This paper proposes an approximate formulation to estimate the bifurcation buckling loads of cylindrical shells with soft elastic cores under the conditions of axial compression. In general, thin-walled, axially compressed cylindrical shells buckle into a diamond pattern in the elastic range. However, buckling symmetrical with respect to the axis of the cylinder may occur when the cylindrical shell is supported by an elastic medium. By considering this characteristic, we introduce the simplified approximate formulation that can give sufficiently accurate results for the bifurcation buckling loads of cylindrical shells. Moreover the results are compared with the exact buckling loads in order to confirm the accuracy of the proposed approximate formulation.