We are on a 12 day land tour but onlyu one day in Rome. The Vatican is extremmely important to these 4 catholics? How should we organize Vatican City to see the most in just one day?? beside St PEters and Sistine Chapel??

Tks, GC

First of all , make sure the Vatican Museums are open the day your are there. Second, make reservations for a guided tour/visit to the Vatican Museums. Some people will tell you do not need a guide for the Vatican and I would agree only IF you had plenty time and traveling solo, neither of which is your situation. Let somebody that knows the drill worry about the logistics; tickets, lines, location, highlights. In the morning take a tour that include the Vatican Museums. In the afternoon you can visit St. Peter's Basilica on your own.

The Vatican Museums' own guided tours are the cheapest, and unlike other tours, they allow you to bypass the lines entirely.

I recently read a very positive review of these tours in another travel forum. Although the groups may be as large as 30 people, everyone has an individual headset to hear the guide at all times.

Information is here:

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

St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are the highlights to any visit to the Vatican.

If you happen to be there on a Wednesday or a Sunday, there are papal audiences on Wednesday mornings, and the Pope blesses the crowds on Sunday at noon. During the summer, however, the Pope is likely to be in residence at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, and neither the Wednesday nor the Sunday blessing takes place in Rome.

For more information about papal audiences, see the Web site of the American church in Rome:

www.santasusanna.org

I'd say a tour of the museum and Sistine Chapel, and see the church itself on your own, but be sure to designate a meeting point. Don't miss the Pieta to the right as you walk in the back of the church.

The Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel and St. Peters are obviously important. Another wonderful tour is the Scavi tour of the necropolis underneath St. Peters, including the remains of Saint Peter. This tour is very difficult to get reservations for, so if you're interested you should start trying to get reservations very soon (you don't say when you're going, and for many people it make take several months before obtaining tickets for the tour). When asking for reservations you'll need to specify the date and language you prefer the tour to be given in - I believe there are rarely more than 4 tours per day, with each tour having perhaps 12 people. The website for requesting reservations for the tour is:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...cavi/index.htm

Good luck!

KC

If you are only in Rome for one day, the Scavi tour will probably not mesh well with the tour of the Vatican Museums, which I agree with Viajero2 is the best way to see the collection.

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

You do not say the season you are going -- in the winter months the Vatican Museums last admit people at noon and are completely cleared out of people by about 1:30.

In St. Peter's, you also can get in line to see the tomb of John Paul II.

You also can go up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's and look out. It's a fabulous view, but you do need to be in decent shape to climb the steps. My 5-year-old made it, but if you have health issues, pass. For sure pay to take the elevator to the first landing and then the stairs from there.

Finally, there is also a little museum somewhere or other in St Peter's or attached to it. Once a day there is a short English tour of the basilica.

Some of the worst food in all of Italy has to be in the blocks immediately next to St. Peter's, particularly down Via della Conciliazone.

Instead of going down Via della Conciliazone for lunch, I would go out the side of St. Peter's Square near the metal detectors, and head toward the Ottaviano Metro stop to find a restaurant. Look for: places on a side street, tiny osterias and anything that isn't advertising in English.

Consider a night tour of the city; many buildings and fountains are lit up beautifully at night.
Your feet will be tired after being at the Vatican all day; I'd hire a driver.
Here is an example I read about, although I did not hire Stefano.
http://tinyurl.com/9xgm4

Good luck!

Many thanks to all who replied. We will arrive from Florence to Rome the evening of Friday June 30th (probably too late to sightsee) and have our first full ROME day on Saturday July, 2006. GC

Just returned from a fantastic trip to Florence and Rome. What made it so, was our tour guides from Through Eternity. http://www.througheternity.com/index.htm

We did the Rome in 1 day private tour. They do have a tour that concentrates on the Vatican City.

Although expensive, it was worth every cent.

We did the tour that Eloise speaks of and it was great. It covers the higlights and we didn't have to wait in lines. Only a few euro more than admission. Would definitely recommend it.
Have a great trip!
Dina