Nnlsbin

hi,

I have four days in Rome in May and have managed to book myself on a scatia tour.

It is at 9am on a Saturday and afterwards I was planning on doing the Vatican and St Peters straight after.

Do you think there would be enough time to also do the Catacombs on this day? I know they are a bit over an hour away from each other by public transport so I think it will be too difficult but I thought I would ask what people with a bit more experience thought

thanks

jabez

Your tour will be over at 10:00 & you can actually go into St Peter's from there (ask a guard or tour guide).If you skip the museums and the Sistine (why would you?), you can visit the catacombs the same day.
However, if you want to visit the Vatican Museums, you will have to wait until about noon+, to avoid crazy long lines. You can't do the Vatican museum in less than two hours. I have gone to the Catacombs twice by bus. With one connection from the Vatican area, it would take at least 1 1/2 hours.
The catacombs are only worth seeing if you can get a tour (preferably English). Check the times.
I love Rome and have been there many times. The catacombs are interesting, but I'm glad I waited for my third trip & that it was on a Sunday (you can rent bikes).
The Scavi is wonderful. I'm glad you could book it.

bvlenci

The Vatican Necropolis (so-called "scavi"), the Vatican Museums, and St. Peter's Basilica is more than I'd want to do in one day. I wouldn't think of adding a trip to a catacomb.

The visit to the Vatican Necropolis takes an hour and a half, so it won't be over until 10:30, and it takes about 20 minutes to walk to the Museums from there.

The Vatican Museums are even more unpleasantly overcrowded on Saturdays than on other days of the week, but they will be somewhat less crowded in the afternoon. I would suggest visiting St. Peter's Basilica when you are finished with the visit to the Necropolis. The tour ends in the crypt of the Basilica, so you won't have to wait in the security line for the Basilica. Then you could have lunch and visit the Museums in the afternoon. I would reserve tickets for 2 or 3 PM.

Another possibility would be to visit the catacombs on the Saturday afternoon, and visit the Vatican Museums on a different day of the week.

To give you an idea of what I mean by unpleasantly crowded, here is a photo I took of the corridor leading to the Sistine Chapel on a Saturday in early March:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

It will be much more crowded on a Saturday in May. It may possibly also be unbearably hot; much of the museum has minimal or no air conditioning, and no air conditioning could cope with the heat of all those sweaty bodies.

I've been to the Vatican Museums four times over the years. I can think of many reasons why someone might want to just skip them. In fact, I would advise people to skip them, unless they're passionate about Renaissance art and classical sculpture, or want to visit only one of their neglected sections (such as the magnificent Egyptian and Etruscan collections, where very few people go). When you're there, you'll see that the vast majority of the visitors aren't art lovers at all. They seem to think they'll be punished if they go to Rome and don't see the Sistine Chapel.

nytraveler

I know a lot of people like the catacombs but frankly I find them gruesome, dark, somewhat claustrophobic (I'm not usually) in and while historically real - just not very pleasant. I didn't see until my 4th or 5th visit to Rome - and would never go back.

kybourbon

>>>I know a lot of people like the catacombs but frankly I find them gruesome, dark, somewhat claustrophobic (I'm not usually) in and while historically real -<<<

Some people feel that way about the scavi tour too.

annhig

personally, I would want to do the Scavi tour and St Peter's on one day [especially if I wanted to go up the Dome, which I strongly recommend] and the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel on another.

That way, you might actually enjoy the experience instead of being exhausted and foot sore at the end of it.

Rome is not a competition - you can't see all of it so instead of trying to cram it all in, I would take things at a sensible pace and have fun - that's what you're on holiday for!

Nnlsbin

hi
Thanks everyone for your replies.

I realise now I was being a bit optimistic to think I could do them on one day.

I will do scavi, St Peters (including dome) and then depending on how I am feeling and what the lines look like do the Vatican Museum and Sistine chapel.

If I dont get a chance to see them on the Saturday I can go on the Monday (which is currently a free day in my itinerary)

annhig

Nnlsbin,

I wanted to check the opening days and times for the Vatican museums and found the official website:

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

you can book tickets with them, even the day before, [or possibly on the day] which would cut down on the queuing time.

If you want to enjoy what you are seeing, I strongly suggest doing it on a separate day. Even if you head straight for the Sistine chapel, you have to walk a long way through the museums; it seems a pity to pay that money and not to be able to take your time and see the treasures in the museum properly.

After you've seen the Scavi and St Peter's, you could wander over to Trastevere which is a very interesting and lively area with 2 wonderful churches, a branch of the Museum of Rome, and many nice restaurants. plenty to fill the rest of your day.

