Time of day to visit Vatican museums?

I wonder if your group would protest if you got to the Vatican at noon and there was a 3-hour line? Which is entirely possible...

The time of year you're going would help us advise you, but bottom line is the Vatican is super busy all the time. Search the forum for others' opinions, but rule of thumb for attendance seems to be very early, or late.

And still you'll have lines. We'll be there early April, and although we're do-it-yourself kind of people...we decided to employ The Tour Guy for a Vatican/Sistine/St. Peter's 3-hour tour, first of the day at 9AM. Cost 117 Euro/pp, but I think with only 4 days in Rome it's well worth it. I've been to the Vatican before in 2010, when it was an hour wait, then St. Peter's in 2017 on a 'Skip The Line' pass for 18 Euro. That was fine but with Jubilee 2025 and the expected crowds, time is money so we opted for the guided tour.

If you're the 'tour planner', part of the job is explaining reality to the minions. Enjoy your planning!

Logic says you cannot beat the advantage of entering first thing when the doors open. Especially during next year’s Jubilee.. Turning in to sleep 30 minutes earlier than usual the night before visiting the Vatican Museums would be well worth it.

Does everyone have to go at the same time? Let the ones who don't want to go early plan their own trip later in the day, Then they will be the only ones inconvenienced by their desire not to get up early.

I haven’t tried this with Vatican museums but you also might consider the very end of the day. We have done that in other places and often there are fewer people. I would not go at 2 pm. That is the middle of the day.

I wonder if your group would protest if you got to the Vatican at noon and there was a 3-hour line? Which is entirely possible..

With timed entry tickets, there isn't a three hour wait to get in - only for the people in the walk-up line.

I don't know how large you group is, but I've found it not very practical to tour art museums with even one other person. I cannot imagine trying to stick together with multiple other people unless we were on a tour and all hanging with the guide--and in the mob scene that is the Vatican Museums, even sticking to a guide looked very challenging. This is by way of saying that I don't think you lose all that much in terms of group dynamics if not everyone has the same entry time for the Vatican Museums.

I'd be careful about planning to go rather late in the day, because the Museums are huge and cannot be seen well in just two hours. That amount of time may be right for plenty of people--some seem to care only about the Sistine Chapel. But there may be at least one person in your group who'll want to spend more time there, maybe going to the Pinacotoeca (the art gallery, which would normally be bypassed on two-hour visits). That person needs an earlier entry time to allow for a fuller visit. This is another example of why I am doubtful about keeping a group together on a visit to such a time-consuming sight.

The Pincotheca is one of my favorite parts of the Vatican museums. It is the location of the large picture of Christ by Raphael. You will need to check their opening times, but if you all wanted to meet up after the museums, it would be a place to hang out for those who didn't want to spend as much time in the museums if they weren't willing to take a taxi back to your hotel on their own. If there are any children in the group you will probably need to plan for someone to leave early with them, although our daughter always loved art museums. We took her to Italy when she was 15 months old and she quickly acquired the word "statue".

I will give the opposite view…we always go in the late afternoon. We were just there this past Saturday, November 30, at 3pm. I was absolutely thrilled at the lack of crowds…it was the best, least-crowded, visit in years…mostly due to the fact that we were there in late November vs October when we usually visit.

Go earlier in the day and get timed tickets so you don't have to wait in line. (You don't wait 3 hours with timed tickets.) The process of getting in is efficient if you have a reservation.