Is the Vatican Museum likely to be crowded in mid-January? If so, what's the best time of the day to line up?

thanks

The Vatican has once again changed their hours. For 2009 entrance times are 9-4. Closing time is 6. They also now have online booking (tours or just entrance tickets) so you don't have to stand in line at all.
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

Can't answer for mid-Jan. But in early December the place was almost as empty as a tomb.

Longest queue was at security. Two people ahead opf me. Must have taken - oh, at least 30 seconds to get through.

Richard, I've visited the Vatican Museum many times and by far, my happiest visits were in mid-January 2008.

I found that it's not at all crowded in mid-January; twice last year, I had the Sistine Chapel almost entirely to myself.

My usual game plan for a visit to the Vatican Museums is to arrive about noon -- even in high season, people seem to scatter for lunch about that time. So, when I visited in January, that's when I arrived and there were no lines at all (I visited the museums a few times, because there is always far too much too absorb in one visit.)

Have a wonderful visit to Rome!

In mid-Nov I walked right in. Sistine Chapel was crowded but I lingered and was able to sit for a while in two different locations. I went around 10.30 as I had a 2.30 reservation for Galleria Borghese (which I completely recommend to you). I also recommend you book a Scavi tour in the Vatican. Do it through their website. It's very interesting.

On November 27, 2008, I had the same experiences as fitz and flanner. I was very pleasantly surprised. IMO, there is a lot to be said for traveling on the off-season. There were two other museums, one the Capitoline and the other was a museum of Rome, can't remember which one, where I was the only person around. It was like having a private showing.

hi richard,

is it possible that the on-line booknig system has finally sorted out the Vatican queuing problem?

or is this a seasonal blip?


i think we need further info during the year to be able to decided- perhaps we start a new thread as a report back?

i just know that if I have to queue that long again, and fight throguh the crowds inside as well, I'm not going.

regards, ann

We're just back from Italy, and we did the online booking for the Vatican entrance and tour, and the line was longer than I expected and a bit confusing. We just asked everyone official if we were in the right line to make sure. This was for the Monday between Xmas and New Years, which turned out (I should have known!) to be quite crowded in Rome. At least we thought it was crowded. On the Web site, it said there was only one tour a day in the winter, but others around us had tour times for later in the day, so sometimes the information is different than posted. And/or different people in charge have different information.

Hi

Bill kindly posted on another forum to inform people that the Sistine Chapel will be closed early on selected dates during January. Here's the goss - http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

We visited Sistine Chapel in mid January '08 and we walked right in. Its a great time to visit Italy. No lines! Just dont go to Venice, its miserable there that time of year.