Sistine Chapel SIde Exit

If you weren't on an official tour then you took the correct door. The door on the right is reserved for official tour groups only. Without the tour you must exit to the left and make your way around to the front of St. Peter's. Donna

You have to tag along with a tour group and exit out the door on the right to get the shortcut. We noticed an absence of a guard and bolted out that door back in the last week of February. When we had arrived at the Sistine Chapel, it had been guarded, and we didn't think we would have been able to use it.

We took the "tour group door" to the right, did not tag along with a tour group, and there was a guard there. Just walk through it like you know what you're doing and where you're going and I don't think they really care. I believe Rick says it similarly in one of his books or audio guides.

I looked back at the guidebook for 2012 and the map is a little confusing. It has you entering the sistine chapel on the right side of the room, we entered on the left side. The exit on the left side was listed as being for quick exit and the one on the right was for long march back. I should have studied what groups were leaving thru which door. I thought the map in the book was a little confusing.

Hi Todd, I'm going to Rome next month and was curious, did you do the Sistine Chapel and then St Peters, or the other way around? Also, did you get your tickets for both ahead of time? Thanks.

The entrance to the Sistine Chapel is on the left with your back to the Last Judgment and looking down the length of the chapel. The exits at the other end are left (same side of the Last Judgment you entered) for the long walk back thru the museums and right "for tour groups" that takes you directly to the cathedral without the security check. If you checked any bags or rented an audio guide, you will have to return to the museum entrance - before the museums close. I was there a month ago. Hadn't changed since my first visit 2 years previously.

Mary, you don't need tickets for the basilica. It's a church and is free. You need tickets for the Vatican museums if you wish to see the Sistine chapel. That is the only way to see it, by going through the museums. You can visit the basilica first if you wish or the museums, it really makes no difference. If you wait until the afternoon there is usually little to no line outside the museums. Donna

We did the wednesday outdoor mass with the pope then had tickets for the sistine chapel at 1pm. We then toured St. Peters later in the afternoon. We had plenty of time to do all. Several in our group even climbed to the dome at 4pm and others went to confessional. Overall, it was a great day aside from the wrong exit from the chapel.

As for the exits, I just feel that the 2012 Rick Steve's map in the section for Vatican Museum Tour for exiting the Sistine Chapel was not accurate, so future travellers be prepared. You enter from the left and need to exit at the far end on the right.