We are visiting Italy in April. How much time should we allow to self-tour the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel on a Tuesday? We are making special dinner arrangements and need to get back to our hotel and freshen up before dinner. Rick's book says mornings are busiest and late afternoons are the best time. But late afternoon will not work for us.
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
1046 posts
There is so much to see and quite honestly to follow Rick's plan you would need a motorcycle! Last time it took us at least 5 hours from the time we entered until we exited. that doesn't consider the long lines to get tickets. Sounds like you want to hire a guide so you can bypass that line. Good luck.
Posted by
California
1625 posts
I would highly recommend a guided tour of the Vatican, there is so much to see and take in. We used Walks of Italy for the early morning entry (7:30) before it opens and had the place to ourselves (along with a few other tour companies that offer the same thing). The tour was like 3-4 hours, then we wondered around a little on our own. There was lots of people after it opened and all the hallways and rooms were packed!
Posted by
Carmel, CA, USA
2455 posts
Rich, boy are you in luck today! I also took and recommend the tour Letizia mentions, "Pristine Sistine" by Walks of Italy. Great company, great tour, gets you up early, in early before the crowds, and out around noon to continue your day. (However, you don't get to linger for hours and hours in the Vatican Museum, if that's what you want.) During these days, Walks of Italy is offering a different tour each day at 20% off, and today's tour is Pristine Sistine. Just today, use Promo Code FebPS720 at www.walksofitaly.com.
Posted by
OP
Charlotte NC
7 posts
Wow! Thank you to all for the valuable information and great advice. Walks of Italy looks like a great choice for a tour. If we did not book a tour, would making reservations ahead of time eliminate the long wait for tickets that you speak of?
Posted by
Monkton, MD, USA
41 posts
Rich,
It will. First trip 2-3 hrs in the line snaking around the Vatican with many beggars and gypsys to contend with. Second time with reserved tickets, taxied to the Musei Vaticani (as opposed to St. Peters) and were in in minutes. Def the saner way to do the Museum/ Sistine part of the St. Peter's visit.
Pat
Posted by
OP
Charlotte NC
7 posts
It's me, Rich, again and we are back from our Italy trip. I did not book the tour, and boy do I wish that I had! The map looks so clear until you get there. We spend a while going in circles trying to figure out where Rick's walk starts. After several false starts we made our way through, but it was hard to appreciate what we were seeing with the crowds. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer. Rick's secret door now seems to be the main entry to The Sistine Chapel. It is beautiful, but we were packed in shoulder to shoulder looking up, not able to move around. After standing in one position for a while they exited everyone through the door that is not the one that Rick says to exit through to St. Peter's. So the only option was back through the other side of the museum, out the main entrance, and make the long walk to St. Peter's. Next time we will definitely take an early morning tour.
Posted by
Delanson, NY
79 posts
I had a similar experience last year and also was ushered out the door to continue with the rest of the museum. It seems that right now only tours get to use the door into St. Peter's. I was packed in like a sardine also in the Sistine Chapel.
As to Rick's route through central Rome, I followed it last year, but it was definitely very tricky with the hodgepodge of narrow ancient streets and oftentimes lack of signs. I made several false turns and had to backtrack a block. I'll be back in Rome and Italy again in July. Now this year I finally entered the modern era with a smart phone and my plan is to buy a sim card with a net plan so that I can use the GPS in my phone via google maps. That should really beat holding a guide book and trying to envision which street to take.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15826 posts
Rick's secret door now seems to be the main entry to The Sistine
Chapel. It is beautiful, but we were packed in shoulder to shoulder
looking up, not able to move around. After standing in one position
for a while they exited everyone through the door that is not the one
that Rick says to exit through to St. Peter's.
Rich, that 'secret door' is the one directly into St Peter's from the Sistine - not into the Sistine from the museums - and is reserved for tour groups only. Some independent tourists have been able to sneak through but many others have not so it shouldn't be relied upon. Honestly, I wish Rick would quit recommending that route when it's not at all a sure thing. Visitors should be prepared to have to use the regular exit and to enter the basilica via its own entrance/security line.
Booking a tour which includes both museums and basilica will, of course, eliminate the extra step.