Vatican - How long are the lines if I already bought the tickets online?

We bought a guided tour, so may be different for you with just tickets. I would say that the entire process went smooth, and my observations is that without the guide it would have been extremely confusing. There are a lot of people around, different lines, all unknown. You may not know what is what. Where do you go in? Is that the line for prepaid, or not? you may end up waiting in a line that is not even applicable to you. Where does the line start or end. Are they overlapping? The guide guides you through all that, because you meet them first. Even getting any kind of audio is where, what, how?
It is all a very confusing scene.
I do not know that price difference between tickets only and tickets plus guide.

Your advance ticket (bought online through the Vatican Museum website) will be for a specific entry time so considered "skip the line". As EVERYONE has to go through security, your potential wait time wouldn't be any longer for a general, timed-entry ticket than a tour.

I am assuming by "Vatican" that you mean JUST the museums. The basilica is free so you'd stand in its security line with everyone else. It can be long but moves pretty quickly. If wanting to see the basilica, I'd go first thing in the morning before it opens and get in line.

Thanks for the information. Another question. Let's say I have tickets for 10 am. Do I have to be inline by 10 or should I arrive at 9 so I will enter by 10 ( assuming I may be line for 1 hr)

You are asking about tickets for the museums, correct? Not the church, right? 15 minutes or even a little less in advance of your time slot will be sufficient. There's no WAY it'll take an hour to get through security, and they won't let you in much, if at all, before your appointed time. It all comes down to crowd control; that + eliminating long waits are precisely why tickets are sold by regulated time slot.

Entry time slots are sold in 30 minute entry increments so the people in the time slot before yours will have entered by the time your slot comes up..

Thanks, yes I am referring to the Vatican Museums.

I was at the Vatican Museum exactly one week ago today. This was our second visit. Weeks ago, we bought the tickets and reserved audioguides from the Vatican website. By the time I bought tickets, the earliest tickets on our designated day were at 11:30. Due to COVID testing, we ran a little late and got there at 12:30. Nobody cared that we were late. By that time, a lot of people were leaving.

There was no line and we zipped in. I don't think there was much of a line to buy tickets but that wasn't really on my radar. I know there wasn't a snaking queue. I wouldn't doubt that as the summer progresses, it will be much more crowded. However, having an advance ticket made the process faster. Security was a breeze. Redeeming our vouchers and picking up our audioguides took moments. This was quite the contrast to the expensive Pristine Sistine tour we took last time where we came very early, waited in line a long time and did not see a pristine Sistine Chapel. After that, our preference has been no tours but that's us.

Here's my advice: Buy entry tickets from the Vatican themselves and choose an early afternoon slot on a day when perhaps the museum is open later. Eat a solid lunch first. Don't book a tour because in the 2-4 hours it takes, it will probably drive your teens mad. If you do book a tour, try to get someone who is native English speaker or it will drive your teens mad. If you get the audiotour, bring your own headphones and seriously think if you really need one for each person. It will be very hot. Plan a break at the cafe for a soda or snack. Don't leave it for too late as the cafe closes in the late afternoon. Consider going "off road" to the paths less taken. We saw a great collection of Etruscan pottery simply because no tours go that way. Sometimes, the most interesting looking things don't have a number to access in the audioguide. Other times, you can't see interesting things because the tours effectively have them blocked off. Travel fast. Walking quickly is a whole lot less tiring than meandering with a tour. Whatever you do, the Sistine Chapel will be packed. That's just life. Nobody will give up their seats on the side benches so forget about sitting down. Take your address list so you can buy, write and mail postcards from the Vatican.

If you are concerned about your kids not getting all the info, do your prep in advance. In the weeks before our trip, I would listen to the Rick Steves' free guides on the phone app. Ask your kids to invest their time into listening at least once. It will give them the scope of the museum. There are thousands and thousands of pieces. Encourage your teens to think about what THEY consider good art. Just because there is a crowd of guided tours around it doesn't mean that it is something that will resonate with them.

Take the money you've saved from not taking tours and invest in gelato. Souvenirs will be a lot cheaper and varied OUTSIDE the Vatican. You will go passed several well-priced shops on your way to St. Pauls. That was a pretty quick line around 5. After our tour, I got an email from the Vatican Museums with a 20% off coupon for purchases. I might buy something now...

Hi MomTravels,
It might be difficult to get kids up early enough for my recommendation but if you can pull it off I'd say going on a weekday morning, especially a Wednesday, and show up half an hour before the door opens with your ticket that you bought online. Every time I've done this it has been easy getting in quick without much of a line at all. Ha, well quick if you don't count the half hour :). That might be a little extreme. Maybe 15 min. would work. Now all the times I've done this it was sometime between November to March so it might be a little different in a busier season. Another thing I like to do which is a little unorthodox is get in as quick as possible and then walk quickly through the whole museum directly to the Sistine Chapel. Doing this will get you in there before it gets packed with people. I've been there with maybe 20 other people and it's so peaceful and overwhelmingly beautiful. Then you can circle back and do the rest of the museum. Just my own preferred way of doing it. It's a little weird I know. Maybe some prefer to leave the Sistine as the grand finale. Have fun.