Vatican Museum & Siena

Yes, the Vatican Museums started a new process last fall that allows you to reserved an entry time and this lets you bypass the line for an additional 4 euros per ticket. The website is http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceLivelloVisita=9&step=1 The process was fairly painless, we just did it last night for our trip in May. They email you the voucher that you show to the customer care staff at the reserved entry, to the right of the main entrance. You can change the reservation one time up until one hour before your reserved time. Middle of April may be too close to Easter though so they may not have many reservations left. Good luck!!

Thanks Nadine for the link. When I proceeded the online ticket reservation, it included a 4-Euro pre-sales fee per ticket. Is it the reservation fee for the time slot or is it just a commission to the ticket agent? Thanks!

Don't know about the Vatican, but Siena has a charm of its own, and is worthy of a one night sleep-over.

We stayed in Siena for 2-3 days and enjoyed it alot. However, a day trip can be rewarding too and the bus between Florence and Siena is fast, easy, and cheap. If a late enough return bus is available to suit you,I would say a day trip, otherwise you pack up from Florence, take luggage to Siena, check into hotel and spend the day and the night, and then...return to Florence? If you plan to move on from Siena though it would be another story. One thing I am learning as I travel more is that checking in and out of hotels and moving from one town to another ,while often close by, still consumes a lot of time that might be better spent doing "funner" stuff than standing on a train platform.

Yes, the 4 euro fee is the reservation fee for the Vatican Museums. We just bought ours the other day for May.