Hi! I'm headed to Italy for the first time this fall, and I'm trying to see if I can work the Vatican into my itinerary. I'll be traveling to Rome from Florence on the train one of the days I'm there, and I'm hoping to work a Vatican visit into the afternoon that day. Because of limited time, I'm planning to skip the Vatican Museum and just visit St. Peter's. I know that is one where you can just walk in for free, but I'm wondering about skip the line options since my schedule is tight.

Does anyone know if you can purchase a ticket in advance to skip the line or do you have to go with a guided tour to skip the line? When I Google it, I just find ads for guided tours. I'm not opposed to doing that, but since my schedule is a little tentative that day and many tours are in the morning, I'd rather do self-guided, but I'd be glad to purchase a ticket if it means getting through more quickly.

Thanks so much!

Not really any express entrance for St Peter's alone.
Go late afternoon. The line tends to be the shortest 1-1 1/2 hours prior to closing.

Since you know the Basilica is free, you should know there is no line to purchase tickets on the day. So you should realize you are trying to skip the security line.

Nobody skips the security line, tour or not. In fact the meeting point of all tours is after the security checks, not before.

What other line did you expect to find there?

That makes sense! Having never been, I was not sure of the exact set up and what the various checkpoints were, if tickets were still needed to enter even though they're free (some places still require you to get free tickets for crowd control) or if there were different security queues for tours. This information was surprisingly difficult to find online, and I saw several "skip the line" tours advertised as well as links to buy non-guided "skip the line" tickets. Thank you for explaining the setup because I didn't want to buy something scammy, which it sounds like those tours are.

That is GREAT to know, thank you! That was when I was hoping to go since I'll be traveling into Rome earlier in the day but didn't know if that would be a bad idea with crowds building up during the day. I appreciate the info!

Kristin,

How long is your time in Rome? Another option, and mind you, I have not researched the current opening times, I believe St. Peter's opens as early as 7am. Might you be able to do an early morning visit if your schedule allows?

I suggest because I once had a breakfast audio tour scheduled for the Vatican museums and in naivet� walked to St. Peter's first - it was around 7 am and there was no one there yet. Mind you, this was in September 2017. Still high season, but not July/August.

If that is an option for you if the crowds are too busy when you travel, it might be worth considering.

I'm so sorry I forgot to respond to this until now. Thank you so much for suggestion! I was originally going to be in Rome for 1.5 days, but with a few additional mornings and evenings between day trips to other cities. I was hoping to squeeze this in on one of those evenings, and you helped me see that a morning would be an option too. But even more than that, as I was typing my response to you, I had an itinerary epiphany and managed to free up an extra full day in Rome. So, thank you! It helped more than you probably expected it to.

“An itinerary epiphany!” Love those … had one recently when I realized I should book overnight flight to UK the day before I wished to land, not the same day. COVID years made me lose any knowledge I had.

nyse I feel that!! It truly is the best when it all clicks. I have to be in Naples by 1pm one day to get picked up for a group tour. For whatever reason, I had it in my head it would be too far to travel there from Florence the day of the pickup, so I was going to stop back in Rome in between, which broke my second day in Rome in half. Then I realized it was only a 3-hour train ride from Florence to Naples...so glad to cut out the back and forth!

It used to be that you could walk directly from the Sistine Chapel into St Peter's Basilica, without going outside or getting into a line.
We bought a Vatican tour from the Vatican website. It ends in the Chapel, and we were aware which door to ask to exit, which took us to the Basilica. There was a huge line outside in the sun, but we were able to walk right in, from a shaded portico.
Not sure you can still do that. I think we found the tip in a Rick Steves book, several years ago.

That 'Group Only' exit route is monitored and those who cannot show a relevant Basilica tour ticket are turned away and directed to leave through the museum.

Thanks for the update, Alec.
I wondered if that 'secret passage' had been closed. This was probably ten years ago, and I don't recall if the Vatican Museum ticket included the Basilica or not. They have probably changed the entire system since then.
In any event, I found the Basilica more impressive than the Museum.