europeannovice

Hi if you had a choice between a Tuesday early morning entry before the general admission or an afternoon on the same day after lunchtime or a third option of a Friday night visit which would be the best option as far as lessor crowds? I read that Saturdays and Mondays are not good days to visit due to enormous crowds and that Tuesdays and Thursdays are preferable but how does that compare crowd wise to a Friday evening visit? Which galleries are closed on Friday nights? If we go Friday night when is the best time to visit St Peter's Basilica? Thanks again.

bvlenci

I think Friday evening, at least until more people find out about it, would be the least crowded. The early morning visits are fine if you mainly want to see the Sistine Chapel, and make a beeline there. If you want to see other things as well, you have to backtrack and you'll end up in the pack again at some point.

The Vatican Museum website shows which galleries are open; the others are closed!

If you also want to visit St. Peter's Basilica, I suggest going there around 5 PM. There may still be a long wait to get in, so go early enough. The Basilica is closed when the Museums are open on Friday evenings. Really, the best time to see the Basilica is early in the morning, definitely before 9 AM.

europeannovice

Thanks bvlenci!

Do you recommend the scavi tour? If we plan on doing the catacombs and the Naples underground tour--is this too much of the same? Or is this one unique? I understand this one houses the remains of St Peter but how different is it from one of the catacombs tours along the Apian Way?

WoinParis

Hi
pay attention to clothes. My wife was turned away because she was wearing shorts (some years ago, but still).

bvlenci

The necropolis under St. Peter's Church is very different from the catacombs, apart from the fact that they were cemeteries. The necropolis was originally above ground, and was a pagan cemetery. There weren't enough Christians at that early date for them to have their own cemeteries. The reason it's underground now is that St. Peter's Basilica was built over it. The tops of the taller tombs were lopped off to level it, and the whole area was filled in with earth.

The remains of St. Peter are believed to be just above a niche in the necropolis, in a spot that's not really accessible or visible. It's thought that they were originally in the niche, but they were removed during one of the invasions after the fall of the Roman Empire, and were kept at the catacomb of Santo Stefano (along with those of St. Paul) until it was safe to return them to their original place. It's thought that they were placed in this spot above the niche to give them a little more protection. You can look up at the niche while you are on the tour, and later from the chapel in the crypt of the Basilica, you can look down and see a little light that's in front of the supposed present burial spot.

What I'm basically saying is that you don't really get to see the precise spot where St. Peter is supposed to be buried, but you can get close to it, and you get to see a pagan Roman cemetery, with some painted tombs, and the ancient road leading to it.

If you can't get a spot on the tour, you can get close to the tomb by visiting the chapel above the tomb, in the crypt of the Basilica. Usually you can't enter the chapel, but it's open at the front, and there's a kneeling rail in the opening.

The catacombs are multistory cemeteries, with galleries and burial niches carved out of the soft tufa rock. Both Christians and Jews used catacombs. Neither religion allowed cremation, which was the Roman custom; land was expensive, and they could economize by stacking the tombs. In later years, even the pagans began burying instead of cremating, and there are some pagan tombs in at least one of the catacombs. There are almost no human remains in any of the catacombs. At one time, the dead were assumed to all be martyrs, and their remains were made into relics, often for a fraudulent relic business.

The catacombs were not used for secret worship. There are some chapels inside them, just as a modern cemetery often has chapels. None of the Jewish catacombs has regularly scheduled visits, although you can often reserve a spot on a tour. There are five Christian catacombs with regular visiting hours, three on or near the Via Appia Antica, and two north of the city. My favorites are the two north of the city, the Priscilla catacomb and the catacomb of St. Agnes.

europeannovice

Wow! Thanks bvlenci for the detailed explanation. That helps a lot. Yes WoinParis we are aware of the dress code in churches etc. Shoulders and knees need to be covered but sandals can be worn?

