Vatican - Vatican Museum, Basilica & Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is a part of the Vatican Museums. No separate ticket required. Yes, they are skip-the-line with a timed entry. Be there on time or be prepared to wait. And yes, no entry fee for the bhasilica.

• I read that St. peter's basilica have long queues. Is there a way I can cover the Vatican museum and then get into St.Peter's Basilica. What I mean is, Is there a different entrance if I'm continuing from Vatican Museum to St. peter's basilica?
• The same above question applies to Sistine Chapel as well - Do I save on any time if I continue to Sistine Chapel from Vatican museum rather than the direct entry?

Only some guided tours seem to get through the shortcut between the museums and the basilica. No guarantees. If you are on your own, it has been widely stated that individuals have not had luck with the shortcut, so you have to go around. Check out this map. the Sistine Chapel is #48.

There is no "direct entrance" to the Sistine. You enter it from the museums.

Laurel is spot on. Just to back her up and add a couple more comments...

Vatican museum has a ticket which you can combine with Sistine Chapel
(for additional charge)

As she stated, the Sistine is IN the museum so there's no "separate" ticket for it and no additional charge. There is no charge for basilica except to climb the dome and tour the scavi (excavation with the supposed location of St Peter's burial) underneath.

Vatican museum tickets are skip-the-line (if you buy that way!)

Tickets for the museum are purchased by specific time slot and are ALL "skip the line", meaning the ticket line and not the faster-moving security check queue that everyone must pass through.

I read that St. peter's basilica have long queues. Is there a way I
can cover the Vatican museum and then get into St.Peter's Basilica.
What I mean is, Is there a different entrance if I'm continuing from
Vatican Museum to St. peter's basilica?

Yes, but that interior passageway entrance is reserved for tours. Book a tour of museums and basilica you will be able to enter the church more directly. Otherwise you may have to exit the museums and walk around to the main entrance to the church and the security queue there.

Do I save on any time if I continue to Sistine Chapel from Vatican
museum rather than the direct entry?

There is no "direct entry" to the chapel. You must go through the museums to reach it, and it's quite some distance from the main entry.

I'm trying to reduce (or avoid!) my time in line and spend more time
inside the monuments. Any tips?

No suggestions there except to book a tour, maybe. The Vatican offers an inexpensive 3-hour version which hits some highlights of the museums, the Sistine and the basilica, and enters the church through the back passage.

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-e-basilica-di-san-pietro/visita-guidata-musei-e-basilica-s--pietro-per-singoli-e-gruppi-.html

There are more expensive options which enter the museums before the general public, head almost directly to the Sistine for a less-crowded visit than during regular hours, and then circle back to museum highlights and the basilica. This one has been highly recommended by many RS posters which have taken it:

https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour

Or this early entrance + breakfast option offered by the Vatican, although the basilica is not included and touring is by audioguide versus human one:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/colazione-ai-musei-vaticani/ingresso-anticipato-ai-musei---colazione.html

Thank you Laurel & Kathy

We visited St Peter's in 2014 and, expecting big queues, we got there early - around 6:45am I think. At that time, the queue for the basilica was just a handful of people and we waited for fifteen minutes to get in. Easy peasy.

We spent about an hour exploring the basilica, then headed up onto the dome (seperate entry and ticket). By the time we got to the top and looked down (say 80 minutes in total since arriving, so around 8:15am), the queue for the basilica went one and a half times around the square!!!!!! Talking to a staff member, we were told that the waiting time at that point would have been 2-3hrs ...