Vatican Museums/St. Peter's

Unless you take a tour of the Vatican museums there is no way to bypass the lines into the basilica. It's a security line and moves pretty quickly but everyone must go through it. If you take a tour of the museums you can use the bypass door into the basilica.

donna

If you book the underground Scavi tour (beneath St Peter's) you may exit then turn left and up the steps into the Basilica without having to leave the area through the no-return gate.

You could alternatively book this tour:
http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceTipoVisita=128&step=2
which includes a private guide and gets you into the museums, Sistine Chapel as well as the Basilica.

You can book a tour through Viator, www.viator.com, this tour includes the Museum, Chapel and Basilica. I took this back in Oct, it was great. Met across the street from the Museum entrance near a Cafe. We walked in through a separate line, headed through security and did our tour inside and out. We ended the tour within the Basilica, the tour guide collected the audio system and we were able to continue in the Basilica and/or head up the stairs to enjoy the view of Rome from the roof of the Basilica.

Enjoy your trip

We booked our Vatican entry tickets for about 9 a.m. or whatever was the first time available. When we were walking by St. Peter's (and it was open), there was no line at the time (might've been b/c it was raining or a fluke, I don't know?). So you could plan on going when it first opens if you don't want to pay for a tour.

We wound up using the Rick Steves hint to use the bypass door and just blended in with a tour group and used the back route back to the basilica and got in quickly, though the main entrance line was now quite long by this time so we were glad it worked out for us (but it's a chance). Just don't be like my husband and initially try to "blend" in with a Japanese tour group ;) Aside from the length of the line, just the walk back over to the front of the basilica is quite long vs. the bypass.

Prepare to be turned away if you try to use the "secret" tour group door - sometimes it works for you, sometimes it doesn't.

Ditto to Zoe's post: it's not a given that you'll be able to sneak through the back door of the Sistine that's reserved for tours.

Also after we took the Scavi tour, there was a special Mass/event in session and we were not able to go into the basilica following our tour which we have done in the past. What I am saying is, don't count on it. We had enough time to come back later to tour St. Peters.

Please don't try to "blend" in with a group you didn't pay to be a part of. People pay extra to take tours and have the privilege of using the bypass door. Sometimes the guards let everyone through but when they are turning people away please don't try to "sneak" in, especially since you're in a church and taking something you didn't pay for is unethical.

Donna

Thank you for your replies!

Do you recommend booking a tour guide or exploring the museums by yourself? I have Rick Steves audio guide on my phone, and am planning on using that for information. Plus, a tour is 37 euros whereas a regular ticket is 16 euros.

A guided tour is only 32 euros and tickets are 20 euros. Only you can decide if a guided tour or audio tour is best for you. I've done both and find they both have their advantages as well as disadvantages. The major disadvantage of not doing a tour is that you are not guaranteed to be able to use the bypass door directly into the basilica.

Donna

Thank you for correcting me on the prices :)

I think a tour might be worth the extra cost.