How To Skip The Line At The Vatican Museums & St. Peter's Basilica

How To Skip The Queues At The Vatican

The Vatican is a must-see for everyone visiting Rome and it’s popularity manifests itself in the form of the queues that line up outside the Vatican. Every day, thousands upon thousands people flock to the holy city to marvel at its architecture and massive collection of Renaissance artworks and paintings from other periods as well. The queue of people waiting to get inside the Vatican is known to stretch for hours on end. If you end up at the Vatican without your tickets, then be prepared to stand in the ticket line for up to 2 hours before you’re able to even purchase your tickets.

Purchase Tickets Online

Not purchasing your tickets online in advance is a cardinal mistake. The massive queue of people lining up outside the Vatican Museums is for those who are yet to purchase their tickets. If you purchase your tickets online in advance, then you will be able to bypass the queue and head straight to the security. There may be a small line at the security but it moves fast and cannot be avoided. Purchasing tickets online will cut your waiting time from a few hours (ticket queue + security) to a few minutes (security).

Time Your Visit

The best time to visit the Vatican is either early morning when the gates open or late afternoon. Mid-morning to early afternoon is usually the busiest period as the Vatican is thronged by tourists. Waves of people get down off their tourist buses where the queue ends, adding to its length and waiting time. Once the early wave of tourists lessen, the queue shortens down, but is still pretty formidable. If you have purchased your tickets online, then this won’t affect you anyway and you should be able to enter the Vatican Museums comfortably.

Guided Tours

Guided tours are one of the best ways to discover the Vatican City and its monuments. Apart from providing you with abundant knowledge, these tours also give you priority access to the central attractions of the Vatican City - St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. With escorted skip the line tickets, you will not have to wait in the long entrance lines or queue up to buy a ticket. Your guide will lead you past these hurdles and allow you to enter the sites with ease. If you are looking to save time as well as getting an in-depth knowledge of the Vatican City, then you should definitely go for a guided tour.

Know Your Queue

There are 3 queues to enter the Vatican Museums. The first queue is for those looking to purchase tickets on the spot. This queue tends to be the longest with wait times extending to 2 hours during peak season. The second queue is for those who have purchase normal admission tickets online. There is a considerable queue here and wait times can go upto 45 minutes on a normal day. The third and fastest queue is for those who have purchased skip the line tickets online. If you’re looking to save time, you can purchase these Skip the Line tickets and gain priority entry through the fast track line. Also, make sure you’re standing in the right queue so that you don’t waste time waiting in the wrong line.