Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel question

Yes you can do that

Hi,
Can I ask when you bought your tickets? We are going in July and the only time I can get is 11:30 and there is not "guided entry" option available. Is yours a general entry ticket as well?

I literally just finished my visit to the museums and Sistine Chapel. We also had an 8am ticket time.

It’s a really, REALLY, long walk to the Chapel from the museum entrance. I honestly do not think you would be able to work your way back to the beginning of the museum. A) you would be fighting through hordes of crowds and tour groups coming in the opposite direction; B) there were a couple of narrow spots where there was a one way traffic flow between certain rooms. I don’t know if you would even be allowed to back track through those.

My advice is just to do the museums first and the Sistine Chapel at the end. The chapel was crowded, but we were able to find seating along the side wall eventually. And when we were standing, it was fine to viewing the ceiling and wall. As certain larger tour groups moved through, some extra floor space was freed up to make it easier to move around to view different parts of the wall and ceiling.

Rick’s book does a good job of condensing the museums into the important things you want to focus on and his audio app was great for looking at the Sistine Chapel.

azabala217, I bought the tickets a few days ago. It's just a regular admission ticket, no guide. We're going on a Wednesday morning, when the Pope does papal audiences in St Peter's, so maybe that had am impact on ticket availability.

juice06870, these are the things I was wondering about. Thanks so much for your reply, it's very helpful. Sounds like we will go with the flow and not try to fight the crowds by going to the Sistine Chapel first. The challenge is that my husband likes to look at EVERYTHING and I don't. We will have to set up a meeting point and time because I can almost guarantee we are going to get separated in there.

I think running ahead is a great idea. If you have tickets for the earliest entrance time, get to the security line an hour or so in advance so you can be at the front of the line, and can walk all the way at a brisk pace without stopping (the guards won’t let you actually run!) you should be able to see the chapel relatively uncrowded versus people shoulder to shoulder over 90% of the floor like it was when we were there. (The best entrance ticket we could get was a guided tour at 3:30 PM.)

Once you finish in the chapel follow the exit route back to the entrance area and look at exhibits along the way but don’t actually exit the museum. Instead, go back along the main route and see the exhibits you previously blew past. Or get a good map and find the bits that aren’t on the main tour route. By the time you’re finished you’ll have made two round trips the length of the museum and earned the right to eat all four courses at supper!

Good luck with the trip!