I've read in other posts that the Scavi tour ends at the entrance to St Peter's. I've also read that you can go directly to St Peter's from the Sistene Chapel using the tour entrance. I could have sworn I read some time ago that the reverse is also true - you can go directly from St. Peter's to the Sistene Chapel. I can't seem to find any posts to this effect anymore so I'm wondering if I'm wrong about that. And if I am wrong, is there any other way to get to the Sistine Chapel without going through the Vatican Museums?

As much as I would love to see the museums, I just don't think we'll have time - especially if the lineup is long. I hear afternoon lineups aren't as bad, but I'll be there in September so I'm assuming it will still be quite busy. It would be perfect to be able to go from the Scavi tour to St. Peter's and then directly to the Sistine Chapel from there. But anything that perfect is likely not realistic!

You cannot enter the Sistine Chapel from St. Peters. You must buy a ticket to the museums (entrance around the corner from the basilica). The chapel is near the exit, after all the museums.

Ah - I thought as much. Thanks for the info.

Well this is my dilemna. My DF and I are going to the papal audience on the morning of September 10. I'm not sure how long the audience lasts. On a normal day, I would think we might have time to go through the museums and the Sistine Chapel in time to have a quick lunch before our Scavi tour at 1:45. And then we should have plenty of time to see St. Peter's after the tour, right?

On the day of an audience I assume the lineups to the musuems will be extra long. Is it doable to make it into the museums for a quick run through of the highlights (and I know there is so much to see there that we will likely miss, unfortunately) and then to the Sistine Chapel that day? And is our best bet to grab a bite to eat after the audience in hopes the crowd will dissapate a bit, or should we head directly to the museums and get in line right away?

>>for a quick run through of the highlights <<

I am afraid that you will spend at least one full hour for waiting in line.

The last time I was in the Vatican Museum, there was nothing like a quick run. Inside, it was like sardines in a can and you had to move with the crowd at snail speed to the Sistene Chapel.

We entered 30 min before closure, and it was still extremely crowded. Next time I would go earlier, plan something for killing the time while standing in line, and have some more time for the museum itsself.

But maybe you will be lucky.

Just an addition:

There is a separate entrance to the Sistine Chapel. But the waiting line usually starts at St. Peter's.

Roughly what time does the papal audience end? Maybe we'd have time to wait in the lineup at the separate entrance, since we'd be skipping the musuem portion altogether.

traveller1959 wrote: There is a separate entrance to the Sistine Chapel. But the waiting line usually starts at St. Peter's.

I have no idea what this means. Visiting the Sistine Chapel has nothing to do with the line for St Peter's.

There are two issues here:

1) To visit the Sistine Chapel, you must enter via the main entrance to the Vatican Museums and wend your way through the museums to the chapel. Museum staff cordon off certain routes to control traffic depending on the time of year--less cordoning in the low season. The chapel is on the other side of the museum complex from the entrance. In very low season, I've managed a visit to the Rafael rooms and Sistine Chapel in an hour and 15 minutes.

If you follow the visitors exit sign to the left as you leave the chapel, you will have to return to the museum entrance by walking for 10 minutes back through the galleries. However you MUST do this if you checked any bags at the entrance. You also must do this if you intend to visit any of the other museums.

If you follow the group exit sign to the right as you leave the chapel, you will exit right next to St Peter's, having bypassed the St Peter's lengthy security line and saving a 15 minute walk around the Vatican walls from the museum entrance to Piazza San Pietro.

2) To visit St Peter's or access the Scavi tour, you must pass through a possibly-lengthy security line on the right side of Piazza San Pietro. (By using the group exit from the Sistine Chapel, you bypass this line.) Once past this security line, you can go either into St Peter's, climb the dome, or head to the Scavi tour on the left side of the church entrance. You cannot enter the Vatican Museums from this side.

The "separate entrance" to the Sistine Chapel is just the door to it, once you've traveled all the way through the museum to it. Museum guards limit the number of visitors within the chapel, so sometimes there's a bit of a wait to go in. You still will have walked all the way through the museum to reach this door. This door and possible line have nothing to do with a line at St Peter's.

Sorry that I was not clear enough.

The waiting line to the entrance of the Sistine Chapel is often one km long and it winds from Viale Vaticano over Via Leone and Via di Porta Angelica up the St. Peter's. This means, the end of the line is close to the entrance of St. Peter's (although it has indeed nothing to do with the line in front of St. Peter's security check).

I thought it would be helpful to tell you this. (I once booked a taxi which brought me to the entrance of the Vatican Museums and I had to walk all the way back until I reached the end of the line.)

This line to which you are referring is the line to enter the Vatican Museums, not just the Sistine Chapel. The OP was thinking there was a separate entrance JUST for the chapel. And, yes, the museum line is often that long.

I attended a Papal audience in May. A friend who had gone a year before said the audience lasted 30 minutes. When I was there it was about 2 hours. You are able to leave early if you want to. I had to, it was so hot in St. Peter's square I thought I might pass out if I didn't get some shade. You can contact the tour office at The Vatican to request tickets to tour the museum and skip the line altogether.