Scavi/Necropolis Tour

We did the necropolis tour at the beginning of October 2017. The tour was good. Enter through Vatican Museum, skip line. Go to single ticket office straight ahead with pre ticket paper. Get true ticket. Wait for tour agent and earbuds. After tour you are free to visit museum. You are left off at top of stairs. The Vatican Museum entry is not near St Peter's or the Swiss guard. After our tour the Museum was elbow to elbow which for us was not an ideal situation to see a museum. I guess some have figured out how to exit the Chapel and enter St Peter's. It was not clear to me. St Peter's is a separate entry with a wait of up to an hour at times to go through security. The church is large and the crowd disperses. We did St Peter's in the afternoon on one day and tour/museum on another. After our experience at Vatican Museum I would not return without an early entry tour group. In fact, I would pay all most anything to see the chapel with only 25 people.

We also did the Pristine Sistine tour early one morning and went back the next morning and took the Scavi tour. This way when you end the Scavi tour you are left inside the Basilica without having to wait in line again and you have had the chapel, on the previous day, pretty much to yourself. FYI---allow plenty of time to get through security for the Scavi tour as there are other "private" tours entering at the same location.

This way when you end the Scavi tour you are left inside the Basilica
without having to wait in line again

But the question is about checking items not allowed on the scavi tour, such as cameras. Dave wants to know if they are able return for items which must be checked WITHOUT leaving a secured area, thus having to stand in the security line for the basilica after the scavi tour. He would like to have his camera for his visit to the church.

Has anyone after the scavi tour gone back to the deposit area to
gather their bags and then gone into the Basilica? Do we have to go
thru security again to get to the deposit area to gather our stuff?

On the Necropolis tour cameras, belongings and pictures for the future are allowed. I did have a small cross bag and my hubby had a similar bag. The Vatican staff have responded to my email questions in 1-2 days.

According to the Scavi tour requirements/information, no camera or backpacks are allowed on the tour and they specifically stated that I need to deposit these items in their staffed deposit desk after clearing security.... so, has anyone after this tour gone back to their deposit desk to collect their belongings without going thru security again? Thanks...

We went on the tour this last February. We had just our handbags, but other people had larger bags and one backpack. No one said a word - the Swiss guard, the people you give your ticket to, nor the tour guide. Unless your bag is oversized, I would go through the special entrance with the Swiss guard and take my chances.

The bag storage area is on the right, near the lower end of the steps you go up to enter the Basilica. Visitors to the Basilica have to deposit large bags there. It is inside the secured area as is the Basilica. So, visitors can retrieve their bag after seeing the Basilica, all inside security. At the end of your scavi tour you will be in the Grottoes area and you go from there into the Basilica. If your bag is too large for the Basilica you could just get your camera and re-deposit your bag.

When I did the tour in 2016, one man had a good-sized camera with him. I think it more a question of how bulky things are and causing an obstruction rather than if they are cameras.

Risking taking your items with you is a mistake. If you get there and they tell you no then you could possibly miss your tour if the lines to check your bags are very long.

You shouldn't have any issues getting your gear after the tour. When I took the scavi in June the bag check area was inside the secure area of the basilica. This could have changed but the few times I've taken this tour it has been this way. Leave all your bags in the baggage storage area and collect them after the tour.

Donna

Thanks to all on your experience and recommendations on the Scavi tour..... we are looking forward to our day visiting the Vatican...now I need to make reservations for the Vatican museum that afternoon.... any recommendations on that task?

I did the Pristine Sistine and Scavi tours on the same morning in late June. I had an 11:30 reservation for the Scavi tour, and to be on time I had to leave the Pristine Sistine group as they started their guided tour of St. Peter's. I knew in advance that might be the case, since the Scavi tour time they gave me was earlier than I had hoped.

But it worked fine. I exited St. Peter's at about 11:15, walked around to the right (that is, the right with St. Peter's behind me, facing the square), and checked in with the Swiss guards, who directed me to the Scavi office. As others have said, the Scavi tour ends on the lower level of the basilica; you can easily go upstairs and inside the basilica without a wait or any further security checks. I used the RS self-guided tour of St. Peter's.

I had a medium-sized cross-body bag with me, including my smartphone and a small water bottle. I was allowed to bring it on the tour, and I don't remember anyone else having their stuff taken away either.

The Scavi tour was pretty good. For my tastes, there was too much focus on explaining why they thought they had found St. Peter's tomb, and not enough focus on the older tombs in the necropolis. But I was still glad I went.

Regarding the Vatican Museums, I second the comment above that I would not visit it unless I was on an early-entrance tour (or possibly a Friday night, when they offer those). By mid-morning, when we retraced our steps to use the "groups only" exit to St. Peter's, the whole place was a slow-moving river of humanity, and the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel were wall to wall people--complete gridlock and very unpleasant, especially if you have even a touch of claustrophobia.

Now I need to make reservations for the Vatican museum that
afternoon.... any recommendations on that task?

You can do that through the Vatican's website:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/visitatori-singoli.html

If you do not want a guided tour, select "Open tour of Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel". You will have to select a specific day and open time slot. You don't mention what time of year you're going to Rome but as mentioned previously, the museums are often mobbed and especially so during high and shoulder seasons. A lot of visitors go only to see the Sistine so that one is particularly overrun.