Zvi

Hi all

I'm having mixed information: first time in Rome and I want to visit the Vatican. According to Lonely Planet Guide 2018 free entry to the Basilica and a fee of 9 Eur for an entry to the dome. But in the internet I read that it's not at all free, and a visit including the dome can get to 49 Eur. So which is true? Free entry or not?

Calabria62

Zvi,
See below:
https://help-tourists-in-rome.com/en...tican-museums/

This should be the info you're after.

bvlenci

Admission to the Basilica is free. There is a security check, which sometimes involves long queues. Tickets to the dome cost €8 if you walk up all 500-some steps, and €10 if you take the elevator partway. You still have to walk up more than 300 steps.

No churches in Rome charge admission to tourists.

ellenem

Zvi

Calabria, THANK YOU!

Calabria62

You're welcome.

Zvi

One more piece of advice if I may: a friend noted "be sure not to go out after the Sistine Chapel, there is a door leading directly to the basilica". As I plan to take the open tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, I don't see it includes skiping the queue to the basilica:

Open tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - Vatican Museums

The visits that include the basilica are all guided tours lasting 3 hours long and I don't want to confined in time and guidance.

Your best advice?

kleeblatt

If possible, see the Vatican Museum on a Friday night. Fewer people and a great dusk feeling in the courtyard. Booking on-line is a must.

MoBro

AJPeabody

The exit from the Sistine Chapel that leads to the Basilica is supposed to be only for tour groups. Asking an attendant will get you out another way, causing you to need the Basilica security line. So just meld into a tour group and you will get where you want to be. The only drawback is you cannot do this if you have rented a Vatican Museums audio guide or checked something at the Museum entrance, because you can't get back there from the Basilica.

bvlenci

Peabody is right; this exit is reserved for tour groups.

There's no guarantee you'll be able to use this exit by blending into a tour group, although I've done it several times. Sometimes the guards check to see if you've booked a tour, and sometimes the tour guides chase you away.

There are two other ways to get into the basilica, bypassing the security check. One is to take a tour of the Necropolis under the Basilica. There are very limited numbers for this tour, so you have to reserve well in advance. The other is to take a tour of the Vatican Gardens. In both cases, you'll have already gone through security to take the tour. Of course, everyone who visits the Vatican Museums has gone through security, so I don't know why they don't let everybody exit directly to the Basilica.

annhig

IME, admittedly from about 6 years ago, if you get there before about 9am, the lines to get through security are quite short. That should give you quite a lot of time to explore the Basilica before the tickets to the Dome go on sale at about 9.30, from memory. It's worth going up to the roof level even if you don't want to go right up to the top of the dome - as well as a cafe, and toilets, it's possible to look at the backs of the statues that overlook the front of the Basilica, and get a close up view of the mosaics around the inside of the Dome which you can't see any other way. Well worth paying for IMO.

Zvi

Thank you for all your wise comments.
Probably there will be 5 of us so I don't know if we could melt ourselves into a group but I will take that into consideration.
However I read carefully AJPeabody's comment. I'm quite sure I will have an audio guide. In that case what are my options? And if eventually we will have to go outside (let's say at 13:00 or so), how long is the security line? 30 minutes? more?

bvlenci

Your only option is to go back to the entrance and exit there. Then you have to walk around the Vatican walls and go through security in St. Peter's Square. The line moves quickly, but it's sometimes very long. It's best to go very early; the Basilica opens at 7. On Wednesday morning and Sunday morning and early afternoon, touristic access to the Basilica is blocked for papal audience and addresses. I don't know at what time it gets blocked. I would just avoid visiting at those times.

You can download audio tours of the Museums from the internet, and then you wouldn't have to return the headset, but with a group of five people, it is probably difficult to pass through the tour group exit uno served.
​​​​

MoBro

Zvi

Actually not. According to the Vatican website this is a fully independent visit amid the landmarks of Art and History.

From where can I download the audio guide? Do I have to have an internet connection to use it? because I'm not sure I will have one.

bvlenci

Yes, the Open Tour is not really a tour, it's just a regular entrance ticket with an audio guide.

Alec

My latest information from a week ago is that guard is checking every ticket for tour-group exit.

annhig

<<From where can I download the audio guide? Do I have to have an internet connection to use it? because I'm not sure I will have one>>

Zvi - Rick Steves does free audio guides which you can download or access via an app.


https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...io-tours/italy

Seamus

AFAIK the shortcut to the basilica is restricted to tour groups and disabled (we got led through when my mother was in a wheelchair.)

Basilica line does move fairly well, but at peak times can snake around the piazza. When we were there a couple weeks ago it was horrendously hot and the line very long, so we opted to return the next morning at 8:30 and breezed through, even with having to go to a nearby kiosk to purchase a scarf for my niece to wrap around her waist because the guard thought her skirt too short. Best bet is to get there before 9 AM. Could you possibly visit the basilica prior to the Museum?