Vatican Friday Night Tours

I did the same tour April/May and we too did the Friday evening tour (with Karin and Dara). It was wonderful, along with cool breezes and beautiful views of sunset and courtyards through the open windows. Can't imagine how hot it would have been otherwise. We were the last ones out of the museum and chapel and had it almost to ourselves. I loved that our guides were flexible to take advantage of opportunities and not tied to a printed schedule!

You can book tours or entry tickets for Friday night visits through the official website. This has been going on for a few years now.

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceLivelloVisita=17&step=1

Donna

I'd suggest anyone booking the VFR tour May-October to take the Friday evening possibility into account when planning free time activities. Based on the posted itinerary and the "final" itinerary we were given, we booked non-refundable Borghese Gallery reservations for 5 p.m. Friday, only to learn we were going to St. Peters/Vatican/Sistine in the evening instead of morning. Since the Sistine Chapel was my No. 1 priority, I couldn't complain too much, but we ended up not being able to go to the Borghese, as we couldn't change our reservation and tickets for other times were sold out. We were actually able to sell two of our three tickets, but we missed the gallery ourselves.

And if our evening visit to the Sistine in May was less crowded, I can't for a moment imagine how insane mid-morning in "high" season must be. I had to very, VERY consciously try to block out the crowding and noise and get into my own bubble to appreciate the masterpiece I'd waited a half-century to see. Fortunately, we did have a full 30 minutes in the chapel.

We'd love to go back to Rome someday and, if we ever do so, I'll book the Pristine Sistine tour.

We just did the Vatican Friday night tour self guided with th RS audio guide and it was awesome. We glided right past the line and the groups. Highly recommend!!