The website says, "unavailable" (for any dates).
I'd like to book for March 19th, 2025.
I hear it's one of the best tours in Rome!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16007 posts
Hey there, Matt!
Question? Can you tell us more about the Happy Hour you've heard about & are trying to book? Is it, say, an escorted evening walkabout to different watering holes, the one offered by the Vatican Museums, or something completely different? What's the website you're using?
Posted by
Indiana
24 posts
Would you please give us more info and website. Curious if this tour will be available when I go.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
This is the Vatican night time tour. Starts at 6:00 p.m. Offers an additional cost for a small buffet prior to start.
The website selling tickets is viator.com. There was another website that didn't show it available as well. The only thing I could surmise they don't book out 10 months in advance.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16007 posts
Matt, it would help if you'd post the URL for the exact tour you're looking at? That said, you're WAY too early to book anything for next year; the Vatican only books its own tours 60 days out, and much could change as far as what's available between now and March.
Just FYI, the museums currently close at 7:00 except for Friday and Sat. nights. Those hours started March 1 of this year and may only run through the fall. While I think your issue is that you're too early, it's also possible the Vatican has eliminated this tour+buffet thing for outside tour companies. I know the Vatican had a Happy Hour add-on to their own tickets lately but I haven't tried a dummy booking to see if it's still there.
Posted by
Los Angeles
809 posts
Here are results for a search here on the travel forum for "vatican museum" for the past six months:
Take some time to read up on the process for purchasing tickets from the official site and how far in advance tickets go on sale. It would also be helpful to learn your way around the site.
You have an advantage by being there in the middle of March, when demand for tix may be lower than now for the summer crush.
From looking at the tour on the Viator site, they may simply be taking advantage of the Museum's extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays when they stay open until 20:00. Then they tack on the separate ticket for the "Happy Hour" in the Pinecorn Court - a drink and snacks. ROMAETRAVEL is listed as the tour operator - there isn't a comparable tour offered on their separate website.
The listing is similar to the "Sistine Chapel - Extra Time" tour offered by the Museums that we were lucky enough to get on last November - it is no longer offered. It included a tour led by an official docent that started at 16:00, ending with exclusive time in an almost empty Sistine Chapel, followed by the happy hour. It was a great experience, although even at the end of a Friday afternoon in November, the Museums were still crowded until we got to the Chapel after closing time.