Purchasing tickets to the Vatican

The Sistine is part of the Vatican Museums and included in your admission. St Peter's is free.

Go to mv.vatican.va. to purchase your ticket and skip the line. It will give you a confirmed entry time with your tickets, and you'll be able to see everything. When we were there this March, there were no lines at all--the first time we ever experienced that!
The church is free.

Thank you to the both of you! Jerry, you just saved me heaps of cash by directing me to that site. THANK YOU!!!! Only 36 days til we leave. WAHOO!

The Vatican is a very large area and not all of it is open to the public. The public places are the museums, which include the Sistine chapel, the dome, St. Peter's square and basilica and the excavations under the basilica. There are a few other areas you can visit but these are the main sites. IF you wish to purchase entry tickets for the museums you can book them directly through the vatican website: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do These tickets are timed entry and allow you to bypass the lines outside. They are good for the entire Vatican museum including the Sistine Chapel. The basilica is a church and free to enter, no tickets required though you will still need to go through the security check point. For the dome you'll need to buy tickets. There are no "gates" to get into Vatican city. You probably won't even realize you have crossed the border from Rome. For some really good information you can visit the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/ and for the basilica you can visit: http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/ be sure to observe the dress code or you can be denied entry into the basilica. Donna

WOW thanks Donna! Super helpful. Checking out those sites now! I must have sounded so silly asking if there were gates huh? Haha.

Not so silly when we all mention "the guards at the door", or "the guards will check your tickets".... It's confusing if you haven't been but once you're there it will all make sense. Donna