Vatican Tickets
 

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best way to get in to see the Vatican? I have a fax number to request a guided tour but the line has been busy for a week. I have read Rick Steeves Italy and he advises to go at certain times of the day.

Can anyone recommend something else? Maybe a good tour guide?

Thanks in advance,
sabi

This company was highly recommended on cruisecritics.com so I contacted them. Had a very nice reply and we are arranging our tour with them.http://www.romecabs.com/

You will see in the writeup that if you take his tour he gets the tickets to the vatican etc ahead of time so you don't have to stand in line. I don't know if you want a full tour or not but as I say they did answer my email promptly.

I agree with traveller69 about getting a guide and yes ...
romecabs.com is one of the good companies.

I can assure you that even with tickets purchased ahead of time...you will still stand in line...BUT not for long!!!

So when you arrive at the Vatican and you are in that huge Square and you see 200 people in line,don't despair, the line moves fast.

Better to get the tickets ahead of time than to wait in line for tickets and then wait in line to get in !

About the Sistine Chapel...there is a Huuuge line to get in here.
You need separate tickets for the Sistine Chapel.
It starts early in the morning and ends at 3PM.

You are in line outside in the open so if it rains or you need a bathroom break(some one can hold your spot).

Seeing both the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is an all day event.

Your guide in Italy will have the best answers!
Percy

Thanks everyone,

Once again great advice given.

sabi

Percy - I am just wondering about the Sistine Chapel. In the email from Rome cabs he says the the ticket allows entry to the museum and the chapel. Did you do the tour with Rome cabs? I am just wondering how long the wait would be with having the tickets ahead of time. He also mentioned he could book a private tour for us and I am wondering if it is worth it. There will be six in our group so I will have to do the numbers on that. Thanks for your info.

Guess its not good night Percy - how about Good afternoon Percy!!!!

traveller69

No, I did not take romecabs but I was told they are reputable, from the guide that I had.

I had a private driver take me from the cruise ship to Rome.

Once in Rome I had this private guide waiting for me when I got out of the car.

When I was at the Vatican, my guide already had tickets for the Sistine Chapel.
The line for the Sistine Chapel was about a MILE!!!!!!
My Guide said they are probably waiting to buy their tickets and then stand in line to get in.

But he and I went into a different entrance!

They cut off the line at about 3 PM to go to the Sistine Chapel.....that is they cut the line off at a point where all those in Front of the cut off line can still move ahead and will be seeing the Sistine Chapel that day.

Those back of the cut off line ( too bad) come back tomorrow.!!!!

So my advice is this IF you pay for the tickets for Sistine Chapel viewing ahead of time ( like before you do your cruise)....then make sure your guide can get you in once you get to Rome.

The Vatican and all other places will be okay... also you have to go through a security check ..so carry as little as possible.

When I went to Leaning Tower of Pisa I got tickets ahead of time ( via my guide) to be able to climb the tower.

They only let so many people climb the tower per day....so if you want to walk up those historical stairs...then get the tickets ahead of time.

Also when I was in Venice ( on the same trip),I had a private guide.

There was a line up about 400 people deep to enter St.Mark's
Cathedral..I said to myself, "Oh my Goodness".

The guide said to me "No problem come with me."

We went to the side entrance . The guide spoke something in Italian to the security guard ... the guard opened the door for us and in I went!!!
Gee !!! I felt so important and a twinge of sorriness( but just a twinge :) for those 400 waiting outside in the regular line up.!!


In Rome because I had a priavte guide I had a list of 10 places I wanted to see and saw them all.

Good Luck traveller69

Percy

When I visited the Vatican, it was with a tour group that also gives out free tours of the Roman Forum as an advertisement for their other tours in the city. We did the Vatican tour first, but you could easily do the Forum tour first to see if you liked the tour guide's style - it'll likely be similar to the one giving the Vatican tour. I've heard that more recently the Vatican has extended its museum-open hours on weekdays by two hours (and 3.5 hours on Saturdays), so hopefully that will help alleviate some of the huge lines to get in. When are you visiting? The time of year will make a difference in how long the lines are, too.

For more general information about visiting the Vatican, you can read my post about Vatican City here:
http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a...ican-city.html

Ciao,
Jessica
www.italylogue.com/

Hi Sabi,

When we went to Rome in summer of 2006 (we visited for 4 days prior to a Med. cruise), we went on one of the Vatican docent led tours that I think you are speaking of. We faxed the request to:

Lorenzo
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Tour Reservations
Fax: 39 06 6988 5100

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...zi_Visite.html

You can call them as well:
39 06 6988 4676

For the Scavi Tour (tour of excavations under St. Peter's Basilica) we faxed the request to:

Excavations Office
Fabbrica di San Pietro
00120 Vatican City
Fax: 39 06 698 73017

This was a highlight as only a few people get in per day. We faxed months in advance for this.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...PAGE_ID=728832

We also used www.romecabs.com for transportation to our cruiseship. Ask for Stefano (it's his company). He's great.

We did the Forum and Colosseum Tour with:

http://www.angeltoursrome.com/

They were great! They do a Vatican tour, as well.

Happy planning!

Carole