St. Peter's/Vatican plan with kids

As I recall, Saint Peter's doesn't have a tower, you can take an elevator to the roof and then climb a spiral staircase inside the dome. It's pretty strenuous as it narrows near the top. There may be a height or age requirement for your younger son. If you can't climb to the top, the views from the roof are plenty interesting.

The big bus tours are usually in the Vatican Museums in the morning which makes that the most crowded time to see the Sistine Chapel. I find the afternoon a better time.

I think the boys will enjoy Castel Sant'Angelo a lot. There are lots of restaurants and pizza places around - under no circumstances eat the pizza at the Vatican Museums cafeteria.

It doesn't make sense to me to break up the Vatican and St. Peters. As soon as you are done with the Sistine chapel it is JUST RIGHT THERE! So easy and convenient.

The Sistine gets unbearably hot with a heavy crowd. There's absolutely no ventillation. I agree with the previous poster about seeing St. Peters/Vatican museum in the afternoon, around 2pm. If at all possible, do the Sistine last when the crowds have thinned a bit and you can actually enjoy it. There are night tours at the Sistine, and if you get there before sunset, that's ideal. Enough light, fewer people, and better viewing., or even 3. EVERYONE gets in line at 8am, and it's crazy.

the museums and chapel are always crowded but you'll find the outside line much smaller in the afternoons than in the mornings. The rafael rooms and the chapel will be packed with people from the time the museums open until they close. Just be prepared for that.

You can easily spend an hour or two inside the basilica and much more inside the museums. The line to get inside the basilica is the longest during the morning but get there early and just wait. It moves pretty quickly.

Donna

In my opinion: do the Museums first with the Sistine Chapel (buy your ticket online for the earliest time possible), and if you are able to take the back door out of the Sistine Chapel, do so and head over to the elevator that will take you to the dome (which is what I think you meant rather than tower). Then, go into the basilica itself. If they do not let you through the back door, walk around to the security lines that allows you into St. Peter's Basilica, and pick up the itinerary there. If you get there first thing in the am when the museums open, you could do all of this by lunchtime. Then head out for lunch and the rest of the stuff you want to do. I guess I don't see the benefit of leaving and returning.

My experience: The lines for the Vatican Museums was non-existent in the pm, however, the museums themselves including the Sistine Chapel were so packed that we could not see our own two feet. We entered at 2pm. And, it was unbearably hot.

You may know this from your research but you have to go a long way thru the Vatican museums to get to the Sistine. I am not the expert after only one visit, but I don't think there is a short cut...so you do have to go the distance which does go thru the Raphael rooms. I am open to being corrected on this information!

Hmmmm... OK so I am not worried about the line to get in since we will do the "skip the line" timed thing (or should I be?)- and if we arrive early, we can arrive very early to be in the front. Like when we do Disneyland/World we arrive one hour early and then are in the very front, no problem. I am thinking we will be up very early on our two big Rome days.

I was worried about the line to go to the dome also being long in the afternoon? And I don't think we will be able to use the secret door to get into St. Peter's from the Chapel - not counting on it anyway, although it would be nice if we can!

So maybe we should get in as early as we can to the museum, then do St. Peter's. Do they still let tour groups in earlier than the public? I wonder if that is worth it - we don't really want to be toured around the museum, the kids will NOT be into that. :( I guess the Chapel will be as crowded at 8am as any time?

Or maybe even later to the Vatican....

Decisions decisions.... any other thoughts welcome! Thank you!!! :)

My kids, oldest 16 youngest 8 enjoyed climbing to the roof of St. Peters. the stairway is quirky since you can see the shape of the dome in the walls.

I always like picnics. Pick up food everyone likes at a grocery store. For us sandwich makings - meat, cheese, rolls, and hot mustard - are a staple for lunches. Carry it in a daypack and eat when you get hungry. Add something to drink and some chocolate or gelato for dessert (don't recall seeing gelato in Vatican though).

If you have timed tickets for the museums you don't need to get there more than 15 minutes or so before that time. They usually won't let you in early.

If the kids will not be interested in a tour then you should skip it. You can also "bribe" them with the fact that by taking the tour you get to bypass other lines. You won't need to wait in the security line for the basilica and will be closer to the entry for climbing the dome. When my daughter was 9 she found the museums very fascinating. this might be something to consider:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/Didattica/MV_Info_Didattica_09_family_tour.html

Donna

Hmmm... ok now I am thinking maybe the early morning tour is the way to go. Looking at this one:

http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_all_listing/1/43

Goes in at 7:35am, straight to the Sistine Chapel.

