Need advice Re:Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel

I vote for Option A. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk from St. Peters to the Vatican Museum entrance. And with a reservation, there is virtually no line. If 1 3/4 hours isn't enough in St. Peters, you can always go back there after the museum. If you do it at the end of the day, you may be tired from whatever activities you did that day and not enjoy it as much. (Was just there in mid-April. Crowds are definitely back again!)

When we went on Friday evening in Oct 2019, the picture gallery that has Raphael's Transfiguration was closed. I don't know if that was the case during the day or not.

Thanks Barbara. I decided to go with Option A.

Just a note, I booked right when tickets where release for my date and time 60 days in advance. In less than 3 hours all the tickets for the 9:00 am slot were sold out.

Definitely owe this forum a debt of gratitude!

We just returned from Rome and there was indeed no security or entry line for the Vatican Museum at our 8 AM ish early entry tour. We spent about 2 1/2 hours with guide in the museum and walked to the Basilica entry
That did not allow us to skip the Basilica security line (that everyone must go through) and the wait was about 30 minutes. Guide told us that was "not bad".

Yes crowds are coming back.

We spend about 2 1/2 hours with guide in the museum and walked to
the Vatican entry for which we also had "skip the line" tickets.

John, this is a little confusing. Can you explain more exactly do you mean by "Vatican Entry'? If you are in the museums, you are already "in" the Vatican. Did you mean that you walked to the entrance for the basilica?

That did not allow us to skip the Vatican security line

Again, can you explain a bit more about that line? Are you generalizing "Vatican Entry" and "Vatican Security line" with the entry/security queue for St. Peter's Basilica? Both the museums and basilica comprise parts of Vatican City, and if you entered the church through via a 30-minute wait in the security queue, you didn't have "skip the line" tickets; no tickets at all are needed to enter that one.

Kathy, I was just there in earlier this month. There are two lines - the one on the left (that usually snakes a long way) is for people who don't have reservations. The one on the right, is for people who do have reservations. I had a 10:30 entry - I arrived at 10:15 and it only took me 5 minutes at the most in the right-hand line to show my ticket (then my vaccine card) and get into the lobby of the museum. Inside- masses of people. But the line for reservations went smoothly. Once inside, you pass through an airport-like screening machine.

Sorry. Correct we walked from the exit of the museum to the Basilica security line. Then waited to go through security into the basicila..

Barbara, yes, what you describe is how I remember it. It was John's use of "Vatican" that may have been confusing to people using this thread for their own research; wanted to clarify the entry processes for Basilica (no timed-entry, line-skipping reservations) and Museums (you may purchase advance, timed-entry reservations) as they are both "in" the Vatican. In neither case does one avoid the security check.

Barbara do u have info on where you purchased the tickets?

mlb1253, this is the official website for buying advance tickets to the Vatican Museums:

https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en.html

Thank you Kathy.

I'm trying to make a reservation to enter the Vatican Museums but the website seems to only offer me guided tours? suggestions for just booking a reservation to enter?

What dates are you trying to reserve for? You might be too early.
Enter the amount of tickets you want (number of visitors) and pick a date on the calendar, not more than 60 days out.

https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home/calendar/visit/Biglietti-Musei

The option you want is "Admission tickets - Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.": € 17.00 plus €4 reservation fee per ticket. Just clicking on random dates, It does look like they are going to be tough to land: lots of days showing "Sold Out" but keep at it 'cause cancellations can happen. Can't get them? You might need to book a tour.

I would of looked into the Prime Experience. We did it and loved it. You are in the musesum at 7:30 and you get a 2 hour private tour with other people. Then have a reserved American breakfast in the gardens. Then you are free to finish exploring the museums on your own after breakfast. I wouldn't worry about the line to St. Peters. Since it is just security it is quick.

bought my tickets through Headout last week.

RickStevesFan - you posted: " I booked right when tickets where release for my date and time 60 days in advance. In less than 3 hours all the tickets for the 9:00 am slot were sold out."

I'm in California - so 9 hours behind italy's time - so do you know what time of the day in California we can get the tickets that are 60 days out in Italy?

Thank you!

Ticket buying availability seems to be difficult to determine, at least as far as I can tell from looking at random dates on the official Vatican Museums Website, and various ticket types. You may need to just check the official Website - often. As of right now, you can still get in a few days in June - with a catch. And while basic tickets are sold out for August 11, and available for August 12 and 13, they’re not even being offered yet for August 16 exactly 2 months from today.

I’ve spent a good amount of time yesterday and today trying to determine which tickets to get for our upcoming September visit, and when to order them. I wonder whether third-party tour organizers, and there appear to be several these days, might be snatching up a lot of tickets, as soon as they go for sale, to resell to their own customers? Rick Steves’ guidebook even mentions Hawkers swarming the Vatican with tickets for sale as a last resort to get in, plus tickets for sale at the Vatican TI in St. Peter’s Square, as well as a private pilgrimage tour company located nearby.

Currently the Museums offer a Prime Experience option, a VIP option, and breakfast and Happy Hour (!) also offered, with options to be there before the museums open to the public or after they’re closed, and private or group guides, in addition to audio guides, but those all appear to be offered on a different schedule from the €21 “regular” online timed-entry (aka skip the line) tickets.

As of a few hours ago (on June 15), there were still tickets available for the next day, June 16. But those were only for Spanish-language 2-hour tours at 2:30 PM. I see that even those are now sold out, as are most days in the next few weeks. Randomly checking another upcoming date, June 28, while the €21 entrances are sold out (like most dates in the next 2 months), you can still reserve an entry on June 28, but only with a tour in German, and only at 10:30am, for an additional €13, resulting in a €34 ticket. That includes earphones to hear your guide, with 24 other people in your group. I wonder, are people allowed to wander away from the group, forego the earphones, and just consider the €34 entry as the only available way to get in that day?

Fast forward to August. As for 2 months from now, August 14 & 15 the museums will be closed for the holiday. But exactly 2 months from today, August 16, they’re scheduled to be open. While the official Website is accepting purchases of tickets for the other admission options, the basic €21 tickets are still “Not Bookable,” according to the official Website. Check the Website frequently, and once the right tickets for you are available, but then immediately, before someone else snatches them up.

Nearby in the Rome area, the Borghese Gallery is a similar situation - tickets available only through July 31, and it’s been that way for several weeks. At some point, August and September reservations will be available, and will likely sell out very quickly.

Last, I wonder how many Vatican Museums visitors nowadays are interested in seeing anything other than the Sistine Chapel? Maybe it’s like the Louvre in Paris - lots of people seem to be there only to see the Mona Lisa, snap a selfie, and then get out of the museum!