Nnlsbin

Thanks very much annhig, I think I will leave it for a seperate day so as not to rush too much

kybourbon

>>>you can book tickets with them, even the day before, [or possibly on the day] which would cut down on the queuing time.<<<

You can also buy tickets in the Vatican Post Office which is where most people exit St. Peter's. Most people pop in there to buy/send postcards with the Vatican post mark, but at the opposite end from the stamps is an info desk. They do charge the same booking fee as the Vatican does for online purchase, but it lets you bypass the lines to the museum and go on in.

annhig

good tip about buying tickets for the vatican museums in the PO, kyb. I certainly didn't know that [and if I had, it would have saved a lot of walking for some of our party a couple of years ago - but I probably won't mention it to them now].

Gina_07

Sorry for jumping in with my own question. Is there a possibility to enter St Peter's directly from inside the Vatican museums to bypass the long queue outside? I believe, not, but just want to make sure.

kybourbon

There is a tour group exit from the Sistine Chapel that puts you in St. Peter's, but sometimes there are guards checking to see if you are actually part of a tour. I've never had to wait much to get in St. Peter's. The line is a security screening and moves pretty fast.

Gina_07

Thanks, ky. The reason I am asking is because there are two tours I could choose from, one of them includes St. Peter's after the museums. It is an hour longer (my kids might get tired even though they love museums) and more expensive but I thought I would get it to avoid the queue. If the line is moving fast, it is less compelling to do the longer tour.

flanneruk

"If I dont get a chance to see them on the Saturday I can go on the Monday "

The excavations known on this site as the Scavi are different from the suburban catacombs. But I wonder how different if you're not especially interested in the history of early Christianity, or don't have a particular devotion to any of the saints of the time.

If you're in one of these groups, you'll obviously want to see the "ordinary" catacombs people have been visiting for the past 400 years at some point in your stay. They're also central to most formally organised pilgrimages.

Otherwise (and I AM interested in early Christianity), I'd really question the point of two catacomb visits in a Roman holiday you're going to struggle to fit everything into.

cbgetaway2015

Following

kybourbon

>>>Thanks, ky. The reason I am asking is because there are two tours I could choose from<<<

You can take a break in the Vatican Museums if you take the museum only tour and think your kids need a bit of a rest after it. There is a cafeteria/pizza area. Then you could see how they felt about seeing more areas of the museums. Since St. Peter's doesn't require tickets, the line is really to check proper dress (no shorts/sleeveless/short skirts) and security screening. There are audio guides you can rent in St. Peter's if you didn't want a tour there. Leaving through the Sistine Chapel does let you shortcut as it's about a 15 minute walk from the regular museum exit to St. Peter's.

annhig

i have seen long queues to get into St Peter's but never before about 9.30 am, which is the time that they start to sell tickets for the Dome so it s a good time to get there. [do the Dome first and then the Basilica if you want to get to the top with the fewest people; there are a cafe and loos at roof level which can give you a wonderful view over the city while you drink your cappuccino. You also get a brilliant close-up of the mosaics round the dome that you can barely see from ground level and the rear view of the statues that overlook the piazza below]

OTOH I've never actually seen anyone being stopped from using the "group" exit to the Sistine chapel. of course, if you've used the audio-guides you'll have to go back to where you got them from. the €12 guide to the museums is very comprehensive, if you haven't got a guide book that covers it in enough detail.

Gina_07

"You also get a brilliant close-up of the mosaics round the dome that you can barely see from ground level and the rear view of the statues that overlook the piazza below."

That I didn't know. Thanks. Our tour of the museums will end at 10 am, so there is no way to be there before 9:30 am. I guess, we'll just stand in the line, it seems that it's worth it. This will be our third visit to St. Peter's and we should finally do it.

annhig

hopefully you will be able to use the group exit door from the Sistine chapel [a single door at the back on the right if your back is to the altar - the main exit is to your left through some double doors] - you follow some stone steps down to a pair of swing doors on your left -go through those and you are now outside at the top of some more stone steps with the outside of St Peter's on your right. Go down the steps and you end up at the front of the Basilica. from here, if you want to go into St Peter's itself, you go in through the big doors; if you want to go up the dome, the ticket office and lifts are just behind you inside the Basilica to the right if your back is to the piazza outside. You pay extra to use the lift - it takes you to the roof level that I mentioned above. After that, you go inside the Dome and after you've walked round and seen the mosaics, you start to climb up inside the ribs of the Dome till you come out at the top. it's a bit weird, and tight at times, but worth it when you get there.