Sistene Chapel
 

My 17 year-old granddaughter and I will be arriving in Rome 11am June 6. By the time we get to our hotel I hope it's no later than 1pm. What do I tell the taxi driver to get us to the Chapel? Does it have a specific address, is there only one entrance? This is our first time in Italy and we only have that afternoon and evening in Rome before going on to Florence, Venice, and Milan. Yeah, I know it's a lot but that's what she wanted. We will be in Italy 2 weeks. Thanks for details for this novice.

Vatican Museum. One entrance. One exit

RLL,

I hope you are planning to drop your bags at the hotel first? There is only one Sistene Chapel. Believe me, your taxi driver will know where it is.

Buon viaggio!

Simply 1 entrance to the Vatican Museum. The taxi driver should understand it if said in English, but it is the Musei Vaticano, I believe.

Depending on traffic, if your hotel is near a metro stop you may be better off just taking the metro. Is no more than a 10 minute walk from the metro stop to the entrance of the Vatican Museum.

The Sistine Chapel is part of the Vatican Museums and is quite far from the entrance. Pick up a guide book or search the Web to read about the Vatican Museums before you get there -- then you'll know which parts of of the museums you want to see (and which to skip) on your way to the chapel.

You might encounter very long lines to enter the Vatican Museums (which includes the Sistene Chapel). If you're lucky, you could still have time to get a reservation for June 6 afternoon. You have to fax directly to the Vatican, I have all that information posted on another thread. I'll find it and post back.

Lines are usually much shorter after 1:00 than they are in the morning, so if you are unable to arrange a tour, do not despair.

just be aware that the chapel sometimes closes around 2pm - it did on the day we were there. You'll have to really rush thru the museums to get to it and hope the entrance and security lines aren't that long. good luck!

May I just say what a great grandparent you are?!

If you are taking a bus or metro, make sure you get off at the right stop. The entrance to the Vatican Museum is a good 15 minute walk from Piazza San Pietro, near Viale Vaticano (sorry, I don't know exactly the name of the street the entrance is on).

We went at abt 2pm, and the queue looked really bad, snaking all the way round the wall. But I noticed that they were all in tour groups, so i walked ahead (looking as if I were jumping queue) until the entrance and went in. Inside, I discovered that almost everybody had been queuing for the Group counter. The counter for the individual tickets were upstairs and there was absolutely no queue. So, do scout ahead.

The entry fee is 12 Euro. Another tip, bring binoculars for a better viewing of the Sistine Chapel.

The Vatican phone number regarding Museums reservations is 06 6988 4676. However, you are suppposed to fax a request to the Vatican, using the fax number on the Vatican website. The website won't open for me right now, or I'd post the fax number for you. They respond very close to your requested date, so you might want to give them your hotel fax number, so it could be at the hotel when you arrive. With a Vatican tour reserved, you will only pay an additional 8 or 9 EUR, but will have a guaranteed entrance time with a tour guide and audio headsets. It's the best way to go, IMHO. Also, if you are in the Sistene Chapel before the back door closes at 4:30, you can go directly into St. Peter's Basilica from there, without going outside to wait in that line, too. Have fun!