An easy question I hope! Are the lines at the Vatican shorter in the afternoons than the mornings? Thanks.

Do you mean the lines into St. Peter's Basilica or the lines into the Vatican Museums?

It is the lines to the museum that tend to be long, and you can avoid those by prebooking a tour through the Vatican website www.vatican.va.

There is a security line to get into St. Peter's, but that tends to move rather quickly.

I think that I mean mainly the Basilica, as our time will be strictly limited and also a little unpredictable, we may have to take our chances with regard to the museums. However, I assume that the Sistine Chapel is a 'must'. Also, thanks for your very quick reply.

As J62 writes, entrance to the Basilica won't be too much of a problem. However, if you want to visit the Sistine Chapel, you really need to work on making your time predictable enough to pre-book. Otherwise your strictly-limited time will all be eaten up by standing in line.

You have to go into the Sistine Chapel through the museums, so if you don't have a res. you will have to wait in that endless line.

Keep in mind you're going to Italy, the land where strictly-limited-time and must-sees tend to be incompatible.

'strictly-limited-time and must-sees tend to be incompatible' - This could be my wife anywhere in the world - unless, of course, we are on a shopping trip...... Thanks for your kind thoughts. Fodors forums never fail.

Keith and I practically walked into St. Peter's on a September weekday morning at about 8:45-9:00 AM.

A long line tends to form around 11:00 AM.

Be sure you dress appropriately to gain entrance to St. Peter's. I witnessed people being turned away.

A woman in a beautiful sundress was told by the "fashion police" that she could not go into the basilica with bare shoulders.

Thin

Also, the Sistine Chapel is at the END of the Vatican Museums, so you have to walk through many, many rooms to get to the chapel.

The line for the Vatican Museum tends to lessen after 12 PM. However, even if you do have a reservation voucher, you still have to queue up to purchase a ticket from the ticket booths on the second floor.

If I were you, I would head to St. Peter's early in the morning, do your tour, then go on over to the museum around 12:30-1PM.

Thin

At 1pm the line should be short. Rent the audio tour inside and select to stop only at attractions that appeal to you. Then go directly to St. Peter's after seeing the Sistine.

We did the Vatican Scavi tour first thing in the morning. It ends in St. Peter's Basilica. We had a leisurely lunch and then visited the Vatican Museums after lunch (probably got in line around 1:30 p.m.) We had an extremely (and pleasantly!) short wait to get into the museums. It made for a full day at the Vatican, but we were enchanted and loved it.

Many thanks, I will let you know how we got on.

Sounds like a plan - we're going to try the after lunch time too! Hoping to avoid the tour bus crowds!

What is the Vatican Scavi tour? Is that something I read about once that requires reservation way in advance?

The Scavi tour (Necropolis under St Peter's) is something you have to reserve quite far in advance, as only a limited number of visitors are allowed each day.
Here is a link: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...040112_en.html