The detailed guide with visitors tips for Vatican museums

Recently I've updated my post about the Vatican Museums and gathered all the useful information for a visit in one place. I hope that my ultimate guide for visiting the Vatican Museums will help you plan your museum visit, avoid queues, reduce extra costs and enjoy the art carefully preserved in the Vatican city.

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It's no surprise that getting tickets to the Vatican Museums requires some advance planning. While it won't necessarily reduce the crowds on the day of your visit, booking ahead will make life easier for you, other visitors and the museum staff.

Here are a couple of tips to follow before purchasing:

• opt for the earliest time slots for entry or, conversely, aim for an hour or two before closing time;
• avoid Wednesdays (the audience of the Pope), Sundays (the museums don't work) and especially the last Sunday of the month (free entrance for everyone);
• don't visit Rome and Vatican City in July and August. Take that last one seriously — I've been to Rome in the middle of summer, and trust me, I know what I'm talking about!
• always check the museum's calendar for any unexpected events, opening times on specific days, and gather precise information about the paintings / sculptures you want to see. Some of them might currently be exhibited elsewhere.

You can buy tickets to the Vatican Museums on the official website. Tickets become available approximately 60 days before the visit date. It's better to purchase them immediately and not delay the purchase. Please note there is no ticket only for the Sistine Chapel.

The admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel cost €20 for a standard ticket and €8 for a reduced one. Children aged 6 to 18, priests, seminarians, and other Catholic Church workers are eligible for the reduced ticket upon presenting the relevant documents. Being a Catholic does not provide discounts for entering the Vatican Museums. There's an additional €5 online booking fee per person. Audio guides cost €7 when booked online and €8 when rented on-site. 

Please note that tickets are non-refundable, and you must arrive at the museum during your 15-minute time slot. I understand the fear of making payments on unfamiliar websites, but don't worry, your receipt will arrive to your email immediately. The ticket will follow in the next email within ten minutes.

If you couldn't for any reason or didn't want to purchase tickets on the official website, resellers sell tickets for a slightly higher price (33 euros instead of 25) on getyourguide.com. 

If you need expert insights and understanding of the historical and cultural background, you can book guided tours on the official website.

The Vatican is not only known for the Sistine Chapel or museums. Other popular places to visit include:

• Hidden Vatican Museums - Bramante Staircase (tickets available on the official website of the Vatican museums)
• St. Peter's Basilica (free of charge)
• Vatican Gardens (tours available on the official website of the Vatican museums)
• Necropolis Via Triumphalis (tours available on the official website of the Vatican museums)
• Papal Villa - Castel Gandolfo (tickets on the official website of the Vatican museums)

If you also want to visit other places in one day, you can book tours and excursions that include multiple destinations, for example, ​​Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel Tour & Basilica Entry, ​​​​​Vatican Gardens with Bus Tour & Vatican Museums, ​St. Peter's Basilica Tour with Dome and Papal Tombs (without museums), Castel Gandolfo and Gardens Day Trip. You can use the links below for booking.

The first thing you should do after purchasing a ticket is to print the museum map. One of the maps is sent along with the ticket, and a more detailed one can be downloaded here. Planning the route is strategically important for visiting the Vatican museums. Firstly, the museum's exhibition is 7 kilometres of art, which is physically very challenging. Secondly, it would be good to plan in which order to visit the halls to avoid "enjoying art" among the crowd of other visitors. 

So, the map is printed! Now you should accept the inevitable: visiting everything in one day is unrealistic. There are only two options: either buy tickets for several days at once or choose only the best things. If you can't afford the luxury of visiting the Vatican Museums every day, it's better to choose in advance the halls, paintings and sculptures you want to see rather than doing it at the last moment inside. In the next part, I describe the most famous masterpieces of the Vatican Museums, which will help you start. Find out where your favorites are located and plan the route. Please note you cannot return to the exhibition after the Sistine Chapel and don't forget to visit the Raphael Rooms.

I'm sure you'll come across a bunch of halls you didn't know about. Read about them, perhaps you missed something important. Start with Wikipedia, then look for museum guides. A detailed guide "Vatican Museums: Introduction to History, Masterpieces, Collections" is available from the Vatican Publishing House, but any guide online will do as well. Don't forget to check out the Vatican Museums website and read their content. After that, you can watch the documentary "Discovering the Vatican museums".

The Sistine Chapel

Gallery of Geographic Maps

Raphael's Rooms (School of Athens)

Laocoön's Cabinet

The Rotunda Hall or Round Hall

The Gregorian Egyptian Museum

• There's a dress code in the Vatican, especially important if you plan to visit the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Make sure to cover your knees, shoulders, waist and shoulders.
• During your visit to the Sistine Chapel, visitors are asked to maintain absolute silence, and the use of mobile phones and photography is prohibited. In other rooms, only flash photography is prohibited.
• Eating and drinking are not allowed in the exhibition halls. You can leave any food you bring with you in the cloakroom. All backpacks and bags, except for ladies' handbags, must be checked into the cloakroom. The cloakroom service is free for visitors.

The official address of the Vatican Museums is Viale Vaticano. This street encircles the entire city-state and is unlikely to help you find the entrance. The entrance to the museums is on the right side of the city if facing St. Peter's Basilica. The nearest metro station is Ottaviano, on Line A. Bus 49 stops at the square in front of the Vatican Museums; buses 32, 81, and tram 19 stop at Piazza Risorgimento; buses 492, 990 stop at Via Leone IV / Via del Scipioni.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed the article, thank you for reading to the end! Support the blog "so the adventures begin" by liking this post or sharing it on social media :)

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