According to this online article from the Catholic News Agency, there will be many changes at the Vatican Museums in 2024: new ticketing procedures to reduce the impact of bots, expanded hours (in January and again in March), a modest increase in the entry fee and additional air conditioning.
The option to tour the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis is also new. See my subsequent post below.
Thanks for the info acraven. I included Vatican museums on my September itinerary. I’m planning to take the Prime Experience tour because I can wander on my own after the tour ends.
I booked a Rome guide from RS book for our March 2024 trip. He has mentioned to me about many changes coming. He said the early entrance will still be there but in a different version.
I had asked him which early entrance ticket to buy bc it looked like one came with an official Vatican tour guide, and he said not to worry too much bc it was all changing.
He said he’d keep me updated.
Thanks for sharing this, acraven. That is great if they are able to eliminate -- or even severely diminish -- the bot problem !
Here's an article about the new sight just opened at the Vatican, the Via Triumphalis Necropolis. In addition to the expected graves and sarcophagi, there are Roman mosaics and frescoes on view.
The article unfortunately doesn't provide info on the cost or how to buy a ticket. Here's the booking webpage:
https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home/calendar/visit/VG-Triumphalis
The cost is currently 8.50 euros for individuals. The site can only be visited on a tour. I found tickets available for November 24, but that's probably just because the site is newly opened to the public and few people know about it.
A minor detail but maybe worth mention? The Via Triumphalis Necropolis excavation is not "new"; there's just a new section that's now accessible, along with the rest of it since 2014, with an escorted tour.
This 2014 article from (now defunct) Reid's Italy...
http://www.reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/sights/vatican-necropolis.html
....and some previous reviews:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187793-d6418166-Reviews-Via_Triumphalis_Necropolis-Vatican_City_Lazio.html
Editing to add: the whole previous enchilada was probably shut in COVID 2020.
