best strategy for visiting St. Peter's/Vatican Museum late May

It will be crowded. Period. No matter when you go. Just prepare yourself!
If you're staying at a hotel they can make sure you'll get a taxi at an early hour.
You can certainly read up and then see the museums. They are huge and absolutely packed with art and treasure. What we do often is tear the relevant pages out of whatever guide book we are using and take them along for reference. That way we don't have to lug the whole book with us all day and we know what we're looking at!

I don't think either of your options is better or worse, just different. Obviously with the first option, your time in the Basilica will be limited by trying to get to the Vatican on time, especially when you figure in security. But since St. Peter's is free, you can always go back if you feel like you missed something. With the second option, you can take your time in St. Peters but will probably have some time to kill.

I think you can easily do the Basilica on your own with some prep work and a guide book. I find the Vatican museums to be incredibly overwhelming. For me, in that situation, I prefer a tour. But if you research on your own and know what you want to prioritize, you will be fine. A lot of people choose to not do a tour and enjoy the experience. Another option would be to do a private tour. That is obviously the most expensive option but the best of both worlds.

Thank you both.

I was really going by Steve's recommendation - Tuesday with the Vatican in the afternoon. But I know it will be warmer in the afternoon in late May.

I thought about going back to St. Peter's later in the day - different lighting, ambiance, but that will mean going through the security line again, which as I understand, with no reservations can get pretty long. Is that correct?

If I do split it up, I would probably stay in the Basilica until around 11:00am, wander up to Pizzarium and have lunch, then go back and people watch with a little gelato at St. Peter's Square until time to get in line for the Museum. I am leaning in that direction.

Sharon

Before you go, consider downloading Rick's Free Audio Tours for Rome and other Italian cities (to play back on an iPod, tablet, or phone, with headphones). Crowds can make it hard to enjoy the Vatican museum, so you won't want to hang out there forever, but do persevere to see the Sistine Chapel and other highlights.

Thanks Laura. I am going to down load it on am MP3 player. I am going to go at 2:00pm, hope for the best - and prepare for the worst...

Sharon

You can get a taxi anytime, just have your hotel reserve one for you the night before. Personally I would go in the afternoon, but as stated, there will be crowds.

"Personally I would go in the afternoon, but as stated, there will be crowds."

@Zoe - I'm curious. Why afternoon? I'm wrestling with this now.

I'm not a tour person generally either, but some of the best money I ever spent was for a private tour of the Vatican. Just my wife and I and a guide. Having someone with a real background in art is so helpful. It was great to be able to ask him questions. Most importantly, the guides can get around lines and move you through to the things you actually want to see much faster than you could ever do it on your own. I saw more in four hours with him than I would have seen in four days trying to do it myself.

Thank you all.

I have made an appointment for 2:00pm on a Tuesday. I am still going to St. Peter's at 7:00am - will hang out there in the morning after climbing up up the Cupola, do some people watching in St. Peter's Square, walk up to Pizzarium for lunch and then back down to the Vatican.

I do appreciate the information on on a private guided tour. I had a private guide at Ephesus last year - she was lovely, intelligent and very knowledgeable - she had guided over 300 tours of Ephesus and truly loved it. I know she pointed out things that I would not have seen on my own with an audio or paper guide. With that said, it was overload for me. I think it must take a while for information to seep in to my brain. I am going to check out virtually as much as possible on line - am thrilled there will be a Faberge exhibition while I am there.

Thanks,

Sharon

Does anyone know the cost of taking the elevator to the dome in St. Peter's? I didn't see that on the website but may have overlooked it. Does it need to be booked in advance? Thanks!

Chris, when I was there in summer 2010, it was ~5 or 6 euros to take the elevator to the top, but you could walk to the top for free. It was a little bit of a workout, but totally worth it - there were zero lines! Plus it was a fairly interesting walk, I got some cool photos that you'd miss if you took the elevator.