No of hrs to spend in the Vatican realistically? I know it can be full day!

Thanks everybody!! I think we'll go for the 12:00PM and stay until it closes or when the baby says so! :)

No one can answer this question. Technically you can stay til 7 which is the time the basilica closes. I don't know if you'll be able to do this with a baby. Not because the baby can't do these things but because traveling with a baby is always difficult. You may find after 4 hours that you've had enough and you may not.

The best advice we can give is to play it by ear. Do what feels best for you. If you don't fit it all in this trip you can always come back so don't stress about trying to fit it all in. Just know what's available and go from there. I think even if you don't fit everything in you'll still be very happy with what you are able to see.

Donna

Steve, I found different hours for the Basilica at SaintPetersBasilica.org. This is also what R.S. Rome guide shows. I was personally counting on early entry to the church. Have you experienced different opening times?

St. Peter's Basilica is open daily, Apr-Sep 7:00-19:00; Oct-Mar 7:00-18:00
Treasury Museum: 9:00 - 18:15 (Apr - Sep) 9:00 - 17:15 p.m. (Oct - Mar)
Grottoes: 7:00-18:00 (Apr - Sep) 7:00-17:00 (Oct - Mar)
Cupola: 8:00 - 18:00 (Apr - Sep) 8:00 - 16:45 (Oct - Mar)
Scavi Office: weekdays 9:00 - 17:00

Hi again Steve. The link you provided is for the cupola. The Basilica is listed on the same site as opening at 0700. Thanks for the site! I am learning Italian and love finding good references in that language.

Having recently done this I would recommend arriving at the Vatican Museum as early as possible. We had pre-purchased tickets (HIGHLY recommended) for 8:00 am. The museum didn't open until 8:30 so we were, maybe, the 12th in line. We easily did the museum in the morning. Go straight to the Sistine Chapel and then backtrack. We were one of 10 people in the chapel, Wonderful!
Same idea with St. Peters. We went early in the morning, waiting 10 minutes until it was open and had the church almost all to us. Both times we took a taxi from our hotel, Nardizzi (recommended by Rick) and had no problems with the taxi dirivers.

Budget 4 hours.