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Vatican Museums Friday Night

Posted by (Calgary, AB Canada) on

I realize that there have been threads about this already, but I wasn't finding the answers I needed. :)

We will be arriving from Canada just before noon on a Friday in July. I'm debating whether or not to tour the Vatican on the Friday night as to miss the majority of the crowds. We are a family of appreciating beauty, but no art fanatics or historians, so if sections were closed, it probably wouldn't be a problem. My question is two fold: would anyone think that its a crazy idea given that we had just flown in earlier that day and from what I've read, St. Peter's Basilica closes earlier. But I think we could tour St. Peter's just before it closed and then head over for 7:00 at the museums. Is this right? Or would we have to come back another day to tour St. Peter's? That's not ideal, but maybe the tram from Trastevere isn't that big of a deal to get it done.
Thanks!

Posted by
16704 posts

The big issue here is how you're going to feel by 7:00 after an international flight. We all react to jet lag differently, and some of us can sleep on a plane and some can't. I am one of the latter and know that there's no way I could manage ANY museum in Rome on arrival day and especially not the Vatican, and especially that late in the evening. The most we've been able to do in European cities on arrival day are some long walks in the fresh air with maybe just a short stop into a church or two.

If you've traveled internationally before and know that you'll be able to pay attention to a serious collection some hours after touchdown, immigration and transfer to your hotel, then go for it but it's not worth it if it's all a fog?

Posted by
11294 posts

Unless you're MUCH better with jet lag on your arrival evening than I am, I can't think of a bigger waste of money than paying for a Friday night Vatican tour on arrival day. I know I would just be in a fog, totally unable to appreciate what I was seeing.

Getting from Trastevere to St. Peter's or to the Vatican Museums is easy; don't let concerns about this dictate your itinerary.

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