Does anyone know a website to purchase Vatican Museum tickets without a guided tour? My husband and I would really like to get advanced tickets, but can't find any non-guided tickets. We will be traveling to Rome this weekend, April 23rd.

Thanks for any help,
Shannon

Unfortunately, there is no way to get advance tickets at the Vatican (save going on one of their tours). They don't have that service. Get there early to wait in line.

OU Chot,

The Vatican Museum is CLOSED and will remain closed until a new Pope is chosen.

But, when it opens, you still won't be able to buy tickets in advance! NHC's comment is correct.

Who knows, they might decide quickly and be open again. If you get there reasonably early you won't have to wait too long for a ticket, but bear in mind that it will be much busier than usual for the time of year.

We went later in the day in June, no lines at all!!

The Vatican Museums are NOT closed, but just the Sistine Chapel. That's what it says here, anyway:

http://www.whatsoninrome.com/strikes.php#papa

Sounds like I cannot purchase tickets in advance, but the Vatican is still open w/ the exception of the Sistine Chapel (which may open while we are there).

Should I visit the Vatican w/ a tour or go w/ a tour group??

We took a Scala Reale tour of the Vatican museums a few months ago, and it was great. I can't imagine going there without such a tour, as the museums are massive and we would have had no idea what we were looking at. Hearing the explanations and having the guide tell us about the history and putting everything all together was amazing. We are by no means big "art fans," and really don't know much art history (especially the religious aspect), but it really was one of the highlights of our trip.

OU, I agree with almesq - you can't go wrong with a guided tour of Vatican. We went in Feb, 1999 and took an American Express tour. Their office is near Spanish Steps. The guide was great - would remind you of a retired Shakespearean actor. He made our first visit to St. Peter's, the Museums, and Cistine Chapel a truly memorable experience.

How much are the tours??

Later in the day is a good choice, as most folks get in line in the morning hours and the wait can be quite long.

I would show up 2 hours prior to closing.

By the way, going on a tour doesn't mean that you won't have to have in line. We were there a couple of weeks before the pope died, so everything was still open and normal. But we saw many group tours in line right along with us! I'm not sure if the only tour that doesn't require waiting in line is the Vatican's own tour?

We just returned from Rome last week and we went to the Vatican Museum (it was prior to the conclave). We didn't have any long wait getting in. We went to the Basilica and then the tombs and from there the museum. We went started about 0900 and finished up in the afternoon sometime. The museum took us a good 2 hours to get through. The worst part was the tour groups inside. You can feel like a trout swimming upstream trying to get through the groups sometimes. They were worse towards the end of the museum where the rooms were a little smaller and the doors to the next room a little narrower.

We visited the Vatican Museums the day before the Pope died. At 9 a.m. the line was blocks long, so we went to St. Peter's. We went back to the VM at noon and there was no line. We rented the audio sets which were helpful, and I had done some research ahead of time which helped me looked for highlights like the Laocoon in the Belvedere Courtyard and the School of Athens. I'm sure the guided tours are great -- we might try that next time.