Where is entrance to Vatican Gardens?

Not sure which ticket you have, the Vatican Gardens by Open Bus, or Vatican Gardens + Sistine Chapel walking tour but this is what the Vatican's ticket ordering page for each option states (instructions are essentially the same):

Open Bus:
"Meeting point: On the day of the visit go to the entrance of the Vatican Museums - situated in Viale Vaticano – and show the booking voucher (electronic format allowed) to the Security Staff at the entrance (15 minutes before the scheduled time). After passing through security, proceed to the Guided Tours Desk to collect tickets."

Gardens + Sistine Chapel:
"Meeting point: On the day of the visit go to the entrance of the Vatican Museums - situated in Viale Vaticano – and show the booking voucher (electronic format allowed) to the Security Staff at the entrance (15 minutes before the scheduled time). After passing through security, proceed to the Guided Tours Desk to collect tickets and to meet the guide."

If you're taking the Open Bus, I'm sure they'll direct you to where you need to go at the Guided Tours Desk.

Not sure how I missed this info but many thanks to you both! i have the walking tour Gardens + Sistine Chapel tickets. As luck would have it, after I had purchased the gardens tour for Monday, Aug 1 at 9:00, I received an email saying we were awarded tickets to St Peter's scavi on the same day at 11:00! I am very nervous already about getting from the gardens to the entry point of the scavi tour. We need to be at the entrance to the scavi tour at 11:00 am. My understanding is that the entrance is to the left of the basilica, through the columns. After our garden tour, ( will it be over by 10:30?) do we just walk through the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, exit the building, and walk to the gate outside on the left, or is there an easier way through the garden to the scavi area, and will the guide let us exit that way? Is 30 minutes enough time to leave the garden tour and reach the scavi entrance if we have to walk through the museum? I am 70 years old and do not walk as fast as I used to …lol! Many thanks for any additional insight you can provide! Laura

Laura, the info for your Gardens/Sistine tour was under the "more info" tab on the Vatican's booking page for it, and it also states that it lasts about 2 hours so if you need to be present for your scavi tour at 11:00, you're going to have to leave it early, In fact, unfortunately I think you'd have to skip the Sistine and some of the rest of the non-garden parts altogether. No, I do not think they'll let you exit the gardens by another route as you really can't be wandering round unaccompanied anywhere but in public spaces (interior of the basilica, St. Peter's square and the museum confines).

From the website, this is the order and duration of your tour:
"Duration of the tour: about 2 hours
The tour follows an itinerary which includes: the Vatican Gardens, the Gallery of the Candelabras, the Gallery of the Geographical Maps, the Gallery of the Tapestries (Renaissance art) and the Sistine Chapel"

It is a bit of a walk from the Sistine to the excavations office for your scavi tour, you can't access it from inside the museums (see disclaimer below) and you need to be there at least 10 minutes early. That said, and if you don't move too quickly, I'd think it would take the lion's share of an hour, including that 10 minutes.

Disclaimer: there is a back door from the Sistine into the basilica that might save some time: you'd have to exit the church to the square and then around to the excavations office. It had been available as a shortcut for tour groups visiting the basilica in the past but has been reported to have been closed for much of the past several years so while it MAY be open the day of your visit, I sure would NOT count on it. If closed, you'd have to walk all the way from chapel through the museums to the exit, and then outside around the square and excavations office.

As I've not done the scavi myself (have done the museums &basilica) hopefully you'll hear from some folks who have, especially regarding time it'll take getting from your first tour to your 2nd one.

Thank you so much Kathy for that detailed response. Re Garden tour, what i had was just the payment receipt with absolutely no info——i didnt realize until today that I hadnt downloaded the actual voucher—-I was able to do that today and yes, all the info is there as to where to go/access points, etc…lol…I should have known that what i had wasn't the ticket/voucher but as I recall, once my payment receipt popped up, there was no prompt to go anywhere else on that page to download the actual voucher! When I visited the page today with my receipt number, there is actually a link that says “did not receive my voucher”..lol…I’m guessing I’m not the only one doing this! Thanks again for your kind assistance, Laura ps..i saw where I could re-schedule my visit and so I did so as not to be so stressed out trying to do both visits on one day..all has worked out! Thanks again

YAY!!! Very glad you were able to reschedule so you don't have to bug out of your first tour early and run to the 2nd one! Hope you have a great time in Rome! :O)

Thanks so much! You are very sweet!❤️💐💕