2Travlrs

In an earlier trip to Rome, we stood more than 2 hours in line for the Vatican Museums & Sistene Chapel. This year, I have made reservations for a guided tour which will happen at 10 a.m. on a Monday.

Questions:
How much time should we allow to get to the entrance (we are staying near the Spanish Steps metro stop & plan to go to the Cipro-Musei Vaticani stop)?

The booking voucher says we should go to the queue on the right hand side of the entrance. Is there any separation according to our reservation time?

One of us walks slowly, and I am trying to make sure to allow enough travel time to get to our tour. Thanks so much to Fodorites who are always so helpful!

ellenem

I think it would be better to take the metro to the Ottaviano stop. It's about the same distance to the museum entrance as from the Cipro stop, but the walk is all flat. From the Cipro stop, you might have to walk up a hill. From either stop, I'd allow 10 minutes to walk from the metro to the entrance.

How many are the "we" you referred to? In your situation, I'd pay for a taxi to the museum to ensure we'd arrive in time and didn't waste my companion's energy on walking to and from metro stations. Save the walking for inside the museum's long hallways.

michnron

We are looking to book a tour of the Vatican as well. May I ask which company you used?

2Travlrs

There are 2 of us. Gatorbill suggested the Cipro-Musei stop, and it seemed a better choice since it was slightly closer.
I thought it might be a less congested route than the Ottaviano stop because of the traffic at the Piazza d Risorgimento.

I had thought about a taxi. Are they able to drive to the Museums' entrance? How much time from the Spanish Steps area to the Museums should we allow for traffic on a Monday morning?

Michnron - I went to the Vatican website (www.vatican.va)& made my way to the Museums and then to Visitor Services which includes the guided tours. You can find out when tours are available and make your reservation on line. You pay via credit card and get an immediate voucher. This trip was done w/out much lead time (found a great airline fare & booked a short trip), so our main interest was in being able to confirm something quickly.

alanRow

<<< The booking voucher says we should go to the queue on the right hand side of the entrance. >>>

As of Thursday the queue on the right (up against the wall) is the general queue, not for pre-booked folk. You use the central queue instead - which probably won't be a queue of more than 5 people and a man with a scanner.

Once in you need to go upstairs and exchange your voucher for a ticket.

One other tip - watch out for the signs to the Raphael Rooms which are just after the second set of tapestries. We missed it and went straight to the Sistine Chapel.

MademoiselleFifi

Thanks for the update on the queues, alanRow.

sacc

At taxi from your hotel really might be a good idea. I've done that with my elderly Mom, to save her legs. A taxi can drop you right at the entrance to the museums (well, across the street from the entance!) That might really save some wear and tear on your companion.

The metro has some escalators but you might also be faced with stairs as well as the walk from the metro stop to the museums entrance. All that before you even get inside -- and the museum complex is huge (as you probably remember!)

From the spanish steps, it isn't that far to the Vatican but you still might want to give yourself 30 minutes so that you won't feel stressed if you're sitting in traffic at some point.