I am confused by the various tour books on Rome, when it comes to seeing the Vatican Museums. Some seem to imply that there are pre-set routs one must take. Others leave me with the impression that I can pick and choose which rooms to visit. Others say that individual visitors (vs tour groups) must still follow a prescribed path to the end and the Sistine Chapel. Can anyone tell me if I can go in, visit the Egyptian Room, the Raphael room, and the Pinocoteca them enter the Sistine Chapel? Or, since the Pinocoteca seems to be in another building do I see it after the Sistine Chapel? In other words, must my spouse and I follow the crowd and go to places and rooms we do not want to see? As with all travel I try to savor the preferred morsels, instead of gulping the entire loaf and ending up with mental, historical and artistic indigestion.

Unless it has changed since my last visit a few years ago, you follow a prescribed route. The way the museum is set up it's really just a series of corridors, with one room leading into another, so you can't, as you can in the Louvre, for example, decide just to view certain collections and skip others. When it's crowded you have the feeling of being herded.

The first time I visited Rome, about 15 years ago, there were A, B, and C "routes" you could choose. I don't recall how they worked that out, but they were of different lengths, with one covering the entire museum. We opted for the "full" route, which on my most recent trip was the only one offered.

Thank you StCirq. Your info conforms to what I found in the "Let's Go" tourbook on Rome. I specifies the "A", "B" & "C" routes to choose from. Does that mean, however, that I am not permitted to move through a room or section rapidly if I want to? I am not certain if the "C" option, the one that has all that we want to see (and far more), requires that we do the rooms with the people or crowd we go in with, or may I simply walk in and walk out, following the prescribed path?

Traffic does seem to flow in one direction but I don't recall it being mandatory. Tour groups seem to see very little of the museum. We backtracked, wandered away from the crowds, took a break in the cafeteria, etc. In some areas we were the only people and it was in mid-June. I believe the Vatican brochure has several suggested routes through the museum (A,B,C,etc.) and list the approximate time it takes depending on which route you select.

There is nothing really to stop you from going to any rooms you want to, spending as much time as you want in any section, and even backtracking. But when you get to the Raphael rooms it becomes one way traffic heading toward the Sistine Chapel.

Yes, you can move through most rooms rapidly if you are not interested in viewing them. However, when you will be in a slow line when you get close to the Sistine Chapel.