A few people a while back mentioned that since the Vatican extended their hours, the lines are remarkably shorter, especially in the afternoons. Has anybody been there in the last few weeks - is that really the case? I'll be in Rome the week after next.
Posted by
De Pere
5 posts
We are going to be there Sept 27th. I am pre reserving tickets on myvaticantour.com
Posted by
Port Townsend, WA
64 posts
Yes, I just arrived home yesterday, and visited the Vatican Museum on Sept. 17th. I met with my guide at noon and there was not a line. There were lots of people that were going into the museum (a sort of constant stream), but we just walked in. No stopping and waiting.
Posted by
McKinney, TX, USA
6 posts
I went to the Vatican museums on Sept. 5th. We arrived at 12:45 pm and there was no line getting through security and about a 10 minute line buying tickets. Not bad. We slipped out the side exit in the Sistine Chapel (not the main exit) and went straight into St. Peter's. We had several guidebooks and were fine navigating the museum on our own. We didn't book a tourguide, even though we passed MANY salespeople trying to sell tours on our way to the entrance.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Yeah, you gotta do the secret exit out of the Sistine Chapel into Saint Peter's. That's one of the best RS recommendations I've seen. It's the route that tour groups take. Just pretend like you're one of the group and go for it. Otherwise you have to go back outside and wait in line to get into St. Peter's. (We pretended we were with a Japanese tour group, even though we're as generic Anglo as they come. We got one funny look from someone in their group but nobody else cared.)
Posted by
nj, nj, usa
23 posts
I took the tour with the Vatican itself on a Friday afternoon at 2pm - no lines whatsoever. Though the museum was a little crowded. The tour guide does not come into the Sistine with you, so we also did the secret door thing and exited to St Peter's. No problems, no one stopped us. No line for the Dome, either. My big mistake was not going then!
I went back the next day - Saturday - at 11am for the Vatican Garden tour. AMAZING!! However, the lines were crazy and I never did get the chance to climb the Dome.