I am planning to book a guided tour for Vatican Museums (+ Sistine chapel) and Basilica thru official site. It says length of your is 3 hoursand we cant go back to museums on the same ticket.
My question is if 3 hours are enough to cover all 3 places? will it be a rushed tour or we get good time to see and appreciate? :)
will it be a better just to book guided tour for museums and go to Basilica on our own before or after the museum tour?
Thanks
I suppose it depends on how interested you are in the Vatican. I just returned with my wife and two kids and we just used the Rick Steves audio tours (free download) which we found to be outstanding. It hit enough of the highlights to make it interesting, but were very clear on what to skip in the museums as to not get bogged down. The museums are so cram packed I'm not sure how well a guided tour works, though we saw plenty of them. We are just tourists that like to go at our own pace, so we've never been fans of tours.
As a side note, there is a shortcut from the Sistine Chapel into the Basilica which RS describes in his tour book, and for us it worked beautifully and saved at least 90 minutes of walking/standing in line.
That said, I think we spend right around 3 hours total there, maybe just a tad more, so I don't think you would be rushed. The museum is a mosh pit for the most part, so you actually shuffle through just because the crowd is pushing you along. We spent maybe 30 minutes in the Sistine Chapel (the length of the RS audio) and took our time wandering the Basilica. We could have stared at the Pieta for hours.
If you don't book a guided tour, at the very least buy museum tickets in advance. There was a ridiculously long line to get in, but with advance tickets, we walked right in.
Good luck!
Scott
We did the Pristine Sistine Tour last April through Walks of Italy and we really enjoyed our tour guide and speeding through security. You can waste a lot of time just standing in the normal security line in the Roman sun.
As a side note, there is a shortcut from the Sistine Chapel into the
Basilica which RS describes in his tour book, and for us it worked
beautifully and saved at least 90 minutes of walking/standing in line.
That shortcut is technically reserved for tours. While some RS posters where able to get through without difficulty, other independent tourists have reported being denied access by the guards. It's sort of up to temperament of whomever happens to be stationed there, and should not be considered a fool-proof, time-saving route to the basilica unless you're with a tour.
gargbi, due to the crowds and general sensory overload of the museums' vast holdings, about 3 hours is about all but the most dedicated museum lovers can manage, even just hitting the highlights. You will be good and tired at the end of it! You'll also be able to remain in the basilica for as long as you wish to when your tour is over. I don't know as they cover the crypt - which is accessible to all without a separate tour or reservation - so you could do that on your own. This is NOT the scavi - or necropolis - at the deeper level which does require a tour and reservations well in advance.
People speak highly of Walks Of Italy's "Pristine Sistine" tour ( and some others) which allow early access to the Sistine before it's completely mobbed. It's pricey, though, so you might consider the Vatican's own early-entry offering with breakfast for quite a lot less? It's not a guided tour, although you are given an audioguide, so you can spend as long in the museums as you wish to. You will not be able to chance exiting into the basilica via the shortcut as, as far as I know, the audioguide must be returned near the front of the museums.
There is also the version with a human guide.
