Best time to visit Vatican museum

There really is no good strategy. Hundreds of people book for first thing in the morning and head directly to the chapel only to find the hundreds of other people who had the same idea. It's crowded from the time it opens until the time it closes. The benefit of going in the afternoon is that most of the tour companies have come and gone so you don't have to deal with those but the museums and chapel are still packed, wall to wall, with people.

I suggest just going when it's good for your schedule. You can book an after hours tour but those usually start very early in the morning and cost a ton. If you happen to be in Rome on a Friday you could go in the evening when it's much less crowded but if not, just pick a time and be prepared for the crowds.

Donna

I would do Vatican Museum first at about 2 pm. You end at the Sistine Chapel. It's difficult to go back to museum entrance, so only carry a small daypack/shoulder bag and a bottle of water. From Sistine Chapel - take the back exit to St. Peter's Basilica. By this time, the Basilica will be slowly clearing out and will be pleasant to roam. The basilica is huge, so crowding is not much of an issue. Expect a slow, steady herd movement through the Vatican Museum. (One way traffic). Take advantage of any uncrowded spots for a breather. If a bathroom is crowded, move on to the next one near the cafés. The first bathroom gets hit with everyone. The following bathrooms are easy to access and not full.

There is a website www.roninrome.com that I found very helpful for advice on visiting the Vatican museum, I advise you to take a look for some hints on visiting the Vatican. We followed those ideas and we had no difficulty getting into the museum. Do look at that website and that should help you.As I remember it we reserved tickets online and walked up to the inside ticket booth with no problem.

That being said, inside the museum was, literally, wall to wall people, somewhat similar to walking on any New York City sidewalk during rush hour. The long corridors displaying tapestry and the one displaying world maps were particularly bad. We zig zagged around people without being rude, but with intent and moved on out of those areas as quickly as we could come, barely looking at the walls, unfortunately, but under the conditions that's what we chose to do. We were there in April, I believe on a thursday, arriving at about 130 in the afternoon.

I also wanted to mention that prior to our trip we downloaded the Rick S Steves' audioguide for saint peter's basilica and found it very worthwhile.

In any situation, expectations can be everything, so if you prepare your psyche for crowds, you will still be able to enjoy yourself at the Vatican. You might want to do a little research, identify 5 or 6 pieces that you would really like to see and then when you arrive go directly there finishing up with the sistine chapel. Enjoy!

Unless it has changed recently, you don't get your tickets in advance. You should print out the reservation for them and bring it with you. There is a separate line for reserved tickets. If you don't find it right away, show your reservation to any official around and he will direct you. You will go through security and be told to check any large bags and/or backpacks, so don't have any with you, or you will have to return to this entrance at the end of your visit to collect them. Once through security, look for the ticket windows for reserved tickets and collect them there. Once upstairs, there's an option to rent audio guides. The guides are okay, but again, you'll have to come back to this starting point to return them, so skip it.

Traffic through the museums is pretty much a one-way flow. It is possible to backtrack, but you're going upstream. It's not really possible to backtrack from the Sistine Chapel as the guards really don't like people exiting through the entrance door.