Vatican Museum and Breakfast tickets

Hi, for our visit back in September, we considered the breakfast package, as well as the late afternoon “happy hour” package, but wound up hiring a private guide instead and going early, but not having any food or beverage with the visit. I understood that the Vatican Museums’ intent for the breakfast package was for visitors to see the exhibits first, and then make your way back to the cafeteria, for a kind-of brunch, when you were ready. We wound up having a hurried breakfast at our rented apartment in Rome, before dashing to the Metro, to reach the museums just before the 8:00 early entrance time with our private guide.

We eventually made our way sequentially to the Sistine Chapel, and boy was it packed when we reached it. The guards herding people along, barking orders to keep moving, was a far cry from the last visit, just before Christmas 2012. Back then, for just the handful of visitors inside, there was no need for repeated loud recorded messages to remain respectfully quiet, and to not take photos. I can see now why there’d be an advantage, at least on one level, to sprinting to the Chapel immediately upon entering early, but making a mad dash there, then working our way backwards to see other exhibits, wasn’t going to work with our overall plan.

Bottom line, although the included breakfast sounded like a delightful option, we skipped getting that ticket in the end. If you go for it, I don’t believe you’ll be required to have breakfast at the start. If you did have breakfast first, then you’d have to fit it in before racing to the SC - that’s be the very definition of “fast food,” and one of the reasons we decided the museum breakfast wasn’t going to work for us.

The entry time says 7:45. Do you HAVE to eat breakfast first, or can
you go see the SC then go to breakfast?

The websites states: "Enjoy an American Breakfast in the magnificent setting of the Vatican Museums before starting your visit." So yes, it looks like you have to do breakfast before being allowed to head off to the Sistine. If you wish to enter the chapel before breakfast - and want to order tickets from the Vatican's own website - you'd need to book the "Prime Experience - Vatican Museums" tour that starts at 7:30 AM.

"A proposal intended for visitors interested in enjoying the unique experience, entering into the Vatican Museums one hour before the official opening time. The guided tour is conducted by an authorized educational Guide. Having finished the tour, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious American Breakfast - at a table- in the magnificent setting of the Vatican Museums. After the American Breakfast, it will be possible to visit (without the guide) the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel."

The Sistine is included in the tour so you don't have to return to it unless you wish to.
"The tour follows an itinerary which includes: Upper Galleries (Candelabras, Geographical Maps, and Tapestries), the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel."

To be honest, I'm not sure entrance earlier than the end of breakfast is even possible without tour but I won't put money on it.

I did the early morning entry with breakfast (no tour) this past April. 7:45 is the appointed breakfast time. I suppose you could skip it if you want to get straight to the Sistine Chapel and avoid the crowds. However, it is a plentiful breakfast spread and that is a huge museum that you need to power-up for. Enjoy!

Jennifer, were they letting people who'd booked the breakfast ticket into the museums when they'd individually finished eating, or were you admitted as a group? What time did you actually enter the museums from the breakfast room?

Breakfast was held in the courtyard. You have to hand in a ticket to enter the breakfast area. To get there you walk through a small portion of the museum. We were not part of a group or tour. We just leisurely found our way. People were milling about corridors. It looked like they started on the museum. Weather they were part of a group or individuals like us, I am not certain. We were at breakfast for probably 30-40 minutes. There was no rush. We were able to enter the museum when we were ready.

Now that Kathy mentions it, it was the probably the Premier Experience option that I was thinking about, that offered a late morning breakfast and an early museum entry, which we decided wasn’t going to be workable. I’d forgotten about every package the Museums offer these days, and had looked at the various breakfast tickets.

We hadn’t been in 10 years, and were paying a private guide, with a finish at St. Peter’s Basilica, so it was either skip the tickets that included some kind of breakfast, or miss some of the museum exhibits (such as the Secret Cabinet, which we did get into), or wind up in a more crowded situation than was ideal. Each option has its advantages and drawbacks (race others to the Sistine Chapel … what is this, some reality show contest?), so pick what’s least objectionable. If having a nice breakfast at the Museums is important, by all means do it! But you’ll have others passing you by while you dine, or you’ll have to cut your exhibit time short, to make it back in time for the tail end of breakfast.

Pluses and minuses, as with lots of things.

Something I'm curious about is whether, once in the museum area, you have free rein to wander in any direction. I recall an earlier post on this forum that alluded to a one-way traffic pattern (probably not in those exact words). I believe the Sistine Chapel is at or near the far end of the museums, so it would be a problem to rush there initially and then work backwards if a specific traffic flow was enforced.

@acraven
We have done that twice before. That is, headed “against the flow” straight to the Sistine Chapel. It was in 2014 and 2016, though, so we’ll before COVID. Wonder if they are still allowing that? For those two times, we just bought the regular tickets ahead of time, arrived when they opened at 9 am, and headed straight for the chapel. There are maybe only 30 people there, and it didn’t get crowded for a good 20 min.

The first time, in 2014, we doubled back afterward and went through the rest of the museum. The second time, in 2016, it was just my husband and me along with a priest friend of ours. We found out that if you are with a priest who wears a cassock and “acts” like he knows what he is doing, you get into a lot more places! The three of us walked through the secret door that is supposed to just be for groups. Father nodded at the guards, said “good morning” in Italian, acted like a pro, and we just went right to the basilica! (We also got into the crypt of St. Cecilia’s when no one else was there. The nun just nodded at Father and we all went in!) Unfortunately, we are not raveling with a priest this time. I guess it would be a sin for a man to wear a cassock and pretend. Hmm…

We have the same question!

And, there are no admission only tickets remaining!

I'm interested in thoughts on whether we should get the admission with breakfast option or the 'prime experience with early entry, breakfast and a guide option'. Yes, it is a lot more but the options are narrowing. And while I'm not a fan of guided tours, I can appreciate the right one.

I'm traveling with my 13 year old daughter and we have never been to the Vatican.

mnkroman, what dates will you be in Rome? I'm asking because the general admission tickets are only available for purchase 2 months or less in advance, whereas tours are available for booking for dates further out.