Best Time to visit: Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica

Given the crowds and heat at that time of year, and your limited time, I would sign up for a tour like Pristine Sistine with Walks of Italy, or another good company. You start very early, get into the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel at 8 am before the general public, and have some much more sane, quiet and cooler time there, before the crowds and heat begin to fill the facilities after 9 am. Then you go directly into St. Peter's without having to walk back to the museum entry, then around to St. Peter's in the mid-day heat, and wait in line to enter. The guides are excellent. Yes, it costs more with this tour, and your need to get rolling very early, but the experience will be much nicer and more comfortable, and you will finish with the whole afternoon and evening in front if you. Walks of Italy offers an RS discount of 10% I believe, in addition to senior and youth discounts, if those apply to your family.

I would say very early or late in the day. But you will be surprised how much of a crowd there still is at that time of day, but much worse middle of the day. It may pay to join a tour group.

.......and, I'd suggest seeing St. Peters on the first day you have allocated for Rome. That way, if it is unexpectedly closed for a private mass, etc., you will still have the next day to try again. It took me three tries over two trips to finally get into St. Peters (due to private events that were happening when we visited).

Just a data point ... on Friday May 29 my grandson and I arrived in St. Peters Square at 8:15 am and stood in the security line for a little over half an hour to enter the basilica. The end of the line when we joined it was halfway around the circumference of the piazza. By the time we left the basilica at about 10 am the line was all the way around the piazza.

But it was worth it. :)

The other option - if interested in the more budget-friendly option- would be to purchase a morning tour of the Museums/Sistine/St Peters through the Vatican website itself. These also allow you to go directly into the basilica after the Sistine, although they doesn't include entry an hour before the public, like the WOI Pristine Sistine tour.

Cost is 37 euro for three hours, and wraps up in the basilica - where you can wander about on your own after the guide is finished.

http://www.museivaticani.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

If you book a tour of the Vatican Museums only and not Saint Peter's Basilica, you can stay in the museums after the tour is over. Even without a tour, you can stay in the museums after the Sistine Chapel. With a tour of the Museums and the Basilica, you can't go back to the museums without buying another ticket.

Thanks everyone. I am trying to do it myself without a tour. Somewhat on a budget.

So it sounds like at 2:30pm/3:00pm in the afternoon in late August, things will still be pretty packed inside the Vatican Museum? If so, I may be better off with my 7am St. Peter's plan and 9am Vatican Museum reservation.

If you use the tour exit from the Sistine Chapel you walk right into St. Peter's without having to wait on the line but you don't get to go back through the Vatican Museum. Get an early time, do the museum and then St. Peter's. The Sistine Chapel will probably be crowded whenever you go anyway so you might as well avoid the line at St. Peter's.

I would go to St. Peters early but you need more time till your reservation than you have allocated. You should build in at least a half hour security line wait, at least an hour in St.Peters and another half hour to walk to the Vatican Museums -- and add half an hour onto all that for the unexpected. If you arrive later than the crack of dawn then add yet another half hour for the St. Peters security line.

The Sistine Chapel is always crowded but it doesn't matter because what you want to see is straight up. If you hang by the benches eventually someone will getup and you can pop into their spot and lean back and look up. Unless you are with a tour don't count on the tour group door exit into St. Peters.

The Vatican Museum is open late on Friday nights, which was when we saw it a few weeks ago. Proved to be a great time to go -- crowds weren't an issue, we had time (and room) to soak in what we were seeing, and there was something magical about experiencing the Sistine Chapel and then stepping out into the night air. As a minor aside, there's a fantastic gelato place about two blocks from VM which buzzes with locals/energy late into Friday night. The combination of culture and fun made for a truly wonderful evening.

All, thanks so much for all response. A couple of follow up questions.

1. Any view of how long lines at St. Peter's is at 5:30 pm?
   2.Even with reservation, how long is Vatican security line in the early afternoon (2 or 2:30pm)?

If you use the tour exit from the Sistine Chapel you walk right into
St. Peter's without having to wait on the line but you don't get to go
back through the Vatican Museum. Get an early time, do the museum and
then St. Peter's.

Just to clarify: this exit is reserved for tours. It has been reported that some independent tourists have managed to sneak through but the word lately is that the guards have become more observant, and are turning solo visitors away so there is no guarantee at all that you can go directly into the basilica. Plan on having to backtrack from the Sistine to the exit, and then around to the queue for the basilica.

We had good luck getting into the church pretty quickly by getting in line shortly before the doors opened in the morning but I won't swear that's always the case.

Check out the guest blog of Sara Murdoch - On Packing Light - in the September travel news. Her September 12 post Visiting the Vatican might be of some help.

We are planning to do a Walks of Italy tour "Vatican Highlights - Museum and Sistine Chapel" at 2pm. It states when complete, we would have no line access to St. Peter's if we wish. I checked Rick's map of St. Peters (the one used for his audio tour which we plan to use after the Sistine Chapel). Has anyone done this tour and use the access to St. Peter's? Reason I ask is the tour is 2 hr. 45 min. and Rick's audio tour of St. Peter's is about 45 minutes. According to the map, there is a WC area near the audioguides and baggage storage. Just in case we needed to find the WC, is there any way you can get there and back to St. Peters without having trouble with guards, etc? Just wondering if this is a possibility. I know this is a strange question! Thanks much.

Do all of your advise stay the same in terms of waiting time for end of October?