Sistine Chapel visit

It's bundled in with the Vatican Museum, but not with St. Peter's. It's at the end of the Vatican Museum, so you would have to just beeline through until you get to the Chapel.

i took the night tour this past april and it was great....since the numbers are so low with how many reservations they took i gave myself a 7PM time and by 710PM I was looking at the ceiling. Obviously if you want to look at other art it will take you longer but if all you want to see is the ceiling, night tour was great because you can still see everything with the natural light(maybe not in winter) and there are no crowds

No, is the answer. You can enter the museums and then bypass everything and head straight to the chapel but even at a good pace it will still take at least a half hour of brisk walking to get there. If that's all you wish to do I would suggest pre-purchasing tickets through the vatican website. Try to get the 8am or 8:30am time slot so you can be the first inside. http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do Donna

Matty: I have not taken this tour yet, so not really an endorsement, but check out Walks in Italy's "Pristine Sistine." They take a small group (max 12) through early in the AM before the crowds. As I understand it, we'll make a beeline through the museum to the Chapel, then back through the major collections. I read about the tour and the guide on this helpline, and the guide is someone Rick recommends in his guide, so considering the trusted source, I thought I'd give it a try. I'll write a post after the tour. Leaving in 9 days, back October 26! Here's the website: http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_listing/6/6

Matty: We booked our tickets on-line. As we only had two days in Rome, the Sistine Chapel was a priority. We walked through the Vaitcan Museum to the Sistine Chapel. Although, it was pretty hard to ignore the amazing art. It took us about 25 minutes to reach the Chapel. It is awesome. We took Rick's advice and used the stairway from the chapel (no one stopped us or asked if we were part of a tour group) to St. Peter's. This was in November, so the crowds were not bad at all.

The only drawback to using the secret door in the Chapel to get to St. Peter's is that you don't get to walk down the famous spiral staircase. But Ron In Rome has a tip on how you can still see the staircase. See Tip #5 at http://www.roninrome.com/%20sites-and-attractions/20-tips-on-visiting-the-vatican-museums

I went on the night tour of the Vatican Museum last friday...8pm ticket, I think I was at the Sistine Chapel maybe around 10pm and spent about 1/2 hour in there. They have signs posted to show you the direction to the Sistine Chapel. I went to St. Peter's 2 days later on a Sunday. I was there maybe between 4pm & 5pm. There was a line to get in that was about even or just past the fountain in the square. But it moved pretty quickly and then I just walked in the Basilica. You can walk around in there fairly quickly.

You are not required to take a tour. As suggested above, you enter the Vatican Museums then walk about 25 minutes directly to the Sistine Chapel. Out of curiosity, why do you plan on skipping everything else?

Although the whole place is amazing the chapel was the highlite for me. Spent a couple of hours in there just absorbing it and looking at everything. Take some binoculars and be quick to grab a seat on the side. Although they tell you no pics there were plenty being taken when I was there.

How much time do you have? The Sistine Chapel is indeed worth the admission of the Vatican museum, but I recommend taking your time through more of the museum if you can. One of the great pleasures I had in there was the luxury of being in my own practically private galleries as tour groups rushed by on their way to the Sistine. Stop and smell the roses.

How much time do you have? The Sistine Chapel is indeed worth the admission of the Vatican museum, but I recommend taking your time through more of the museum if you can. One of the great pleasures I had in there was the luxury of being in my own practically private galleries as tour groups rushed by on their way to the Sistine. Stop and smell the roses.

The Sistine Chapel is awesome, but getting there is a pain. The Vatican Museum is huge and kind of repetitious. I guess the rocky road that the Bible talks about, is really how long it'll take you to get to the chapel through those long hallways, the Papal apartments and what's with that exhibition of modern art? I was beat by the time I reached the chapel. Take comfortable, really comfortable shoes:) ie; if you love maps, then you will love the loooong... map room. I like maps, but come on?