Perhaps the kids would do ok in the museum if there was a guide talking to them... I can see them maybe getting into that at least a bit. I do want them to learn something while we are there.

This also goes to St. Peter's, so all in all we would be done by lunch. That would give us time to grab something to eat, head back to the apartment for a rest, and still be able to do something in the later afternoon.

Kim

We toured the Vatican Museum with a private guide for our family of five. It was amazing. The group tours had many more people and were wearing headsets to hear the guide. The guide in a group tour will speak to the adults and not direct his tour to the kids perspective. That's just the way it is. We did not see one happy child at the Vatican. Either book a private guide that can keep the tours perspective at your kids level of interest or just educate yourself as much as possible ahead of time so that you can be the guide. You may even find that the cost of a private guide for the day is less expensive than a groups tour. I like your original plan of visiting the dome first, the taking a break at the park.

Your latest post sounds perfect! Getting into the Sistine that early before crowds and heat sounds perfect. The kids will enjoy the museum, there's plenty for kids to really enjoy. I didn't know there were tours that could get you in that early!

Hi Kim, I took the Walks of Italy "Pristine Sistine" tour in October, and for me it was excellent, although quite tiring, with lots of walking. I can't really comment about how your kids might do with the tour. Certainly if you are four of a group of 12 or 15, it would be hard for the guide to focus on the kids.

It did mean a very early morning, in order to arrive at the indicated corner at about 7:15 AM. There was a small crowd at the museum entry until the doors opened, and then our group went quickly through the museum in order to get to the Sistine Chapel. It was wonderful to be in the Chapel with maybe 50 people present, as I have heard that it gets incredibly crowded and hot later in the day. Someone, not in our group, took a photo. A guard saw that and started screaming at that tourist, demanding not only that he not take photos but that he delete what he had taken. "You took two photos" she yelled, "delete them both!". The Sistine Chapel was a wonder, but quite overwhelming, and to appreciate it, I think it would be good to review the subject matter in the many paintings ahead of time. There is a little discussion just before entering, but no guide or talking inside the Chapel. After about 20 minutes in the Chapel, we went back through the Museum in some depth, then passed through the end of the Chapel again quickly, it was extremely crowded at that point, in order to go into St. Peter's. The guide took us around the inside of St. Peter's, then said farewell and we could stay in St. Peter's more if we wanted. I believe that photos were ok in St. Peter's and of course outside. The tour lasted until about 12 noon, longer than I had expected, and I spent some more time in the church, gift/book shops, and then the large square in front, before walking on to the Castello. It was a long and tiring morning with lots of walking.

The idea of a private guide who could respond to the needs and attention span of your family would be a great idea. I'm not sure if private groups can get in during that early morning time. You might even contact Walks of Italy to discuss this. They have an office and phone line in the US and I found their people on the phone to be very helpful and well-informed. I took other Walks of Italy tours in Rome, and they have various small discounts for Rick Steves followers, people who book multiple tours, etc. so be sure to ask about those.

Good luck, enjoy your trip, and don't let any in your family to get too exhausted to enjoy it all!

I know all kids are different, but here's what we did with our daughter when we took her to Italy when she was 10yo. We already knew that she loves art, so we knew that would be the focus. Us adults had been to the Vatican Museums / St. Peter's before, so knew the procedure and layout. We bought tickets for the 9 am entrance - our daughter has a difficult time waking in the morning, and a 7:15 start would have been miserable for her. We entered before the first of the crowds. Armed with several guide books, we took our time through the museums, focusing on what we like, including the Pinocateca (which is in a separate portion). We made our way through the Raphael rooms and to the Sistine chapel just as the crowds were getting heavy. We were able to make our way (merging ourselves with a tour group) through the "secret door" into St. Peter's.

We actually didn't spend much time in St. Peter's; none of us like Baroque much, so it is just not something as interesting to us. Us adults had been up to the top of the dome previously, and she didn't want to go, so we skipped that.

One caveat: if your kids want to climb the dome you need to go with them. The stairway coming down does not end up where the stairway going up does, so you can't wait for them to come back. Going up to the roof you get tickets and elevators on the right side of the basilica (facing toward it), but coming down the elevator deposits you in the middle of the crowds inside the basilica on the left side. The roof is fenced off into different areas so it is almost impossible to get back to where you started. We had a panicky time finding our grandson last year, since none of the guidebooks mention this.