Help with St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican Museums itinerary feasiblity

You underestimate the distances involved and time required for walking through St. Peter's, buying dome tickets, climbing up the dome, then returning to ground. Just going through the security line and making your way to the basilica will take 30 minutes or so, more if the lines are long. Allow 90 minutes at least for the dome climb, more if you want to hang out or take photos at the top. While there is an elevator option, it still leaves you with about 200 steps or so and it is single file so your speed is limited by the person in front of you. I would just do the first morning tour and then if feeling up for it afterwards consider the dome climb. July is brutally hot so factor that into how much you plan to do too.

Thanks, ponygirl813, for your response. I know lines can be long, so that's why I was thinking if we hit the basilica and dome as soon as it opens, then we won't have to waste as much time in lines and we can still make it for the tour...

Do you have a guided tour booked at the Museums at 8:30? Are you supposed to present yourselves at the Museums 15 minutes in advance? Please keep in mind that it is a LONG walk from St Peter's to the Museums entrance - and I'm referring to the gate in the wall outside of St. Peter's square, not from inside the church.

Do not split your visit to the basilica! That would require going through the security line there twice. At 7 AM, that (according to reports--I haven't done it) will probably not take too long, but by the time you return after touring the Vatican Museums, you will face a horrendous line for St. Peter's.

Thanks markcw. I am not sure as I haven't booked it yet, but I know it starts at 8:30. How long to you think the walk is from St. Peter's to the Vatican Museums entrance?

Thanks, acraven. Isn't it such that if you are on a guided tour, you can go straight from the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel into St. Peter's Basilica, thereby bypassing security lines?

tours go through the passage from the Sistine Chapel to the Basilica if their tour continues in the Basilica. If the end of the tour is in the Sistine Chapel then they won't and you can't.

Thank you, Nigel.

Here are the instructions for the official Vatican Museum tours:

Meeting point: On the day of the visit go to the entrance of the
Vatican Museums - situated in Viale Vaticano – and show the booking
voucher (electronic format allowed) to the Security Staff at the
entrance ( minutes before the scheduled time). After passing through
security, proceed to the Guided Tours Desk to collect tickets and to
meet the guide.

According to Google Maps it's a kilometer from the obelisk in the square to the museum entrance - the estimate is 15 minutes to walk. If you were inside the church it would take even longer. So you would have to be on your way no later than 8:00 - more time to make a pit stop or grab a coffee on the way.

Thanks, markcw!

So I guess the main purpose of my question was to see if it was feasible to enjoy the perks of less crowds by hitting both sites early. It looks like the answer is no, so now my question is would it be better to just go to St. Peter's Basilica early and thoroughly explore that and then go on a 10:30 tour of the Vatican Museums OR go to the 8:30 tour of the Vatican Museums and then go to St. Peter's Basilica afterwards. Are crowds better tolerated at one vs. the other?

You want to make every possible effort to visit the Museums as early as you can, because the crowds there can become unbearable. The Basilica is immense - the issue there is the line waiting to get in. IF the tour you're on has access to the direct passage from the Chapel to the Basilica, that would be a real time-saver.