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Vatican Museum in two hours with a caveat......

Posted by (Charlotte, NC) on

We have tickets for first entry to the Sistine Chapel this coming March thru City Wonder. The tour hopefully gets us into the SC right around 8am and then we are free to wander the rest of the Vatican Museum - we will be pointed out some things on the way to the chapel but there is no formal tour. Some of you may recall we have tickets for the Scavi tour at 11:30am so we will probably need to leave the Vatican Museum about 10:30am to get to the Excavation Office..

That being said, and the fact that my wife is not a huge museum fan in general, there are a few things that I would like to see on our first trip here and would like the peanut gallery's thoughts on what we should/might be able to see in those roughly two hours.

Things I would really like to see on this trip:

Spiral Staircase
Raphael Room
Pinacoteca - mainly to see The Transfiguration
Gregorian Egyptian Museum (my wife does have some interest in this)
Gallery of Maps
Sala Rotunda

If possible, would like to see but can wait until another trip:

Pio Clemente
Pavilion of Coaches/Papal Apartment
Pinecone Courtyard
Pretty much everything else

Since we will wind up in St Peter's after the Scavi tour, we will check out the Basilica at our leisure then

I'd also love to hear what people's thoughts are on what we should see if they are on the way to the want-to-see list.

I know - the Vatican Museum is yuge and can take all day plus to see but we also couldn't pass up the opportunity to go on the Scavi tour so this is our compromise

TIA

Posted by
1043 posts

I am glad you are going early, the Vatican Museum is a zoo. I love museums and my family and I had a guide and it was difficult to navigate amongst the crowds. RS has a good audio tour of the Vatican Musuem (you can download the app and the audio tour is free). It should help you focus on the highlights. He also has a guide for Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is spectacular, but even better when you know the history and description of the art, would highly recommend that you read/listen to the RS guide before you visit the Sistine Chapel.

One of the highlights of our visit to the Vatican musuem was to mail postcards from the Vatican Post Office. There is a small gift shop where you can purchase them (not crowded) and a bathroom near by with no lines (middle of June in the afternoon).

Enjoy your trip,
Sandy

Posted by
11833 posts

You might take a look at thismap from the museums' website and see if you can plot a course that takes you by the things you want to see. You'll have to hoof it but the staircase and the Egyptian Museum and Pinocateca are near the entrance/exit which you will have to double back to anyway to depart. You'll be going against the flow sometimes so a bit of a challenge.

Posted by
238 posts

Thanks, Laurel - will certainly plan it

Was just thinking that by the time we leave the Sistine Chapel, the general public will still have not been allowed in yet and that we would get us back to the beginning where we can "start over" again relatively quickly.

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