Vatican security wait lines

[travelnona]

First time user. Hope I get it right. Even after buying advance tickets to the Vatican, can it still take a long time to get through security. I understand some tour companies will not wait and they just add free time to your tour instead of visiting the Vatican Museum.

[BigGuy25]

First time user. Hope I get it right. Even after buying advance tickets to the Vatican, can it still take a long time to get through security. I understand some tour companies will not wait and they just add free time to your tour instead of visiting the Vatican Museum.

 

We were at the Vatican on a VERY busy day in July. They were closing (to move some artwork) at 1pm so the lines in the morning were very long ... wrapping for a great distance around the outside of Vatican City. So, I assume that this was about as crowded as it gets. That said, we had pre-purchased our tickets and went directly to the front of the line and passed though security within 5 minutes or so.

 

FYI ... many venues in Europe require you to pass through "airline" type security (x-ray for bags and metal detectors for bodies) before entering.

 

In Israel we even needed to have bags inspected before entering a supermarket.

[cruisemom42]

If you could be a little more specific about your concern, perhaps we could answer better.

 

I think most peoples' experience echoes what the poster above states. The line is very brief for those with reserved tickets.

 

Where exactly did you hear this information?

[CathyCruises]

Actually I think the OP may be confusing visiting the Vatican museums with visiting the basilica. There CAN be long security lines to get in to the basilica, which does not require a ticket. However, if you pre-purchase your museum tickets, you can essentially just walk in; and when you have completed your tour, you will end up in the Sistine Chapel. At that time, be sure to leave by the small back RIGHT hand door, which will take you right around to the basilica and you will skip any line.

 

Hope this helps and welcome to Cruise Critic!!

 

Cathy

[labeachcomber]

The OP raises the question of whether or not he/she will be able to get into the Vatican museum, so I wouldn't interpret that as getting into the Basilica.

 

BigGuy, I think we were at the Vatican museum on the same day as you. They were closing down the Sistine Chapel at 1 pm so they could move a tapestry. We had an 8 am reservation, so we were inside without any problem. But when we came out, the lines were indeed long, stretching around the entire block. To make things worse, it was a hot day and Vatican security wouldn't even let people lean up against the wall! I actually saw them going through the line and telling people to move away from the wall.

 

There's two lines - the general admission line and the reserved line. If you're in a tour, you'll be in the reserved line. Not sure what the OP means by saying that the tour company won't wait and will just skip the Vatican Museum and add free time. Free time for walking around Rome? The reserved line can also get a little long depending on the time you go, but it moves really fast.

 

The Basilica line can be long. We know because we couldn't take the shortcut through the Sistine Chapel that is described above. We had packed a tripod in our bag when we entered the Vatican Museum. Security made us take it out and put it in baggage check. So we had to go back to get it after seeing the Sistine Chapel, walk all the way around outside Vatican City, and then reenter St. Peter's square to get into the Basilica.

 

The line was long, but moved fast since there's no tickets to purchase. Only issue was the baking sun.

[travelnona]

Thank you all for your responses. Being new to posting, I see I have to be a little more precise in stating my questions.

[BigGuy25]

BigGuy, I think we were at the Vatican museum on the same day as you. They were closing down the Sistine Chapel at 1 pm so they could move a tapestry. We had an 8 am reservation, so we were inside without any problem. But when we came out, the lines were indeed long, stretching around the entire block. To make things worse, it was a hot day and Vatican security wouldn't even let people lean up against the wall! I actually saw them going through the line and telling people to move away from the wall.

 

 

Yep, that sounds like the same day. Our entry time was 11am ... that's why the entry lines were so long when we arrived.

[euro cruiser]

Closing at 1 PM is unusual, but unfortunately, lines wrapped around several corners is not. I thought that the ability to make reservations on line would have reduced this problem, and maybe it has, but the lines still exist. Even before the reservations possibility, the lines generally ended by 1 PM or so.