All, There is 4 of us traveling to Rome in a few weeks and of course we would like to visit the Vatican Museums. We will only be in Rome for a few days so time is an issue and we have a few questions: Is it worth getting a tour (St Peters or just the Museums?) If we do have to book a tour guide, is it best to do so before we get there? OR if we book tickets only with a reservation time through the Official Vatican website are we able to skip lines or is the only way to skip lines by booking a tour guide?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
If you just book tickets on the vatican website you can bypass the line outside and enter the museums at the time slot you book. Booking a tour also allows you to bypass the lines. If you have never been to the vatican museums before I would suggest you book the tour. It's very good and takes you to all the most popular rooms. After the tour, which ends just before entering the Sistine chapel, you have the option of continuing on to the basilica or re-entering the museums. You're ticket will allow you to do that. If you choose to continue to the basilica just use the exit marked for tour groups. I would not do the tour that includes the basilica. To me 3 hours is too long. You can do the basilica on your own at your own pace. Donna
Posted by
Denver
799 posts
Whether or not you book a guided tour depends on what you're interested in and how much you want to spend. ContextTravel offers small group tours and their guides are very knowledgeable; the information is quite in depth. We took their tour of the Palatine Hill (my focus of interest, the Forum and the Colosseum). I'm a big history buff, and had read up a lot, so had lots of detailed questions. But my husband, who hadn't done any reading beforehand, also enjoyed the tour and the depth of information. The tours of the Vatican Museums that are offered by the Vatican are good, but as they're only 2 hours long, I found them rather rushed. On our most recent visit to the Vatican Museums, we toured on our own, using both Rick Steves and another guide book. This worked well for us, as we could then spend all the time we wanted throughout the museums. If you book tickets only through the Vatican website, YES, definitely, you get to skip the line! I think there's a sign up by the entrance, but as I recall, we just walked to the had of the line, showed the guard our voucher, and went inside to pick up the actual tickets. I'd probably book a tour before you leave, to make sure you get the date and time you want.
Posted by
OP
boston, ma, usa
5 posts
Thanks Donna, We ended up booking a 2 hr tour and figured we could do St Peter's ourselves just like you suggested. Thanks again!