Vatican Night Tour???

The Basilica closes at 19:00, so go earlier in the day. Note that it's a long walk to the Museums from there.

Only you can decide if the night visit is worth it to you. Keep in mind that not all the galleries are open for the night visit. Check the list to see that the rooms you're interested in will be available to you.

You'll need to visit the basilica before the night visit or on another day.

Donna

My family and I (Husband and two teens) are going to be in Rome from
August 18-20. We have heard about the Friday night Vatican entrance
and were wondering if this is worth it.

Friday the 18th appears to be your arrival day in Rome, yes? If so, how are you arriving and at what time? If you are coming in on an international flight, say, from the U.S., it's often not recommended to commit to tours - almost always non-refundable - which you may not be able to make should that flight be cancelled or delayed. In addition, the Vatican Museums demand the sort of attention that the seriously jet-lagged may not be able to muster.

Otherwise, I would say that the Friday openings are definitely "worth it" if only from the standpoint of being able to fit in a major attraction during hours that many are closed: it frees up time for those things which can ONLY be visited during specific daylight hours. This is a plus when time is short...and if you only have 2.5 days TOPS in Rome, you'll have to hustle, depending on how many must-sees are on your list.

If you do an evening tour, I would try to see the basilica just before that, if you can work the timing (church closes at 7:00 PM). Then you can kill both birds with one stone without backtracking to the same area of the city, and be properly dressed for both.

We are coming in from Siena ata round 9ish. Is the night enterance less crowded?

We were just in Rome a few weeks ago with our 2 teen girls and did the Friday night Vatican tour. It was awesome.

Went to the basilica around 5:00 pm and got through security in about 10 minutes. Grabbed a slice of pizza on our way to the museum entrance and walked past the line of people waiting for tickets (buy ahead online) and they let us in at 7:45 for an 8:30 reservation. We did the unguided tour and used the Rick Steves audio guide and it was awesome.

The museum was not crowded at all except for the group area where people were gathering with their groups. We went right past them. Get a reservation as early as you can and enjoy the cafe as well! 8:30 was the earliest we could get.

I can't recommend it enough if you can fit it in!

PS. RS audio guides were great throughout our trip. Really enhanced our experience. They are free and you don't have to deal with a group!

Read my reply to Arelis.