to the Roman Forum is possible using the wheelchair lift shown in the photo of the right. Your tour guide will bring you along a route that avoids the severely uneven ancient cobblestones (shown in the pic on the right).

This accessible tour includes the use of a special wheelchair with two assistants (shown in the photo below).

While moderately helpful in the Colosseum and very helpful in the Roman Forum, the special wheelchair is ESSENTIAL when visiting the Palatine Hill towering above the Rome skyline (photo of the Palatine Hill from the Roman is in the photo on the left, photo of the Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill is shown on the right).

Tour Details

Tour duration: Approximately 8-9 hours
Cost: €1480 for 1-2 people, €1580 for 3-4 people, €1831 for 5 people. Entrance tickets must be purchased in advance and will be added to your total. See below for prices. Price includes wheelchair accessible van, driver, professionally licensed Rome tour guide, and special wheelchair for Roman ruins with assistants. If you do not want the special wheelchair and assistants, subtract €195.
* €50 off if booked as part of an accessible cruise & excursions package.
* If you can transfer into a normal car without a wheelchair ramp, cheaper rates may be available. Contact us for more information.
Days of the week the tour is offered: Every day except Sunday (Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums are closed)
Meet-up time: 9 am
Meet-up place: Civitavecchia cruise dock (in front of your cruise ship’s exit door)
Dress code: Covered knees and shoulders
Maximum number of people on tour: 4 people + 1 person in a wheelchair
Entrance tickets: Not included. Entrance tickets are free for disabled visitors if they have an ID card from their home country or letter from their physician stating the percent of their disability is more than 74%. Otherwise €27 per person must be paid to the guide before the tour begins and €17 per person for a Colosseum & Roman Forum combo ticket.
To review our cancellation policy, please click: HERE Tours run rain or shine.
Not included: Entrance tickets, snacks/meals, and gratuities.

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