Please sign in to post.

St Peter's Basilica before or after 8:30 AM timed entrance to Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel?

Posted by on

Ciao! My party of 3 has timed entry tix for the Vatican Museums (not as part of a guided tour) at 8:30 AM on 21 September. This will be my 3rd visit to the Vatican (lucky me!). During my first 2 visits 20+ years ago, I used the door at the back of the Sistine Chapel to enter St Peter's Square directly and then access St Peter's Basilica. The first visit was part of a guided tour; the 2nd was not (I just slipped out the door).

  1. Is using the door from the Sistine Chapel to St Peter's Square still possible (if not part of a tour)?

  2. If not, will we have sufficient time to visit the Basilica when it opens at 7 AM and to walk around to the Vatican Museums for the 8:30 entry? We are all able bodied and walk fairly quickly.

Grazie mille in advance!

Posted by
9742 posts

That secret door is only for select tour groups- I don't think you'll be able to slip thru.

It would take 15-20 min to walk around so if you can see all you want of St Peters and get in right at 7- I guess it could work. St Peters does sell timed entries now.

Posted by
7729 posts

No

Its a 15 minute walk at a good pace between the 2 (door to door). So it depends on what you want to get out of your visit to the Basilica. If it's just a quick walk down the main aisle to the alter, then sure, you can do it before your Vatican time slot. We've usually spent at least 2 hrs, viewing the many statues, monuments and side alters and chapels. Only you can decide if an hour would be sufficient.

Posted by
449 posts

We were in Rome in April of this year.
We visited the Vatican Museums as part of a tour. (I will 'never' take a tour to the vatican again - ugh!!

If you are able to, I'd visit the day before and see how the timed entry is going. I'd be biased to get there early on your entry day/time because of the zoo all the people make.

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will visit St Peter's Basilica after visiting the Vatican Museums in the morning.

Next question: Before I purchase tickets to the Basilica, I want to ensure that I allot enough time after the Vatican Museums to walk to St Peter's Square, grab a quick bite, and queue up for security prior to the the timed entry. On Monday, 21 September (just over 2 weeks from now), how long should I reasonably expect to wait in the security queue before entry into the Basilica? I read that wait times can be 30-60 minutes, but considering it won't be peak summer crowds, I am wondering if it will actually take less time to clear security. I don't want to budget time for the queue that would be better spent elsewhere.

Thanks again.

Posted by
329 posts

Just to add a different take--I live in Rome. Arrived to Saint Peter's around 8:15am this past Saturday expecting a huge line and there was none. I can imagine that arriving when it opens at 7am would be even less crowded. Other commenters are correct that you could spend hours inside, but if that isn't of interest to you, you can certainly wander around for an hour or so and still make it to your museum reservation. It also does not take 15 minutes to get to the Vatican Museums entrance if, as you say, you are able bodied and walk quickly.

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.