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Information on the Vatican, St Peters, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums |
Vatican tickets - how it works
Alongside our hugely popular Vatican tours, tickitaly also sell 'direct entry' tickets to the Vatican - arrive with your ticket voucher, avoid the long queues and then feel free to wander wherever and however you like. You may prefer to have this vast storehouse of treasures and wonders explained and unfurled in a structured and experienced fashion - if so, then choose a Vatican guided tour. Alternatively, you may prefer independence, opting to, let's say, make straight for the Sistine Chapel and see little else, or just take the time to linger wherever you fancy - if this sounds more appealing then use the form below to start booking your tickets now!
We have a Vatican FAQ page, and further down this page we'll cover a handful of things that you'll need to know (especially if there are people under 18 in your group), but for now allow us to stress just how important it is to reserve your Vatican tickets in advance. Queues on the day can be enormous, with hours spent just waiting and wasting your precious time; with our system you can just roll up at the Vatican, join the special queue for those that have booked, present your voucher, and you're in. The tickets allow full access to St Peters, the Sistine Chapel and the numerous Vatican Museums, and you may stay for as little or as long a time as you wish - Vatican opening hours permitting.
It is only possible to book up to sixty days in advance, so with that in mind, please use the form below to select your preferences and make your request (always remember that we'll charge you absolutely nothing until we've confirmed your order). Availability is never as great as we'd prefer, so do try to book as early as you possibly can! Do remember that bookings cannot be made for Sundays, and that dates are in European dd/mm/yyyy format! There are also numerous 'closing days' throughout the year, but these are blocked on the calendar.
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1. Click on the calendar icon to the left to choose a date. 2. Click button to continue. |
What does the ticket cover?
You may visit as many of the rooms, buildings or museums featured on our Vatican information page as you wish. Please note that tickets do not cover admittance to the dome ('cupola') of St Peters. This cannot be pre-booked - you may opt to pay 'on site' and there are two differently-priced options, one price for ascending in the lift, another for ascending via the stairs - all 551 of them! Again, this is the dome only - the rest of St Peters is covered by our tickets.
Opening times
Hours for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are from 8.30 in the morning until 6.00 in the evening (08.30 - 18.00), with the last entrance at 4.00 in the afternoon (16.00). We would ask you to specify whether you prefer morning or afternoon tickets, or indeed that you'd be happy with any time on your day of choice. Your chances are greater if you select 'Morning or afternoon', but if you'd rather a bit more precision then we would, for now, always recommend the afternoon. We have to turn down far, far more orders than we'd like to, and, given a limited availability, your chances are higher if you're prepared to be flexible.
Payment and pricing
The Vatican is, literally, another country, with very much their own way of doing business. At all times we will refer to the full price of your ticket(s), and you will never be charged more than this ... just please be aware that the total charge includes our handling fee (€6.50) and that this will not show on the actual voucher. You will arrive with a paid-in-full voucher.
Children under 6 years of age pay nothing at all, those between the ages of 6 and 18 are entitled to reduced priced tickets, as are students under 26 years of age (valid student ID required). The Vatican will not allow ANY change of ticket types once an order is placed, so please be sure that you do qualify for reduced tickets and are able to demonstrate as much on the day of your visit. Tickets ordered in error cannot be refunded. Please note also that under-18's are only allowed entrance as part of a group containing at least one person over the age of 18.
How do I get my tickets, how do I get into the Vatican?
If there is availability for the date you have chosen then we shall charge your credit card and instantly send you an email containing a link to a page from where you'll be able to print out your voucher. The voucher will be in Adobe PDF format - download the viewer here if you need it. You may also view PDF's with this software - a much smaller download than Adobe's own reader. On the day of your visit you will join the special 'pre-booked' queue located to the right hand side of the main entrance. You will need to present your voucher and some ID (passport is always best); next you'll need to pass security - everyone has to go through the metal detectors - and then you'll swap your voucher for entrance tickets. Please note that vouchers can only be used for the date and time specified and are not refundable.
Dress code and disabled access
You'll need to be wearing clothes that do not leave your shoulders/arms or lower legs bare. No shorts, short trousers, short skirts, sleeveless shirts or bare shoulders. All visitors to the Vatican Museums will be required to pass through a metal-detector prior to being granted admittance. Wheelchairs are available onsite and do not need to be reserved.
Queueing
The visitor management aspect of the Vatican attractions is not like other Italian museums, and it is for this reason alone that we CANNOT GUARANTEE that there will be no queuing whatsoever prior to presenting your voucher. We can say that off-season you're pretty much certain to be able to walk straight in. We can say that if you opt for an afternoon visit, the chances are you may have to wait a couple of minutes, perhaps not even that. What we cannot say is that there will be no need to queue should you opt for a morning visit, or a visit on Saturday, especially in peak season.
However, if you do find yourselves queuing, the average wait is 15 to 20 minutes, and it is very rare that you'll need to wait for more than 30 minutes. We cannot stress enough that this is totally outwith our control, that it affects ALL visitors to the Vatican, and it is not something we can predict - the Vatican makes arbitrary, last minute decisions, and never gives any notice. There is simply no way around this issue, but, again, it doesn't affect all visitors, and is of limited impact when it does. We would always recommend that you arrive at the Vatican a good 30 minutes before the time on your voucher.
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Information on the Vatican, St Peters, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums |
Quick booking links:
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