Question about new Vatican hours and free admission days

[cbowler]

Hi - A CCer on our roll call posted this link about the new (shortened) Vatican hours.

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/0705/vatican.htm

 

If I understand correctly, on weekdays, individuals can get in from 10am until a "last entry" of 3:30pm. The Vatican's website makes no real mention of this and states that the ticket office is open until 4pm and the museum closes at 6pm. I do in fact believe the updated info from the Rick Steves' website but it brings up a few questions for me.

 

So, a couple of questions:

 

1) If you enter at 3:30, can you stay until 6pm? Or is 3:30 the time they kick everyone out?

 

We are planning to visit on Monday, September 27th which happens to be World Tourism Day and has free admission.

 

2) Are there capacity controlled entries and lines and such on free admission days? Or can I expect to show up and just walk in??? :D

 

3) I'd really rather not visit on a free day because of the crowds. But, our days in Rome are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Both Sunday and Monday are free. Tuesday we have the Borghese Gallery planned and can only do that on Tuesday. So I either go to the Vatican on Monday on a free day or don't go to Borghese Gallery. Thoughts??? (oh, and we're doing the Vatican with a guide as part of a full day tour which is why we can't visit both Borghese AND Vatican on Tuesday. :) )

 

Thanks for the help!

[euro cruiser]

First, I'm curious about why you would believe Rick Steves' information but not the Vatican Museums' own, current web site? (If you look at the address of the link, it's an archived article from July 2005.)

 

Individuals with pre-purchased tickets, which allow you to skip the line, can enter beginning at 8 AM, you do not need to be part of a group. The last entry is at 4 PM, and everyone must be out by 6 PM. In order to achieve that, they start shoving folks out of the furthest parts of the museums, the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, around 5 PM or so.

 

On a free day, you can expect to stand in very, very long lines to get in, and once there, expect to stand in very, very crowded rooms.

 

If you're willing to spring for a private guide to the museums, maybe you could stretch your budget a little farther and do an after-hours tour. They are pricey, but you get the place almost all to yourself.

 

There are a few providers of after hours tours, the only one I know of personally (did this tour with them in 2006) is Italy With Us (http://www.italywithus.com/vatican-after-hours.php). It looks like they are offering this tour on Monday, September 27th, so it might work for you.

[cbowler]

Hi Euro Cruiser - Thanks so much for the reply. I was hoping you'd chime in on this one. :)

 

Hmmm...maybe her link is NOT really accurate??? I'll have to check into this further. I have the Rick Steves' book and it says that hours often change so I figured they had.

 

I really appreciate the tip on the after hours tours. I'm going to go check into the one you mentioned.

 

So, from the sounds of it, I really should not try and go on Monday. Not what I was hoping for but truthfully, the answer I expected. I may see if I can split our day tour into 2 half day tours instead to still accomodate the Borghese Gallery. Or maybe try and squeeze it in the morning of the day we head down to get on the ship.

 

Thanks again for the help.

[illinoisexplore]

Why can't you go to the Borghese on Sunday? That's what we did. Tuesday is your best touring day of the three days you mentioned so you should use that day to visit attractions that are more crowded on other days. The Borghese is never crowded so it is a good place to visit on a Sunday.

[cbowler]

Borghese is not open that particular Sunday. Why, I'm not sure, but it isn't. :( Thanks for the thought though.

[illinoisexplore]

Borghese is not open that particular Sunday. Why, I'm not sure, but it isn't. :( Thanks for the thought though.

 

I couldn't tell from the Borghese website whether they were sold out for that day or closed. Context Travel is showing a Borghese tour for that Sunday. The Context tour would be more expensive than the regular tickets, but the additional cost might be less than the additional cost of an after hours Vatican Museums tour. You could try emailing Context Travel to find out if they were able to obtain tickets for that Sunday. Good luck!

[cbowler]

I couldn't tell from the Borghese website whether they were sold out for that day or closed. Context Travel is showing a Borghese tour for that Sunday. The Context tour would be more expensive than the regular tickets, but the additional cost might be less than the additional cost of an after hours Vatican Museums tour. You could try emailing Context Travel to find out if they were able to obtain tickets for that Sunday. Good luck!

 

I know! It doesn't say on their site that they are closed but at the same time, you can't buy tickets for that day. I appreciate the tip about Context Travel. I'll check it out. I've also emailed Borghese Gallery to see if they are open on that Sunday or what.

 

Thanks!

[cruisemom42]

There are no tickets available for the Saturday before either. It's really odd..... Let us know if you find out anything.

[cbowler]

There are no tickets available for the Saturday before either. It's really odd..... Let us know if you find out anything.

 

For anyone interested, here's the response I received from the Borgheses Gallery about whether or not they are open on Sunday, September 26:

 

 

The gallery is open you just send us a booking request by email specifying the day time and the total number of persons.

So I'm glad to hear they are open but am still confused as to why they don't have online ticket purchases for that weekend. I would encourage anyone trying to go on that Saturday or Sunday to email them as well.

[illinoisexplore]

That's great that they are open. Maybe they are celebrating World Tourism Day over the weekend since they are closed on Mondays? There would not be anything for their ticket agent to "sell" if the tickets are free. This is just a guess.

[cbowler]

Hi - Just wanted to give a quick update about the Borghese Gallery. After I received my email from them, I went and checked their website. It now shows Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26 as possible days to purchase tickets. Whew!!!

 

So, to solve this whole problem mentioned above, I've purchased tickets for the Borghese Gallery for Sunday and am switching our tour that includes the Vatican to Tuesday in order to avoid the crowds associated with the free admission days.

 

On another note, when I purchased the Borghese Gallery tickets for Sunday, they were only 5 Euro each. Hmmm, don't know what's up with that since I thought they should be 9.5 Euros each.