Vatican Tickets At The Door

Tell them you know the Pope, gets you right in

The Vatican Museums made several changes to their entry times earlier this year. I wouldn't anticipate the line-handling process has changed, but I was there 13-14 months ago, not since January. As of last year you absolutely could go stand in the ticket-buying line and eventually get into the ticket lobby and buy a ticket. Opening time is now 8 AM, a time at which not everyone is interested in lining up to buy VM tickets, so if you show up a bit before that time, you might not have a terribly long wait. That said, I don't know what the policy is on letting extra folks in to buy tickets really early in the morning. It wouldn't be unreasonable for the VM to decide the folks with 8, 8:15 and 8:30 tickets have the right to benefit from getting up that early by not having to compete for space with folks who haven't bought tickets in advance. Still, the earlier you show up, the earlier you'll get inside the Museums; you may just end up spending more time in line than would otherwise be the case.

The line to get tickets is really long and it's chaos even for people with tickets. You should probably line up an hour before the ticket office opens.

I booked a tour with an English-speaking guide through the official site: museivaticani.va. €40. She was very good but it's unbelievably crowded in the museums so it's not easy to take it all in in a leisurely fashion.

EC, did you have to wait in the same line to get to the Museums as the people without tickets or with the just entrance tickets (not the guided tour)?

There are at least two lines outside the Vatican Museums. One is for people hoping to buy tickets; the other is for folks with online reservations (which need to be converted into physical tickets inside). There is a line minder who sends in groups of people with entry reservations more or less based on the time of those reservations, but not all in one large group because they don't want to overwhelm the ticket lobby. From time to time some people from the buying-tickets line are sent in.

There may or may not be some other arrangement for people on tours. (I suspect the guide can convert the entire batch of reservations into tickets so the clients don't all have to line up, but I don't know for sure.)

I had no significant issue with the line for people who had reserved entry times in advance; I wasn't in that line for long. I just don't see why the Museums have a system that (at least as of early 2023) requires people with reservations to pick one of several ticket windows in the lobby and stand in line to get a ticket that will open the turnstile. If you happen to pick a line behind some people who are buying tickets rather than swapping vouchers for tickets and they are confused or having trouble with their credit cards, it would be irritating. It's always more efficient to have a single line feeding multiple windows, but there may be insufficient space in the VM lobby to pull that off.

In February we didn’t have to swap a voucher for a ticket. This procedure has changed.

For the original question. I don’t know how the purchase when there goes. I think the line goes along the wall (as if you had just come from St. Peter’s). The other lines face the opposite direction. There are several lines. Vatican staff will get you in the right line.

That's excellent news. Not having to line up for a physical ticket will save time and confusion.