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Detailed question re Vatican Museum's own guided tours

Posted by (Easley, SC, USA) on

I'm planning to reserve spots for me and my wife on the Vatican Museum's own guided tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, etc., once the desired date in late Sept is open on their website. I've read Rick's book and I know there are other ways to visit these sites, incl DIY, but let's assume for this question this is how we'll do it.

So my question is: If we do buy tickets for the Vatican Museum's own guided tour, when that tour is finished, are we permitted to remain inside and spend more time on our own, OR are we escorted out through the exit, onto the sidewalk so to speak, and we would then need a separate new ticket to reenter and spend more time inside on our own, either in the Museum or the Basilica or both?

Thx.

Tom

Posted by
17127 posts

From the Vatican website:

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=supporto

"Q. At the end of the Guided Tour is it possible to remain inside the Museums with my ticket?
A. Yes. The ticket enables admission to the Museums after the tour. If your tour includes Saint Peter's Basilica, your tour ends in the Basilica, and therefore it is not possible to return to the Museums with the same ticket."

In short; you are free to stay longer in the church - where your Museum/Basilica combo tour will end - but cannot re-enter the museums. To stay longer in the museums, you'd need to book the tour which is only for the museums/Sistine.

The basilica is free so no tickets are needed to visit that one, and the Vatican website does not offer a pre-booked tour just for the church.

Posted by
4152 posts

Kathy is correct. If you want to be able to spend more time in the Vatican museums you need to book the tour that doesn't include the basilica. Once you leave the museums you cannot re-enter them so if you take the tour with the basilica you'd need anther ticket to get back inside the museums.

The good news is that if you book the regular tour, even if you stay inside the museums after the tour, you can take the tour bypass door into the basilica without needing to wait in the security line. Once in the basilica you can remain until it closes.

Donna

Posted by
17127 posts

Right, Donna; it sure beats the long walk back to the entrance, and the queues outside the basilica if the intention is to visit the church right after the tour!

The only snag is that the museum-only tours usually end up in the Sistine so if you want to spend more time with the exhibits, you'd leave the chapel through the regular exit to some other galleries. To use that tours-only back stairway later, you'd need to backtrack again to the Sistine, and you'd be fighting your way upstream with the 1000 other people trying to get to the chapel so it will likely not be a quick "about face."

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