About visiting the Vatican Museums

1. Not sure -- we got there as scheduled in December 2 years ago.

2. If you make a dash for the Sistene Chapel, you can backtrack, but you might be swimming upstream against a current of other visitors.

3. If your visit is like ours, we arrived in the morning, with absolutely NO queue of people in the long rope maze outside the entrance doors. There were already other people inside the lobby and exhibit rooms, but it wasn't elbow-to-elbow, and we took our time going from room to room. As we entered the Etruscan rooms, we were told they were being shut down for a while, but would be opened again later in the day (?!?) so you might run into a random closure of something. By 10:30 in the morning, the crowd had noticiably grown, and by the time we reached the Sistene Chapel, many had already passed us by. In mid afternoon in December, the Chapel wasn't packed, but there were certainly other people there (maybe 60-80 people).

1. Depending on the crowd and the mood of the entrance guard, you may have to wait until 9:30 to enter.
2. Once inside the museums, you can go anywhere at any time. You cannot re-enter the museums if you leave (for example, to visit Saint Peter's Basilica and then try to return to the museums).
3. Crowds will be less than in peak season (which would also facilitate your entrance a little early, depending on...)
4. I had not visited the Vatican museums for several years because of the crowds (I had visited a dozen or so times previously). The last two times (May and July of 2014), I was with a guide. The first was a small group tour that got to the Sistine Chapel before it opened at 9:00am, the second time was with a group of theologians in the middle of the day. The first tour was a dash to the Sistine Chapel and then backtracking through other galleries. It was a 5-hour tour but it took nearly 7 hours to tour the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter's Basilica (the guide was very thorough). I think there are tours for only the Sistine Chapel, so you will have the rest of your time to spend as you wish. The second tour was also excellent, but again it involved the museums and the basilica, so no going back to the museums. More crowds during the second visit, due to the time of day.

Several of my tour members this September went early for their morning reservations and were let in early.

1) It really depends on the crowds and the guards at the door. Sometimes they will let you in early but don't count on it. They are less likely to let you in at 9 as they will be to let you in early if your time slot is noon or after.

2) You won't be allowed to run inside the museums. You can go directly to the chapel (along with hundreds of others with the same idea) and then go back into the rest of the museums. If may be difficult with the crowds but it can be done.

3)The Vatican museums are crowded year round. It makes no difference. The galleries will be packed with bodies. The chapel will be wall to wall from open until close.

4) Unless you book an off hours tour you will run into hundreds of others who all want to see the chapel. You can rush directly there and backtrack but you won't find the chapel empty at any time of the day. Unfortunately, they don't offer the eveing visits to the museums past October or I would suggest that. Just take your time and realize that it's one of the most popular sites in Rome and that thousands of people go through there every day.

Donna

Hello
I just arrived home from Italy and visited the Vatican museum last week. This was my 3rd visit. Re questions
1. We had a 1pm booking - arrived at 12:45 , got our tickets and got in.
2. The guards always imply that you cannot back track - but it often depends on crowd volume. If it is busy they don't let you go against the crowd. However the Pinoteca is at the entrance - top of the stairs - and we always wait and visit after we have seen the rest of the museum.
3. As I mentioned we were there at the end of October and though it was busy it was nothing like previous visits in May and June - at least you could stop and look at the map and tapestry rooms.
4. One aside I am amazed that in the age of internet ticket booking sooooooo many people stand in line for tickets. On the day we went the line up to purchase was around the wall all the way to the Piazza Risorgimento. The reservation line for picking up tickets had no one in it. Remember you can bypass all the people waiting to buty tickets by staying right and walking past them. Don't even think of trying to visit on the free Sunday - that line was from the museum all the way to St.Peter's square this month.

Question 2. The standard routing takes you to the Raphael rooms and Pinacoteca after the Sistine Chapel. You would exit through the back left door of the chapel, as opposed to the back right door which is the shortcut to St. Peter’s. If you plan to take the shortcut, then it’s best to visit the Raphael rooms and Pinacoteca first (to the right of the main lobby), backtrack to the main lobby and then head for the Sistine Chapel.

Question 4. I was at the Vatican Museum on the free Sunday in November a couple of years ago. It was busy but not as crowded as I’ve encountered at other times of the year. Even so, there are some bottlenecks (e.g. stairs, doors, narrow hallways, big tour groups) that will temporarily slow your progress on a beeline to the Sistine Chapel.