Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica - advice needed to choose the right tour

However, you go, make sure that it has you in line and ready to start right when the museum opens at 8 am. The crowds are a major factor here.

I think my question for you is what are you hoping to really see and experience at the Vatican Museums? For some people, it is the Sistine Chapel. If that is the case, then do self-guided and sprint (er, walk as fast as you can) to the Sistine Chapel right away. Do you want someone to tell you what you are looking at? Get a guided tour.

Whether something is worth it depends on individual characteristics.

In the recent past, most of the time the only way to use the back door from the Sistine Chapel into St. Peter's has been to take a tour covering both the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's. None of the Vatican Museum's own tours have done that in recent years. Therefore, that back door has generally only been available if you spend the money for a commercial tour. And every now and then that back door turns out not to be available--maybe because of events in St. Peter's? Normally, paying that substantial amount of extra money allows the visitor to avoid a considerable walk back through the Museums and around the wall to the end of the (long) security line for St. Peter's. I don't know how much time we're talking about there, because I don't know how fast that security line moves; I'd guess the back door from the Sistine Chapel would save at least an hour, and it could be considerably more time. Reports suggest that if you are willing to get in line at St. Peter's before the 7 AM opening time, the security line will be shorter, so folks with enough time in Rome to make two separate trips over to Vatican City might want to split their visits to the Museums and St. Peter's.

Obviously, there is also value in having a guide from the standpoints of navigating the huge, crowded Museums and learning more about what one is seeing. However, I'd consider how willing I was to have my time in the Museums controlled by a guide on a schedule rather than being free to make decisions based on my own interests. If you decide you want to see more of an area covered too quickly (for you) by a tour, you will not be able to take advantage of the back door from the Sistine Chapel, because you will only have access to that door as part of a tour group.

The entry line for people with ordinary reservations purchased on the Vatican Museum website is not long, nor is it slow. However, once you are allowed into the building, you have to swap your reservation for an actual physical ticket, and there will be lines at each of the windows where you can do that. This is a point at which being on a tour might be a bit faster; perhaps tour guides have a way to expedite that process. So being on a tour might save 10 or 15 minutes at the beginning of the visit--or not; I don't know how it works if you take a tour.

Thank you for your replies! (I haven't figured out how to reply to an individual post).
I tend towards a self-guided tour, primarily for the following reasons:
1) To not be rushed by a guide and be able to control our time and where we stop, etc.
2) My daughter will be visiting Italy for the first time, I know there will be huge information overload, plus the crowd and being rushed - not sure how much we'll be able to actually get from the guide in terms of the information about what we see.
Will think about the rest (like a chance to enter the Basilica through the back door as part of the tour or having to exit all the way back from the Museums, walking around, getting in line again before entering the Basilica). Yes, splitting this into two different visits might be worthwhile.
Thanks again!

Thanks for sharing your experience, EC. ...Wow, 500 people in one room!
..If there is no exit straight to the Basilica, I am leaning towards doing just a self-guided tour and paying only for the entrance tickets. Still have a couple of days to decide before making the purchase.