1. BOOK EARLY, BOOK EARLY, BOOK EARLY
The Vatican Museums get as packed as Times Square on New Years Eve on pretty much any given day of the year. There's really no way to avoid the crowds, but if you play your cards right you can at least get ahead of the sluggish tour groups to enjoy the museum collections in peace. Some people prefer to wait until the afternoon to go, since many of the large groups will have been and gone by then, but I heartily recommend booking ahead online for the earliest time slot- 8:30. There's more than one reason why.
If you visit the Vatican Museum online ticket office you can book your tickets ahead and this will save you tons of time, especially if you book for an 8:30 slot. Once you arrive at the entrance the voucher you printed ahead of time will let you bypass the main line, head straight through to security (day bags are allowed in the museum, but not suitcases, etc), and go directly into the ticket office of the museum where the voucher is exchanged for actual tickets. Next, muscle through the tour groups waiting for their guides, scan your ticket in the turnstile, then ride the escalator up into the museum.
I'll get back the museum in minute. Next, I'll fill you in on why you really should book that 8:30 time slot.
2. Visit St. Peter's When It Opens, Before You Go to the Museums
Trust me, that early morning wake up and walk to the Vatican (or taxi or bus ride) is worth it. Even if you're one of those people that normally refuses getting up early on vacation, please, please make the effort for your visit to St. Peter's.
We walked from our apartment to Vatican City on our first morning in Rome. As you know, if you've read my other posts, we always get up early when visiting a city to photograph and it's one of our favorite things to do. But, this morning it was even more enjoyable. We didn't stop along the way to take many photographs because we wanted to arrive at the basilica as close to 7:30 as possible. It just so happened that as soon as we approached the city the sun was just starting to break over the horizon- lighting up the front of the basilica in orange and pink light.
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| Panorama of St. Peter's Square at sunrise |
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| Looking back down Villa della Conciliazione |
No one was around except a half dozen fellow early risers and security guards. We were able to walk right through security without waiting at all and continue to St. Peter's as if we were the only people in the city.
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| If you want to photograph the Swiss Guards without throngs of competition, this is the time |
It's just going to be you and the priests and nuns. If you're lucky they will be holding mass in one of the chapels. Hearing a choir in the incredible space of St. Peter's is a moving experience, whether you're catholic or not. We could freely roam around the church and enjoy the space in quiet and solitude.
As we entered, the sun lined up through one of the open doors, sending a beam of intense white light down the full length of the basilica.
You can see in the above photographs that there were hardly any other people there at this time. We walked through the basilica in about 15 minutes, stopping by Michelangelo's Pieta and then we went to climb the dome.
3. Go Up the Dome as Soon as It Opens
This is another reason to arrive at St. Peter's at 7:30. The dome ticket office doesn't open right at 7:30, but a little closer to 8:00. There are two tickets- one takes you on an elevator for part of the way, the cheaper ticket requires you take the stairs all the way up. It's a lot of stairs. We used the elevator to save time and energy and thanks to the early hour we shared it with only 5 other people. There are still quite a lot of stairs to the top of the dome after you exit the elevator. A lot. The stairway is very narrow at certain points and the space has you leaning to the side for a good portion of both the climb up and the one down. The last few steps up have you half climbing a rope too. If you're like me, the presence or lack of a crowd in a space like that is the difference between visiting it or not. You could not get me to go up the dome of St. Peter's for any amount of money after 9:00am when the crowds arrive. But, being there early meant we were the only ones on the stairs going up and then going down. It was still steep, but not at all unbearable. And the view, well, pictures really can't do it justice.
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| Viewing area of St. Peter's Dome |
We got so wrapped up in the view from the dome, we ended up half running to the Vatican Museum entrance to get there by 8:30. However, we made it just in time and only had to deal with the tour group crowds at the entrance before we ended up well ahead of them within the main museum itself.
The one nice thing about tour groups is that they stop in one place a lot so their guide can talk. If you time it right, you can stay ahead of most of them and take in the wonders of the museum in a more civilized, intimate, and peaceful way.
But, that doesn't mean rush straight through all the galleries just to get to the Sistine Chapel at the end. The Vatican houses many incredible works of art and you really should take the time to see them. It would be a shame to miss the statue of Laocoön and His Sons, the Egyptian room, the Belvedere Torso, and all the other masterpieces housed within the main exhibits of the Vatican Museum. If you booked an early visit there is no reason to rush through and waste the opportunity to see these works without the crowds. You won't be sorry you took the time.
Eventually, the tour groups may catch up to you if you linger and that's ok. They have their uses. Which brings me to tip 5.
Now, this tip is very, very special and comes with a little risk. There's no guaranteeing you'll be able to pull if off, but if you can you will be winning at visiting the Vatican.
Ready?
5. Disappear into a Group at The Sistine Chapel
The route through the Vatican Museums ends in the Sistine Chapel, the grand finale. Take your time enjoying Michelangelo's masterpiece. Take a seat in one of the chairs if you can (not the steps), stay quiet, and soak it in. But, while you're there, keep your eyes peeled for a large bus group. Why?
There are two exits from the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. The main exit takes you all the way back the length of the museums to the beginning and adds about 30 minutes of walking. The other exit is for tour groups only. This exit deposits you right at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica! So, if you time it right and blend into a group, there's a good chance that exit will be opened by the docent and you can sneakily cut a half hour of walking out of your day. This is perfect if you haven't been to St. Peter's yet. You won't have to wait at security like everyone else and you can basically head right into the basilica from there.
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| Looking Up in St. Peter's |
Of course, there is a chance you will caught by the tour guide or the docent, but honestly I think saving the time and hassle of going all the way back through the length of the museum is worth a little risk.
Having a pleasant, worthwhile visit to Vatican City is all about planning and timing. Getting there early with an appointment is the difference between seeing this incredible little country in all its glory and having just another nightmare touristic experience.
I didn't make photography the point of the Vatican visit. Tripods, of course, are not allowed within the basilica, and there's no need to schlep a bunch of equipment around the museum. I just took one camera and lens that day, like any other tourist. It was nice taking some time off from an early shoot in order to focus on the visit itself. We finished at Vatican City at lunch time, when the congestion of visitors was just reaching its peak. We grabbed a snack and headed back into Rome. It ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip. We felt we had experienced this famous city in a way most people don't, and that was definitely worth the extra effort.
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