Scavi Tour with Vatican Museum/St. Peters visit

We did the Scavi tour which ends up in the Basilica. We then stayed for several hours marveling at all of the fantastic areas. You can probably do all three without much trouble. Be sure to use Rick's free download of the Sistine Chapel where he describes each ceiling panel in great detail. We used our Kindle Fires and earphones to follow his descriptions when we did a Friday night tour of the Vatican museum. You may get Sistine Chapel details from your tour guide but I'd have it downloaded anyway, just in case you wanted to stay over a bit.

I would have concerns about the logistics and whether you could make it in the available time. I can assure you that you cannot be late for a Scavi tour; I'm not remembering if you need to be there a little bit ahead of time.

You could probably do it if you're willing to do a short visit to the Sistine Chapel, and not see anything else in the Vatican museums. FYI, it's a long walk from the museum entrance to the Sistine Chapel, so you probably won't be getting there until ~7:45 or even later (Depending on the number of early access tours on that day). After your visit… I'd estimate it's about a 10 minute walk to get from the Sistine Chapel to the museum exit. In addition, it's at least a 15-20 minute walk to get from the muse exit to the Scavi office -- more if you have to make your way around crowds. So that means you would need to leave the Sistine Chapel by 8:30 at the latest, and FYI, I would allow more of a time cushion.

The Scavi tour is wonderful! My husband and I went in April 2015 and it was really quite special. Be sure to get there early and take your printout for admission. This tour seems to be one of the best kept secrets at the Vatican! When we arrived, we had some trouble finding the entrance. It is not marked at all and when we asked in various shops in the square, no one knew. As best I can recall, we went around to the far left and looked for the Swiss guard. Then if you look to your right a bit, you will see a big double iron gate. If there is a crowd gathered there that appear to be waiting to get in, that may not be a line for the Scavi tour at all, so don't hesitate to go to the front of the line and show your admission/reservation information; we got right in and I never knew what the crowd was for.

As you have already noted, the end of the tour leaves you right beside the entrance door to St. Peter's, so you do not need to exit and then go to the end of the very long line to get inside. You are already in!

Don't make the mistake we did and assume that you will also be able to gain entrance to the Sistine Chapel this way. It is a separate reservation, but it sounds like you already know that.

Thank you all so much. I'm so torn about what to do in our limited time there! If we go with Dark Rome tours we would be the very first people in that day. I guess I have to decide if just under an hour is enough time to spend in the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel or skip the Scavi tour. Horrible decision to make!

Be careful about this schedule, Melissa. I took the early morning Sistine, etc. tour with Walks of Italy in 2013. It was listed as 7:30 am, but that was to meet up at a coffee shop a few blocks from the Vatican Museum entry. Then we walked to the entry, met our guide, had a little orientation, and entered the Museum at a little after 8:00 am. Then we walked briskly through a pretty much empty Museum, stopping at a few highlights for the guide to talk about them. Only then did we arrive at an almost empty Sistine Chapel, probably at 8:30 or 8:40 am or so. Then we went back through the Museum, by the Sistine Chapel again, then through the tour door into St. Peter's. I fear that in the schedule you propose, you would need to run ahead of your tour group, still rush through the Sistine Chapel, then rush to the Scavi Tour, and pay a lot for the early tour that you would mostly skip. You might give the Dark Rome people a call to check on this. Here's another idea: (1) have a nice breakfast, and get to the Scavi Tour a little early. (2) at the end of that tour, take plenty of time to appreciate and enjoy St. Peter's, plus the gift shops. (3) take a break nearby, for lunch, and/or maybe go to the nearby Castello. Then sign up for a mid-to-late afternoon tour of the Vatican Museum including the Sistine Chapel, considerably less expensive than the very early entry tour. Hopefully by then the crowds will have lessened some, and you will not need to rush through any of it. Good luck!

Finding the right entrance was a little difficult- further than one thought- and no bathrooms past the security. You must allow time to pass through security for the Scavi Tour. It was not a long line- 10 minutes perhaps?- but you do have to be at the gathering point earlier than the appointed time. That should be on your ticket. When we went there were 2-3 groups so also had to find the right leader. If you want a souvenir book or postcard, buy it at the tiny giftshop where you meet, as you don't come back to it.

Another possibility would be to arrive at St. Peter's Basilica about 15 minutes before it opens (730, I believe) and spend an hour or so in the Basilica. In my experience, very early morning is the best time to visit the church. Then head over to the Scavi office. At the end of the tour, I would go do something else in Rome, and come back early the next morning to visit the museums and Sistine Chapel.

We just did the Scavi tour on December 23rd. If it's the same one, it let us out in the crypt under the altar (where there are various tombs of Popes). A word of advice. We thought we needed to clear the main security entrance to St Peters (on the right side) but actually the entrance is on the left (opposite the bronze doors) and has it's own security. The security line took so long we almost missed the tour!

Thanks for all the responses! I spoke with the early access tour office and they said we would be out of the Sistine Chapel by 8:30 so if we don't see anything else in the Vatican Museum we could do it. Not ideal but with only two full days in Rome we are going to have to make compromises I think!

Joe Aloha....did you enjoy your Scavi tour?

Scavi is indeed interesting (I've done it several times). But if you only have 2 full days in Rome then just save Scavi for the next time. There are a tremendous amount of things to see in Rome.