How much time should I allow to see the Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica? The reason why I ask is because I see a reservation time on their website for 3:00pm and I want to know if that would give me plenty of time to see both before closing. Or would I have to visit St Peter's Basilica first if I made reservations at 3:00pm for the Vatican Museums?

Allow 4 hours.

You really don't want to rush through either St Peters or the Vatican Museums. I would allow an entire day to do both well. Don't miss the modern art at the Vatican Museums. Many people skip it, but it is fabulous and worth the additional time.

When do the museums close again? Six? I would definitely visit St Peter's first, before the 3pm museum reservation.

We arrived for a 10 AM tour with a private guide. She left us at 1. We left the Vatican at 5:30. We did not rush through anything and due to an injury didn't see the dome or the lower level. We're not Catholic, but we were thoroughly mesmerized by the whole place. We were fortunate enough to see a small processional for Spanish Catholics.
Don't rush. If there was a restaurant or snack bar, I didn't see one, so if you need food during that time check carefully or bring something along.

Challiman - The museum has a cafeteria.

Are you booking tickets or a tour? The tour lasts two hours.

I have a reservation for the Scavi tour at 10:45 so I thought we would visit the Basilica before and then do the museums etc after lunch. We don't want to travel too far. Is the cafeteria in the museum our best bet for lunch and a short break off our feet? thanks

kybourbon, thanks, that is helpful for my next trip. (DH wants to go now that I was so impressed) My traveling companion was injured in one of those purse snatching episodes, pulled to the ground and injured her arm and knee. Our guide managed to get us around with as few stairs as possible, so we must have bypassed the cafeteria. For sure I never saw it or even a vending machine.
I guess we were so enthralled with being there we didn't really mind missing lunch.

We had similar appointments. No need to do the Basilica before hand b/c the scavi tour ends in the Basilica!!! Therefore you do not need to wait in line to get into the Basilica!!

What I did: I arrived outside the Basilica around 10am. Took a lot of pictures. Joined the Scavi tour at 11:30am. The tour ended in the Basilica and subsequently I toured the Basilica. Afterward, I went to join the Vatican Museum tour/Sistine Chapel Guided Tour. I truly appreciated the tour, however, I do remember that mid-way through people were complaining about being tired. But I was just excited to see all the beauties of the museum

After I was finished with the Museum/Sistine Chapel, I joined my pre-booked Rome Tour at Night. This is what I should not have done. 3 tours in one day! Bad idea. I think two is do-able since they are close to each other--theme and physically, but I should have saved the night tour for another time. And I will definitely book with another night tour agency in the future, though people in my group were happy with the tour guide (e.g. gave her a tip)

You cannot take pictures inside the Scavi tour, but you can take pictures while inside the Basilica.

Thanks Hobbit! I do know that we will need to take a break before the museum, so we need a place to sit,eat& drink!

There are a multitude of restaurants in front of the Basilica. Don't expect a gourmet lunch though. Have something simple & fast like pizza or a panini. We had a 10:45 Scavi tour & a 2pm Vatican tour which was far too tight. Since food was necessary, we had 3 mouthfuls of pizza & then we had to really hustle - in a heatwave - to the museum entrance - which is always surprisingly far from Piazza San Pietro.

Ian

daydreamer16 The restaurants by the Vatican are extremely high priced. The ones we saw did not post their prices so you either ask before you order or pay whatever bill they give you. Perhaps someone else knows of one that is reasonable. We ate lunch in the musuem cafeteria.

The Scavi Tour is great. One of the highlights of my travels. Just be sure to be there for the Scavi Tour a bit early. Also, if I remember correctly you have to check in any backpacks, etc. and the check-in area is on the opposite side of the Bascilica. Just make sure you are ready at the time of the tour.

I disagree. The restaurants aren't any more expensive than any of the other crappy tourist 'piazza' restaurants like those in the Navona, Pantheon or Barberini etc etc. The same prices. The same type of service. The same average food. Many have placards out screaming their specials & you can just ask to see a menu to peruse the prices before you commit. Just skip the big bottle of fizzy water because THAT IS a profit center.

Ian

hobbitthefoodlover - When did you take the Scavi tour? When I took it last fall it ended in the grottoes with the tombs of the Popes. A few years ago you could use the little staircases to go up into St. Peter's, but these were closed off when I was there in September and you were forced to exit to the outside. The old stairs are seen here in this diagram (#31 & #33), but even in the diagram they are listed as "old entrance to grottoes".
http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/floorplan.htm

I was still able to bypass security be entering up the outside stairs - area 21 in this link:
http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/E...quare-Area.htm

Kybourbon: sure the tour officially ended in the grottoes and the tombs of the Popes--took 5 minutes to see the thing. After that we all used the staircase to go up into St. Peter's. I was there this past May (around May 23, 2009)

As for quick lunch: after touring the Scavi/Basilica and before going into the museum, along the road from the Basilica to the museum (right hand side) there were a bunch of tacky souvenir shops/panini shops. I grabbed a panini (don't remember what kind, but remembered it was tasty) for 3.5 euro (reasonable; seems to be the ongoing price); could not find a seat and just quickly devoured it in front of the museum before going into it.

The Vatican area has some great restaurants. I'd recommend going to the Basilica in the AM, climbing the cupola, seeing the tombs... and then GO TO LUNCH at one of these spots.

La Rustichella, Via Angelo Emo,1
Dal Toscana, Via Germanico 58/60
Il Matriciano, Via Dei Gracchi, 55
Taverna Angelica, Piazza A. Capponi, 6
La Pancia Felice, Via di Porta Castello, 11/12
Hostario Dino & Tony, Via Leone IV, 60,
Siciliainbocca, Via E. Faa di Bruno 26
Osteria dell'Angelo, Via Bettolo, 24
Ristochicco Restaurant, Borgo Pio, 186
Piacere Molise, Via Candia 60,
Ru Yi, Via Valadier, 14
Bella Napoli, Via Simone de Saint Bon, 57
Antica Griglia Toscana, Via dei Gracchi 86

After lunch - say 1:30 - 2 PM, head for the Museums entrance (probably NO LINE!) and go until 5:30 PM. (Make sure you're in the Sistine Chapel by no later than 5 PM). The Museums close at 6 PM but they will start herding you out of the "more distant" hallways about 5:30 PM because at 6 PM they are GOING HOME!

Change of plans. I just got the email acceptance for the scavi tour at 9:00am. So now I am thinking of making the reservation for the Vatican Musuems at 13:00? Should that give me enough time and have a quick lunch in between? Would I have time to see St Peter's Basilica in between the scavi tour and the Vatican Museums?

The Scavi tour usually starts on schedule and will last 1-1 1/2 hours. You should have time for a short visit to St. Peter's before heading to the museum. I wouldn't plan a sit down lunch, just something fast. You can always grab a little something in the museum cafeteria at the end of your tour. You might want a break by then if you plan on spending some time in the museum after your tour. Allow about 15 minutes walking time from St. Peter's to the museum entrance.

Thanks for the restaurant help. I don't mind paying a little more for something close by and on the way to the museum--I want to be able to sit and take a real break.