We will be in Rome for 3 days in July (10th-14th). I don't want to "pre-plan" every day because I'd like to go to certain places based on weather, Example: rainy day - Vatican Museums, sunny day - Colloseum. And yes, I know that plenty of other people will be doing the same and I KNOW there will be crowds wherever we decide to go. However, I also don't want to stand in line for tickets for the Vatican Museum for hours by waiting till the last minute.

If I wait until we get there, could i get tickets for the Vatican Museums for a next day entrance so we won't have to stand in line, or is it possible for this to be sold out at times? We don't want a tour, just to do our own walking tour of the Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Would you choose a day now and pre-purchase tickets?

We ordered ours on-line at the Vatican website, to get a specific entrance time. I just prefer to have those details done, so I don't have to spend vacation time finding tickets.

If you want to wait, maybe you could ask your hotel if they can help with tickets, and what they think about it.

Whenever I've been, I've arrived about midday and walked straight in.

We also arrived in midday (sometime around 2) and just walked in. This was in June. In the morning, we looked at the line and it was ridiculously long.

I highly doubt that you will have an entire day of rain in Rome during the month of July. You may have a morning rain shower or a late afternoon thunder shower that passes quickly.

I also agree with those above who advise to visit the Vatican Museum after 1 PM to walk right in. Most people queue up very early in the morning to get in without reservations.

However, with only 3 days in Rome, I would advise that you SKIP the Vatican Museum. It will be so crowded that you will be overwhelmed.

The Sistine Chapel will be a three-ring-circus, with guards yelling out, "Silencio!!!" at the chattering masses taking surrepititious photographs with their iPhones. Really, it will be packed like a gay East Village disco on a Saturday night.

If want to visit an interesting museum whilst in Rome, one that will be virtually empty, I advise you take a walk to the Etruscan Museum in the Borghese Gardens. The Gardens are very beautiful and a nice respite from the SWELTERING HEAT of Rome.

P_P, been there done that

Just back from a wonderful 2 week trip and very happy with pre-booked Dark Rome tour via Viator where we did a night tour of the Vatican... no crowds...was very happy with the tour. Disappointed that St. Peter's square closed shortly after our tour but got some nice night shots of the square minus people. Had no issues with guards at the Sistene Chapel.

Just to contrast with Caroline's and Lindy's experiences, I was just there on May 9 and waited about 40 minutes in the early afternoon (we got in line around 1pm). My understanding is that Mondays may be busier than other days because many of the other museums in Rome are closed, but others know more about that than I do.

For us, I'm still glad we didn't prebook a time; we had the Scavi tour at 10:45 and didn't know how long we would spend in St. Peter's, so I didn't want to be rushed trying to make a certain time slot. If the museums were the first thing I was doing that day, I'd definitely prebook.