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Vatican Museums + Sistene Strategy April 22nd

It seems as if the Vatican Museums open at 8:00 AM, and that's when I purchased our entry tickets for. I also purchased a set of tickets for 3:00 PM the same day, as we'd like to leave when it gets too busy, have lunch, and come back in the later afternoon.

I also had purchased a tour through a private guide on Airbnb, which I think I'm going to cancel. I was also looking at Walks' Key Master's Tour, which, according to Walks, may or may not be offered this year, due to Vatican's Jubilee year activities (they didn't know for sure). Would the Walks' Pristine Sistene make sense to do? I read on this forum that they don't take you first to the Sistene Chapel, only after seeing other parts of the VM. Is the official Vatican tour worth it?

My questions are: does this strategy make sense? What time does the Sistene Chapel close, and what time would be ideal to see it in the afternoon when we were to come back? Would we be able to have any time in either the Sistene Chapel, or the greater Vatican Museums, without maximum crowd herds? Thanks for your help.

Posted by
32 posts

The Key Master tour is the only true early entry tour. If you don't want the extra info from a tour guide you can make a bee-line directly for the Sistine Chapel as soon as you enter and beat most of the crowds. Romewise has a youtube video on it.

At the end of the day, I think the Sistine Chapel closes about 30 minutes before the rest of the Museum (it's the farthest point from the entrance so they have to close it early). Depending on the closing time for the 22nd you could also hang around and try to be the last ones to leave. Ignore the first few closing announcements and wait for them to start pushing you out.

Posted by
5 posts

That's really helpful, Jeff. I was thinking of the beeline at the beginning, and the information about the closing is also really helpful. We'd come back to see it around 3:00 PM, and I think (from what I've gathered) we'd be able to have some time again then. I also signed us up for the Vatican Happy Hour (just because this seems like an oxymoron).