Does it make sense to split Saint Peter's Basilica visit from the Vatican Museums into separate days? Visit Saint Peter's and do the scavi tour, climb to the dome and then nearby Castel San Angelo in one morning and then another day do the Vatican Museums? Or does it make more sense to combine into one long day so not backtracking to same area again?

jan47ete

Scavi tour is FASCINATING! I agree with belvenci in the description but it is incredible to keep going down layer upon layer unbderneath St. Peters.

We went to Vatican early, made a bee line for the Sistine Chapel and ended up being the only 2 people there for about 15 minutes--incredible! Then backtracke.

How long are you going to be in Rome? There is St. Peter's, the scavi tour and then the Vatican--how soon do you poop out, etc.

europeannovice

We plan on 5 nights Rome. Not sure if it makes sense to split the St Peter's Basilica visit with dome climb and scavi tour on one day and Vatican museums another evening when night hours are offered. Or do everything in one long day.

kybourbon

>>> Not sure if it makes sense to split the St Peter's Basilica visit with dome climb and scavi tour on one day and Vatican museums another evening when night hours are offered.<<<

You didn't mention the time of year you are going, but I think everyone knows about the Friday night openings as it's been going on for years. At first it was just a few months in summer and it's extended a bit longer now, but not all year round.

For the Scavi tour, you will have to take what you can get if you get in at all.

SusanG

My own opinion...I split the Vatican. One day for the museums, one for the Basilica. I am an art nut and spend hour wandering through the museums. And it's easy to burn out on art and churches if you are going all day and the evening.

It has worked well for me in the past. It's a bit of a hassle to have to go over there twice, but I always do the Skip the line reservations and it's worth it to go into the Basilica with fresh eyes. Of course it totally depends on what you have planned and if you can manage the time. Ah Rome, so much beauty.

And yes, you are correct, shoulders, knees covered but sandals are ok. I always carry a very light scarf in my bag and pull it out to drape myself at churches.

europeannovice

How far in advance does a Scavi tour need to be requested?

Yeah it might make sense to separate into two separate days. The Castel San Angelo is nearby the St Peter's Basilica so those two things can be combined.

jan47ete

Google scavi tour and click on the vatican site. There you can read the rules and regs-- have to be over 15, conditions underground could be problematic, only 12 people at a time, and what you need to submit to request reservations.

europeannovice

I couldn't find when the English tours are given. Do they have set times?

tracilee

There aren't set times. When you apply, you ask for an English tour and give the information they request i.e. the names and ages of the people you will be with and the dates you are available. They will get back to you with the date and time of your tour or let you know nothing is available. If you do get a tour, they will include a link for you to pay for the tickets, I think you have 24 hours to do so.

Hope this helps. It's a great tour!

Alec

They don't have set times for English tours as they are arranged according to demand. There is usually at least one, if not more, per day. Some guides are better than others of course, and the one I had last time, a few years ago, was competent but with heavily accented English which was hard to understand. The best I'm told is by seminarians at North American College, who are trained and do it as part of their Rome experience and earn a few euro.

europeannovice

If we wanted to split the Vatican museums from St Peter's Basilica, is it better to tour St Peter's Basilica on a Saturday morning or a Tuesday morning or a Friday afternoon? Is there a preference as far as crowds there vs. in the museums?

europeannovice

topping any responses to my latest set of questions? Thanks!

frencharmoire

St Peter's is enormous and while it feels quite busy and is noisy when loads of tourists are milling around, it only feels crowded when people are struggling to get a closer look at the Pieta or something else in their guidebooks. I have always preferred to visit the Vatican later in the afternoon, since many many tourists have finally collapsed by then and gone home, and the bus tours have quit for the day.

Margaretlb

The crowd issue at St. Peter's isn't really an issue inside the Basilica; it is the long line to get into the church that can be awful. I find that if you arrive between 8-8:30 during the week (except Wednesday) you'd likely walk right in - no line to speak of.

IMO regarding the Scavi Tour: since so few people are able to visit because the total number for the day is limited (and there are different language groups), unless you are a devout Christian who visiting St. Peter's grave is spiritually important, it would be kind of you to skip the Scavi so that the spot is available to someone to whom it really matters. Yes it is interesting but there are many underground sites in Rome available to visit. As I said, just my opinion.