Recently there after the Vatican museums; at 5pm on a Friday the line in front as long as it had been in early afternoon. Is this the "free" line to enter the basilica?
From videos it seems the line splits in 2 for the dome entry near the top of steps in front?
Disappointed we were unable to get inside the basilica this visit.
Any tips for a trip in the future!?
Addendum:
""Great advice to go early instead!!**
Yes that would be the entry to Basilica which is free
Everyone must go thru security
Try arriving early am before opening?
Thanks! We were too exhausted from the crowds in the museum to wait in the basilica line. Wish we had another day, or gone in the morning; next time we'll be wiser!
We were there in June, and the line was 4 abreast for about 100 yards. And that line was just to get into the real line.
We found the most popular travel sights in Rome and Florence to be incredibly busy. Thankfully we've been to them all many times.
We're about to limit future trips to smaller, less traveled cities. And there are plenty of them to see.
Hello,
What time were you there to visit the museums? Were you finished at 5 pm and then wanted to visit St. Peters? Do people really start lining up at say 6 am??
Do people really start lining up at say 6 am??
This past March we arrived a little before 7 am and there was already a small group waiting in line. In looking at the time on my pictures, we were inside St. Peter's at 7:20 am.
Thanks for that info, Carrie. I'm thinking on my next trip to Rome I may stay in Prati. Among other things, that would make it a bit easier to get to St. Peter's at what will feel to me like the crack of dawn. There was no way I was going to get there early enough to be helpful while staying in Monti.
We were there last week (10.20.23) and reserved a "small group tour" with LivTours. Lucky us, no one else had signed up and we were in the museum by 7:30 am, just the 3 of us. We practically had the museum to ourselves with our amazing guide (Carlotta...who has excellent English, knowledge and fantastic sense of humor). By the time we got to the Sistine Chapel there were a few more people, but we were able to sit down along the benches and stay 20+ minutes taking it all in. We were then ushered into St. Peter's Basilica through a "private" entrance, going past the long line of people waiting to get in. An pricey luxury, but it was an experience of a lifetime!
