In terms of the heat and the crowds -- is there a "best" (or worst) time of day to visit the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica? I'll be there in late August and my only available times will be all day Saturday or Monday until about 2:00pm. Thanks!

For the Vatican Museum, early, early, early in the morning! You will be lining up outside and waiting for it to open, ideally, and the line will really and truly extend around the block. Early is cooler, because literally the body temperatures of the crowds will make things seem hot and sticky as time in the day goes on. For St. Peter's Basilica, be forewarned that on Saturday folks will be attending confession, etc., which may bring a larger number of people (not only tourists) into the Basilica. Again, earlier may be better.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

I don't know this personally, but I have read that it is good to try going late on Wednesday mornings while the crowds are gathering in St Peter's Square to hear the Pope's public message. I understand it is usually over by noon to 12:30.

The museum closes at 1:45 on Saturdays with the latest entrance allowed at 12:20. If you are there the last Sunday of the month the museum will be open and free.

We went midweek around 11:30 (this month) and only had about four people ahead of us in line for security to St. Peters. We touring the church and then went to the Vatican Museums. The wait was a couple of minutes.

When we were in Rome this past April, we arrived at the Vatican museum (on a Monday) at about 9:45 a.m. I had wanted to get there earlier, but try getting 3 other women out of the hotel that early - especially when they think I'm being paranoid. The line snaked more than halfway around the block! It took us almost an hour to get in.

That lesson being learned (so who's paranoid now), we arrived the next morning at St. Peter's at around 8:30 a.m. We wandered around, took pictures and happened to find the entrance to the dome first, so we climbed all the way up - it was not crowded and still cool. When we came down, there was a huge line of people waiting to go up. It's a good climb up to the top, so I would suggest you do it earlier, while it is not so hot.