Hello -- My husband and I are doing the Heart of Italy tour in September. On Day 2 we go to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Then it says we have "free time" to go to St. Peter's Basilica and wander on your own. Does the tour include timed tickets or should we get tickets in advance? About what time will we be on our own?
Thank you in advance for any help! I'm not QUITE sure what's included in terms of advance tickets and what's not.
Beth
I took this tour last September. First we visited the Vatican Museums. When we left the Sistine Chapel, we took a special side door for groups that brought us down a staircase and into the area for St Peters. Our guide walked with us up the steps outside, pointed out some features, and then we were on our own. We were given a Metro ticket for the ride home and no ticket was required to enter the basilica.
Two members of our group became confused in the Sistine Chapel and followed the main tourist flow out. There was no retrieving them and they were unable to go with the group to St Peter’s. I encourage you to pay special attention to the guide’s instructions in the Sistine Chapel.
The independent portion began just before lunch time.
There are no tickets to St Peters as it is free. Going through the entrance from the Sistine Chapel lets you avoid the security line outside St Peters.
Indeed, St. Peter's is free (as are most of the other fabulous churches in Rome), but the security line looked ugly at 4:15 PM or so in mid-March. Perhaps it would have moved faster than I anticipated, but I bailed and figured I'd see it next time. The word is that showing up around opening time (7 AM) is the way to go if you aren't taking a tour of the Vatican Museums.
A big perquisite of the tour of the Vatican Museums is that often the connecting door to St. Peter's is available to the tour group. Ordinary solo visitors to the Museums cannot use it. On the other hand, if you want to accompany your group through the magic door, you cannot stay behind in the Museums to see things you think deserve more time.
Thank you for the responses! I have a few more questions -- so if you're with the RS tour, you won't have to wait two hours to get into the Basilica (which is what my guidebook says is common). Just trying to figure out if we should get Basilica tickets separately.
thank you!!1
No, we had no wait at all last September. You will be fine.
Normally being on the tour should get you through the connecting door. I don't think anyone can absolutely guarantee that will happen. For one thing, I've read that St. Peter's is occasionally (and rather unexpectedly?) closed for special events.
There would be no basilica tickets for you to get. You'd just have to show up and get in the security line. That's very unlikely to be necessary in your case.
“For one thing, I've read that St. Peter's is occasionally (and rather unexpectedly?) closed for special events.”
Yes to this. On my Best of Italy tour last Fall there was some kind of event in St Peters for 60,000 of the Pope’s nearest and dearest so the back stairway and the Basilica were closed to everyone but attendees. I did spend time in other parts of the Museums which I’d not done before. I could have hung around a bit longer and entered after the service was over but who knew what that timing would be. It IS an active place of worship.
As indicated you’ll have free tine afterward so if it’s closed you can go have lunch and come back to the Basilica later to go thru security without any kind of entrance ticket.
We went last August at the 7:00 am opening time, we arrived shortly before 7:00 (6:30 perhaps) to line up for the security check. Once inside we practically had the entire place to ourselves.
