Vatican Museum reservations

Forgive this idiotic question but what do you do if you don't have access to a fax machine? Is this absolutely the only way to avoid waiting in a long line (I'll be there in September, so surely there will be long lines...)?

At 6 PM EDT, Rick's book does suggest the faxed request for tour to book ticket ahead and avoid the line. BUT, he suggests 2 weeks prior, but if you look at Vatican website it suggests one month prior. Perhaps that is why Carla is still waiting...the conflict between 2 and 4 weeks. Re fax, a fax takes a real phone line. It can be a computer driven or physical fax machine, but it has to dial out on a phone line. Further, inexpensive fax machines cannot receive a return fax unless the line is dedicated and/or does not have an answering machine set up on it. The ans machine will pick up first. You can use a kinkos type place to send a fax, but international phone calls can be expensive. It is a frustrating dilema. Do you have a telecom savvy friend?

Yeah, I read about faxing in Rick's book (I have the Best of Europe 2007), also saw it on the museum's site. Unfortunately I don't have any telecom-savvy friends, well not that savvy to have a fax machine anyway LOL! I think maybe I'll try to do the rest of the Vatican stuff (St. Peters, etc.) and have lunch before trying to get into the museum and then try to get in later, Rick's book says if you show up around 1pm you should be okay. I'll be going on a day they're open a bit later, and I really only want to see some of the things anyway (mainly the Sistine Chapel... i'm not an art person so much). Is risking trying to get in without a reservation later in the afternoon a really bad idea for about the 2nd week of September??

I think afternoon should be OK. I suggest allowing up to an hour of "stand-in-line" time, and allow how much ever viewing time you want. I just faxed to them this morning....I will wait and see what happens, and will report back.

Speaking of reservations for the tours, does anyone know if there is really a 2pm tour on Saturdays? The museum closes at 1345 on Saturdays but according to the Vatican website, there is a 2pm tour, unless they've made a mistake or I've read it wrong.

Hi Rebecca,
I found this url. I wrote in my search engine 'museo vaticano prenotazioni' Here's English link for you.
http://www.rome-museum.com/vatican2ind.php

Don't know if it is reliable or not but I'm going to try to make reservations for the May Day break. They charge an online fee (€8.50) and a pre-sales fee (€4) for a full price of €26.50.

Here is the direct link to English:
http://www.museumrome.com/
But when I clicked on Vatican tour it was €50 and not the €26 for the previous guided tour.

I'll contact my brother-in-law who lives in Rome to see about online or by phone reservations - he's an in-the-know ex-al-Italia flight attendant.

Here is a link that show the free day at the vatican - looks like the last day of the month.
http://mv.vatican.va/2_IT/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Orario.html#bigliettibis
I see on this page that the tickets should be €14 for a normal ticket or €8 for a reduced (Senior /student) ticket. These are tickets bought on the same day.

The Vatican Museum allows direct booking for tour via fax ONLY. Details on the Vatican website:
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

The Vatican Museum is now open Mon-Sat from 8:30a-6p. Go in the afternoon to avoid the long queues that form in the mornings.

There is rumor that the Vatican Museum will soon allow advance booking for admission to the museum without a tour. It would be similar to the Borghese Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. If I hear more I will post.

Does anyone know whether, if you want to spend more time in a particular part of the museum after the tour, you can? Or do you have to leave the museum with the tour at the end of the Museum tours run by the Vatican? Or, for that matter, any of the other museum tours (Angel, Sky, Through Eternity, etc.)?

I read that moving against the flow in the museum can be nigh-on impossible, so maybe it's a moot point, but I'd hate to go to all the expense of a tour only to then have to go through the expense and hassle of getting back in without a tour in order to see specific things or spend more time in certain places. Yet I also see the value of the tour. (I'll be there at the end of May.) Dilemma.