mowmow

Hello Fellow Fodorites!
Our last day in Rome in early Oct we'll be visiting the Vatican Museum, Scavi, and the Basilica. It will be a long day.
My DH has a balance issue, and is easily knocked over, so we opted for the Prime Experience tour to see the Museum and Sistine Chapel. It starts at 7:15, then you have breakfast in the Pine Cone courtyard. After some rest we hope to visit the Etruscan wing if it's open.
We have Scavi tickets for 1:30, then plan to visit the Basilica afterwards. No dome climbing for us.

After our Vatican visit, we're attending an opera event at the Terrazzo Borromini that starts at 5:30, then going to dinner. We won't have time to go back to our hotel between the Basilica visit and the Opera event without cutting off our Basilica time. My husband insists on wearing a jacket and nice shoes to the Opera and dinner but doesn't want to wear it around all day. I was thinking we could pack our dress shoes, and his jacket in a tote and check it at the Vatican. Then we can spruce up a bit and head off to the Opera event and dinner.

Where should we store the tote bag? I know we can leave it in the cloakroom in the Museum, but my understanding is we'll have to retrieve it before we leave the museum. What about when we visit the Scavi? They don't have storage over there. If you go through security over at the Scavi side, can you get over to the Basilica cloakroom, or do you have to go stand in the long security line again around on the other side?

We plan to enter the Basilica directly after the Scavi tour, then visit the Basilica. We'll need to head over to the Piazza Navona by 4:45, and we'll probably take a taxi.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has ideas of how to manage our day.

KTtravel

I found this information on the Scavi tour website: Depositing prohibited items. I hope that helps.

bvlenci

First, I have to say that a day with so many events would just about finish me off. The Vatican Museums and the Basilica will be packed, and I myself would develop balance problems halfway through the day.

However, assuming you want to subject yourself to this, I can assure you that the opera event is an informal outdoor event and the jacket and nice shoes would be totally unnecessary. You can leave them at home. A shirt and a sweater vest would be very nice, but if it's hot, which it sometimes is in October, I would skip the vest.

The opera event is not an actual staged opera. The singers are usually talented amateurs or students, and they sing various popular arias from different operas.

mowmow

We have Premium Experience tickets to the Vatican Museums. Our tour starts at 7:15 and we will see the museums and the Sistine chapel before the museum is open. There will only be several smaller tour groups in there. The tour ends at 9:30 and then we have breakfast in the Pinecone Terrace. We can sit and rest there for a while. Then we planned on visiting the Etruscan wing, and perhaps the Egyptian or some other collection.

Then we have time to get a snack, gelato, or coffee and sit and relax a while before the Scavi visit at 1:30. There won't be a big line for security for that over on the left (South) side of the basilica. The Scavi tour ends in the basilica. I've been there twice before, so I know my way around and have specific things to show my husband. He won't be interested in knowing about every single altar and chapel in there.

I'm still trying to figure out if we can go through security over at the Scavi side and access the coat check room without having to stand in the long basilica line.
Yes, I agree about the jacket, but I won't be able to convince my husband. Jacket and smart shoes for him, always.

jan47ete

usebounce.com is a luggage storage facility with about 4-5 facilities surrounding the Vatican.