wrenwood

We have a Scavi Tour booked on a Saturday at 9:15. Context and Eternal City Tours both reccommend doing a Vatican Tour around 3:00 to avoid crowds.

Will a Saturday in early October still be a madhouse? If we booked a 3:00 tour, what to do in between?

lindy27

We did the Vatican Museums in the afternoon in June and only waited about 15 minutes. The line in the morning was upwards of 2 hours.

We also did the Scavi Tour in the morning and thought it was really awesome! Inbetween you could see St Peters and go to the treasury museum in there. Between the Scavi Tour, Vatican Museums, and St Peter's we spent all day in Vatican City.

cruiser29

Could someone please give me the e-mail address you used to request the Scavi tour? I have used the e-mail address on the net and apparently that one is no longer valid.

Please HELP if you can! I can also fax them but have no clue if that number is current or not.

Thanks

lindy27

As of last June this address was valid [email protected]

The first time I emailed them I did not get a response. I waited until we were 5 weeks out and tried again and they responded 4 days later.

wrenwood

Same as Lindy27 said, used [email protected].

And like Lindy I did not get an answer the first time, just emailed them again.

How long does the Scavi Tour last?

celticmoon

Our Scavi tour (spring, 2010) lasted just under 2 hours.
At the end of the tour you are free to walk upstairs to St. Peter's Basilica.

macdogmom

Here is long thread on Scavi tour and juggling the rest of the Vatican. We went on Scavi tour this June and I think it was only about an hour long. Loved going up in the dome of St. Peters and outside views.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-one-day.cfm

jabez

There are two scavi tours at the Vatican. The one referred to here is around an hour long. Figure you leave the Vatican around 10:30. Go to St. Peter's and get a free 45 minute(tips appreciated) tour. It'll be lunch time when you leave. If you finish lunch around 1-1:30 you can walk into the museums without much of a line. Rent the audio tour and go at your own pace.

markland

I used [email protected]. I emailed August 26th, got a reply the same day (unfortunately full), sent another email on the 27th with another possible date, and again a reply the same day (still full).

Does anyone know if it pays off to hang around the tour office and try to get on a tour that way?

Lynnaustin

Sorry, that won't work. You have to have your ticket in hand to get past the Swiss Guard to even get near the ticket office. The office is really just a small meeting place. The tours are so small and tough to book that they are usually full. Confirmed ticket holders are let past the Swiss Guards 5 minutes ahead of time and then the tour starts right on time.

lindy27

You have to have a ticket beforehand. When you send an email it is best to put every possible day you could go because they do fill up fast. I remember the tour being 60-90 minutes long.

bookchick

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "a madhouse", as the Scavi tours are specifically designed to take a limited number of people. When the tour ends, you will be below St. Peter's Basilica and you're free to ascend into the Basilica and look about. I'd also vote for you taking lunch in between your tours and you may also have time to do a little shopping at places like Mondo Cattolico or Domus Artis if you feel that holds any interest for you.

As a side note, whenever I'm in Rome I deliberately mail my postcards to friends from the Vatican Post Office because postal delivery from that venue seems to be much, much more prompt than mailing from general Italian post offices. (You need to purchase postage specifically from Vatican City in order to do that, though.)

BC

wrenwood

bookchick, I was just wondering if the Vatican in general will be as much of a "madhouse" on a Saturday in October, as it would be on a Saturday in early summer. I wasn't refering to the Scavi Tour. I'm just hoping October will have a few less tourists at the Vatican in general.

Isn't there a good Gelato place outside the Vatican walls? I'm thinking maybe we try to book a tour around 1:00, and between the Scavi tour and our booked tour we wander around, maybe up St Peters Basilica, and grab some lunch and gelato?

bookchick

Wrenwood, my experiences in October are that there will still be plenty of folks visiting, but technically it is "shoulder season" and not the height of vacation time in Europe, so I hope that helps.

There is indeed a gelateria called Gelateria Mereu Gianluciano, and it's located at 5 Viale dei Bastioni di Michelangelo.

Buon Appetito,
BC

sarge56

wrenwood, I've had two Scavi tours and, while they covered the same geographic ground, they were completely different.

Our first was with a demure older Italian woman. She spoke so softly, we could barely hear her most of the time. There were 12 of us on the tour. We were done in 45 minutes.

Our second tour, this past May, was by a young Italian woman. She not only spoke loud enough for all 15 of us to hear, but she was so incredibly passionate about the history and material, it was like night and day. This tour lasted 90 minutes.

Alas, you cannot pick your tour guide. You just have to hope you get a good one!

We had excellent gellato just to the left of the Vatican (south) in (of all places) a cafeteria-style place. It was the best gellato we'd had in all of Italy. (Strawberry, lemon and pistacchio.mmm) I don't have the name of the place. But I'm sure one of the guards at the Vatican can point you there.

I can highly recommend a restaurant that is about 10 minutes east of the Vatican, on the river. Sor'Eva. Piazza Della Rovere, 108, Phone: 06.6875797 Closing day: Monday. Excellent service and food. We ate here more than once. Highly recommended.

Buon viaggio!

sarge56

PS I know it was mentioned, but maybe not clearly. When your Scavi tour is ended, you are in the area where many of the Popes (and some other important folk) are encrypted/entombed. You could spend 1/2 hour here. Incredible. (Pope John Paul II is here.)

When you leave this area, you are allowed to go right up into St. Peter's Basilica. No waiting in lines! So, take that opportunity! If you don't, you will have to wait in line when you come back. (Go to the restroom before the tour. If you go after the tour, the only restroom is outside security, so you will again have to wait in a line to get back into the Basilica.)

And, as stated, if you skip the basilica, and go straight out the secure area after your tour, you are at the site of the Vatican Post office and gift shop. I suggest you hit the gift shop first to pick up post cards, etc, then hit the Vatican P.O. There are tables and chairs there, so you can sit and write your postcards and deposit in box there. Guarantees the Vatican postmark. Don't forget to mail some TO YOURSELF. I found this to be an excellent way to not have to keep notes. I sent myself a postcard every day, with details of what we did that day. When I got home, I just put them all together to write my trip report. No problem remember what day we did what or where we ate!

Buon viaggio!

wrenwood

Thanks for all the help! We have booked a 2:00 Tour with Bruno at The Eternal City Tours.

So I think we'll linger around after the Scavi Tour and do some exploration on our own, and then go outside to get a bite of lunch and visit Old Bridge Gelato, which I believe is the same as Gelateria Mereu Gianluciano? Any suggestions in addition to Sor'Eva for lunch? Is there anything else of note to see close-by? I doubt we would spend much time in the shops at that time, not wanting to carry extra stuff with us on our tour.

Lynnaustin

Sarge56 made an excellent suggestion. After your Scavi tour definitely go into St. Peter's Basilica. You will never have a shorter line and you will walk right in. I also found that after the experience of the Scavi tour that St. Peter's seemed to be a good wrap-up of the experience.
The Vatican gift shop is very good.