Hi Bill, I can't remember and of course the website I posted is no longer working.

Did it say all tickets will be increased? I would imagine that the "approved tour companies" that will be paying the 6,000euro licensing fee will be charging more.

Love,
I think it said there was going to be an across the board increase in addition to the increased cost to the large tour operators. Yes, everyone will be paying more and if you show up between 8am and 10am, you will be treated to a REALLY long wait!

-Bill

I am also concerned as we will be in Rome March 7-10.

I was able to access the article using google. Here is the text:

http://www.wantedinrome.com/articles...php?id_art=446


Fiona Winward and Michelle Pellegrino, 06/12/2006

All change at the Vatican Museums

Entrance at 10.00 for the general public and sharp price hikes for private visits are among the changes planned for January 2007.


The Vatican Museums are planning price increases and major changes to the queuing system effective from 2 January 2007. The biggest change to the current system is that while at present visitors without guides can enter the museums from 08.45, from January onwards they will only be able to get in at 10.00.

The 08.00-10.00 slot will be given over exclusively to groups booked 30 days in advance through tourist agencies that are registered with the Italian chamber of commerce. It is planned that these agencies will have to pay an advance booking fee of €6,000 upfront with the museums, for which they will receive entrance vouchers in return. Each time the lump sum has been exhausted, the agency will have to pay a new advance.

In future all foreign tour agencies and individual tour guides licensed by the city will have to operate through the official Italian agencies, unless they register with the chamber of commerce themselves. Otherwise they will have to join the main queue for 10.00 entry along with everyone else.

“No guide wants to join the queue at 09.00 and have to stand there for two hours before getting in at 11.00,” grumbles one guide who did not wish to be named.

During the summer months especially, the queue to get into the Vatican Museums can wind serpent-like all the way along Viale Vaticano to Piazza del Risorgimento – a grim uphill stretch of road noisy with speeding traffic. The wait can last up to two hours, with tourists at the mercy of the rain or the cruel rays of Roman sun before they and their bags are scanned by security staff with airport-like efficiency. The number of visitors to the museums has been increasing annually and has almost doubled in the last ten years. In 2005, some 3.8 million people wandered through the museums – around 10,000 visitors a day. As the museum’s director Francesco Buranelli has said, the museums were created as the popes’ private collections and were never designed for such a huge influx of people.

Various ambitious schemes have been touted as possible solutions to the problem of the queue. Most recently, there was talk of opening another entrance, and of building an underground tunnel for waiting visitors. It remains to be seen what impact the new entry system will have on the queues.

Despite the fact that as of January all individual visitors will be entering the museums later, there are no plans to delay closing times. The museums will continue to shut at the same times as this year – 13.45 in the winter and 16.45 in the summer. So people getting through the doors at 10.00 will be getting 75 minutes less in the museums and paying €1 more (see box).

“They seem to be trying to make it so unpalatable that some people will be discouraged from going. I think they are trying to reduce the number of people going through without reducing their income,” the guide continued.

But can the new arrangement really be a deliberate means to reduce the number of visitors coming through the museums’ doors? A museum spokesperson was wary of commenting.
“So far in 2006 we have had 3.8 million visitors, so we expect to reach over 4 million by the end of the year,” she said. “We are in a period of growth, so we could expect another increase in 2007.”

Despite the new system?
“It’s too early to say. We are just experimenting to see how we can best resolve the problems.”

Although the cost of a ticket will go up by only €1 in 2007, from €12 to €13 (or to €15 if pre-booked), the museums are planning significant price hikes for the so-called “special visits” which take place in the afternoons when the museum is closed to the general public. These do not have to be booked by agencies but are booked directly with the museums.

Currently, a group of up to 30 people pays €1,800 (plus €12 for each ticket) to have the museums to itself. From January, this will go up to €2,500 plus €15 per ticket for a two-hour visit – a 39 per cent increase. For groups of 400 people, the price almost triples – from €7,000 to €20,000 plus €15 per ticket.

Arguably, however, these are the people who can afford the sting – mainly rich businesspeople on company-paid trips and conferences, although one guide reported the occasional couple celebrating a wedding anniversary who want to see the Sistine Chapel in peace.

“What the Vatican is after is money,” comments a registered tour guide who also wished to remain anonymous. “That’s been clear for a long time. They aren’t subtle about it. They don’t really understand how to treat people – it’s just a question of herding people through. The Vatican Museums is my favourite place to take people on a tour in Rome, but you can’t rush through it. I can easily spend four hours on a really good tour.”

From January – at least during the winter months when visiting hours will be 10.00-13.45 – she, along with hundreds of thousands of other visitors, will barely have the luxury.

Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, tel. 0669884947, website: mv.vatican.va.

CURRENT SITUATION
Entrance for individuals:
Winter months: 08.45-13.45
(last entry 12.20)
Summer months: 08.45-16.45
(last entry 15.20)
Entrance for groups:
Priority queue from 08.00-08.45 for groups accompanied by a registered tour guide. After 08.45 groups join the main queue.
Ticket prices:
€12
Examples of special visits (2 hours) when the museum is closed to the public:
Groups of 1-30 people: €1,800 plus €12 per ticket
Groups of over 400 people: €7,000 plus €12 per ticket

AS FROM JAN 2007
Entrance for individuals:
Winter months: 10.00-13.45
(last entry 12.30)
Summer months: 10.00-16.45
(last entry 15.30)
Entrance for groups:
Entrance between 08.00 and 10.00 for groups booked 30 days in advance through agencies registered with the Italian chamber of commerce who deposit lump sums of €6,000 with the museums.
Otherwise groups must join the general queue for entry after 10.00.
Ticket price:
€13 (or €15 for pre-booked tickets for groups)
Exmples of special visits (2 hours) when the museum is closed to the public:
Groups of 1-30 people: €2,500 plus €15 per ticket
Groups of over 400 people: €20,000 plus €15 per ticket

As far as prices go, we are interested in the private after hours tour with Helen of italywithus.biz and the price is increasing from 175Epp to 250Epp. Yikes!

Here is the article that was originally posted:
"All change at the Vatican Museums"
http://www.wantedinrome.com/articles...php?id_art=446

oops I guess that wasn't needed after all!

any ideas on what tour guides to book with for the vatican tour?

Has anyone visited the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel this week as individuals after 10am, since the introduction of the new system? What time did you arrive, and how long was the queue? I am going with a small group in late January, and wold be grateful for any information. Thnx, R.

Romanita,

Did you visited Vatican in January?

How was the queue? What was the ticket price?

I would appreciated any recommendation, where to buy the ticket.

Thanks in advance,
Delfi