Vatican Museum Queue

We have visited the Vatican twice and found that the best time to go is early morning right when they open and the heat is not as strong either. If you happen to be standing in line for awhile, go grab a gelato at Old Bridge Gelateria across the street, it's cheap and one of the best we've ever had! It will help the time fly by...

I just came back from Italy and went to the Vatican Museum. You are better off booking a tour. Its 37 Euros and it takes you into the museum, St. Peters, and the Sistine Chapel. I went and saw the line for the Vatican Museum without being on a tour it looked literally two miles long. There's a tour stand to the right of St. Peters Square, close to the ancient city wall. Its well worth it. It was 3 hours and they show you a lot and if you would like you can just ditch the tour and go on your own. Oh and stop at a souvenier shop outside Vatican City, you can buy little glass viles for 2 Euros and fill it with holy water inside St Peters. Just a thought.

I went to the Vatican in the summer of 04 and we waited in line for hours, plus when we finally got in the Egypt section was closed for a couple of hours(it routinly is). If I did it again I would take a tour, it would be worth the extra money. I still had a great time though, there is so much to see and experience in there. Have a great time!

Go after 12pm. We were there about a month ago on a Friday at 1pm and the line was about 2 minutes.

I had a similar experience. We were there this summer June 15 and were advised to go at one in the afternoon. We had no wait. We went right in, bought tickets and began the long journey through the museum and Sistine Chapel. Maybe it is because people go to lunch at that time. Another couple we met suggested this as they also had no wait.

We were just there on 7/23/07. When we arrived at 11:30am, the line was blocks and blocks long--estimated to be over a 2 hour wait by our tour guide. It was a Monday which is usually crowded but our guide said that July has been an unusually busy month.We reserved a noon guided tour and were whisked right in ahead of the crowd. It may be too late for you to reserve a time but you might try. Once inside, you can skip the tour line and pay general admission. We took the tour but no one would have cared if we had skipped it. http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
Click on Info Museums--Visitor Services--Guided Tour
In your fax include: the names of all in your party, at least 3 choices for entry times, and your Rome hotel fax number.

We visited the Vatican Museum on 7/16/07. Got in line at 1 p.m., wait time was 40 minutes. It's a long line but moves fairly quickly.