I purchased timed entry tickets to the Vatican Museums through the official website. I keep seeing offers for the "skip the line" tickets and am wondering if we'd be better off with these as far as line queues. We have 9am tickets for Saturday, May 9, 2026. We have children with us, so I didn't want to book a guided tour. I had also heard that to enter St. Peters there is a "secret" corridor that you can use to avoid lines there. Is that corridor only for use by tour groups?
Posted by
Washington DC
30627 posts
"Skip-the-line" is sort of scammy marketing-speak that doesn't usually mean anything at all. The line you skip is the ticket-buying line. A ticket purchased at much lower cost directly from the Vatican Museums (as you have smartly done) also allows you to skip the ticket-buying line--which is indeed long and slow-moving at the VM. Your ticket is as good as the advertised "skip-the-line" tickets for entry to the Museums. No one skips the security line.
There is a door connecting the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's. To my knowledge it can be used only by tours covering both the Museums and St. Peter's. The Vatican itself offers no such tours, so the only way to have access to that door is to pay $$$ for a commercial tour of both areas. And even then, there isn't a 100% guarantee. The door can be closed when there's something special going on at St. Peter's.
St. Peter's is free but does suffer from a long (if reportedly quick-moving) security line. There is no entry fee at St. Peter's, but it now offers online timed-entry appointments at a modest cost. (It may be something like 5 euros.) That includes an audio guide. Even better, it allows access to a sort of priority security line that will be much shorter than the regular security line. I urge you to investigate that entry-reservation option immediately. I'm not sure how early those reservations go on sale, but I believe they sell out quickly. That doesn't mean people without appointments don't get in, just that they're stuck in the really long security line.
I cannot tell you anything about timing your entry to St. Peter's, because it's really unpredictable how much time you'll want to spend in the Vatican Museums. They are huge (you could spend all day there), and the Sistine Chapel is at the farthest point from the entry door. Although you have a fairly early entry time (I think the Museums open at 8 AM), you will be shocked at how crowded they are. You probably will be somewhat limited in how fast you can walk through the halls and rooms. Then, after you reach the Sistine Chapel, it's quite a walk back to the door, which is some distance from the door to St. Peter's. I haven't timed it, but I've seen references to 15 minutes for the walking time from the Museums to St. Peters.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1916 posts
...it's quite a walk back to the door, which is some distance from the door to St. Peter's. I haven't timed it, but I've seen references to 15 minutes for the walking time from the Museums to St. Peters.
Yes, approx 15 minutes. But with children in tow, you should consider taking a break in between - maybe at one of the cafeterias within the Museums, or else outside between the two. Also consider the attention spans of the kids.
Posted by
2 posts
What's the secret to actually getting to buy tickets on the official website? We have tried multiple cards, computers and browsers and just keep getting error. When we contact them, they tell us to do what we've already done.
Posted by
135 posts
Thousands get the Vatican tickets every day, there is no secret.
What error? When did you get it? After you have entered the credit card number? You could try to contact your bank and tell them that:
1. you are making an online purchase abroad
2. the Vatican site uses the "Verified by Visa" security protocol. If they don't know what "Verified by Visa" is, ask to speak with a manager
Posted by
2 posts
We have tried all of that and it isn't even getting to our credit card company. Thanks for the info though.
Posted by
135 posts
it isn't even getting to our credit card company
That's exactly how the "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard SecurCode" protocols work, if I were you I'd ask to speak with the fraud prevention department. You need to speak with somebody who's aware of this stuff.
Posted by
17 posts
One caution, we spent hours walking around the Basilica before our timed tickets to the museum, so we were already a bit worn out before the very long walk, much of it uphill, from the Basilica to the museum entrance. If I were to do it again I would break it into two days -- we didn't see anywhere near as much as we could have in the museum because we were tired.
One tip -- as you approach the museum, the line for ticket holders is on the right side of the chain divider versus the very long line on the left for people who still need to buy tickets. I don't recall seeing any signage that effect until you actually get to the front of the lines. The process of actually getting through the ticket holder line and then from the museum entrance to the actual museum exhibits takes a fair a bit of time (it's a huge place), so don't go too late in the day if you want to spend a lot of time in the museum.