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Rome Tickets Vatican Museums

Vatican Museums Tickets: Skip-the-Line, Guided Tours & the Sistine Chapel

This website offers official tickets for this venue. Please note, however, that it is not the official website of the venue.

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Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel: Skip Ticket

Highlights

Skip the usual long queues with fast-track access.

Enjoy a self-paced visit through the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

Listen to detailed commentary available in English and seven additional languages.

Discover masterpieces by renowned artists like Michelangelo, Bernini, Raphael, and Caravaggio.

Use a downloadable audio guide app that can be accessed offline.

Guided tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica

Highlights

Skip long queues with fast-track entry.

Explore the extensive Vatican Museums and marvel at the Sistine Chapel.

Enjoy VIP access to the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica.

Benefit from a knowledgeable live English-speaking guide.

Hear the commentary clearly using a provided headset.

Small groups with a maximum of 20 participants ensure a personal experience.

Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel + St. Peter's Square

Highlights

Avoid long queues with fast-track entry.

Join a tour limited to 20 participants.

Explore iconic sites like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and the Last Judgement.

Includes guided visits to Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Listen clearly to commentary through modern headsets in English.

Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and Mamertine Prison: Reserved Entrance

Highlights

Skip the lengthy queues with priority entry.

Discover the magnificent Renaissance artworks housed in the Vatican Museums.

Marvel at Michelangelo’s iconic Sistine Chapel ceiling, including the famous Creation of Adam.

Explore Raphael’s School of Athens and other renowned galleries such as the Hall of Tapestries and Map Room.

Experience a video-guided tour of the ancient Mamertine Prison located in the basement of San Pietro in Carcere church.

Big Bus Rome: Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Highlights

Enjoy panoramic views from the upper deck of a double-decker bus.

Choose between 24, 48, or 72-hour tickets for flexible touring.

Benefit from free onboard WiFi for connectivity during the journey.

Learn about Rome’s landmarks with a multilingual audio guide.

Access free self-guided walking tours to explore the city on foot.

Track buses in real-time using the complimentary Big Bus app.

Every Vatican option above includes the Sistine Chapel, the last stop on the museum route. You can pick a self-paced skip-the-line ticket, one of two guided tours that continue into St Peter’s Basilica, or a reserved-entry ticket that adds Mamertine Prison.

About the Vatican Museums

Sculptures at the Vatican Museums entrance on Viale Vaticano

The papal collections

The Vatican Museums hold the popes' collections of art, archaeology and ethnography, spread across the Apostolic Palace and galleries added later for the public. The sculpture collection began with Julius II in the Octagonal Court. When the Laocoon group was dug up on the Esquiline in January 1506, Julius bought it for the Belvedere, and it is still on show in the Pio-Clementino.

Part of the route passes through rooms the popes lived in. Fra Angelico decorated the Niccoline Chapel for Nicholas V, and Pinturicchio frescoed the Borgia Apartment for Alexander VI, finishing in 1494. Those rooms now also house the Collection of Contemporary Art, opened by Paul VI in 1973.

Entrance: Viale Vaticano, separate from St Peter's Basilica
Highlights on the route: Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms, Gallery of Maps

Why visit the Vatican Museums?

Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel

The museum route ends in the Sistine Chapel. Sixtus IV had the side walls painted in 1481 and 1482 with scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ and portraits of the popes, by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli and Luca Signorelli.

Julius II then asked Michelangelo to paint the vault, where the Stories of Genesis, including the Creation of Adam, run down the centre. Under Paul III, Michelangelo returned to cover the altar wall with the Last Judgement.

The Apostolic Palace, where Raphael frescoed Julius II's rooms

Raphael's Rooms

The four Raphael Rooms were Julius II's apartment on the second floor of the Pontifical Palace, and later popes kept using them.

Raphael and his workshop frescoed them between 1508 and 1524: the Room of the Segnatura, the Room of Heliodorus, the Room of the Fire in the Borgo and the Hall of Constantine. The School of Athens is in the Segnatura, on the wall dedicated to Philosophy.

The Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museums

The Gallery of Maps

Gregory XIII commissioned the Gallery of Maps, a 120-metre corridor decorated under Girolamo Muziano and Cesare Nebbia, with the mathematician and geographer Ignazio Danti in charge of the cartography.

The walls show the regions of Italy, the ports of Civitavecchia, Genoa, Ancona and Venice, the 1565 Turkish siege of Malta and the 1571 Battle of Lepanto.

Which Vatican Museums ticket should you choose?

Skip-the-line entry to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

If you want to walk the museums at your own pace

We recommend: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel: Skip Ticket, from €44.52

  • Priority admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
  • A self-paced visit, not a live guided group
  • A downloadable audio guide app, with a map of the complex
  • Audio in English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish
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Guided visit covering the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica

If you want a live guide and St Peter's Basilica

We recommend: Guided tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, from €79.50

  • Fast-track admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
  • A live English-speaking guide, groups of up to 20, with headsets
  • Priority entry to St Peter's Basilica on the same tour
  • On Wednesdays the passage from the chapel to the basilica can be closed, so the tour visits the Pinacoteca instead
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St Peter's Square and the Vatican Museums

If you want the premium small-group tour

We recommend: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel + St. Peter's Square, from €97.28

  • Priority admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
  • A guided group of up to 20, with English commentary on headsets
  • VIP access to St Peter's Basilica is included, despite the Square in the name
  • Names must be submitted in advance for basilica access, and you need to bring ID
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Reserved entrance to the Vatican Museums with Mamertine Prison

If you also want Mamertine Prison on the same booking

We recommend: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and Mamertine Prison: Reserved Entrance, from €50.76

  • Reserved fast-track admission to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
  • Entry to Mamertine Prison, with its own audio guide
  • Visit the prison the day before, the same day or the day after your museum slot
  • Does not include St Peter's Basilica. Mamertine Prison is not wheelchair accessible
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Hours, getting there, and what to expect

Opening hours

Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with last entry at 6:00 p.m. Closed most Sundays and on several holidays. The full calendar is on the opening hours page.

Address and how to get there

The entrance is at Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome, separate from St Peter's Basilica. Metro Line A to Ottaviano or Cipro is the easiest way in. Bus, tram and taxi options are on the Address and Directions page.

What to expect inside

The route runs for about 7 km and ends in the Sistine Chapel. Cover shoulders and knees, and expect large bags to go in the cloakroom. Dress code, bag rules, dining and accessibility are on Plan Your Visit.

Highlights of the Vatican Museums

Frequently Asked Questions About Vatican Museums

What are the Vatican Museums?

The popes' collections of art, archaeology and ethnography, displayed in the Apostolic Palace and in later galleries. The route takes in the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps and the Sistine Chapel.

Does a Vatican Museums ticket include the Sistine Chapel?

Yes. All four Vatican tickets on this page include the Sistine Chapel, which comes at the end of the one-way route.

Does a museums ticket include St Peter's Basilica?

Only the two guided tours include it. The skip-the-line ticket and the Mamertine Prison ticket cover the museums and the Sistine Chapel only. Independent visitors reach the basilica from St Peter's Square, through its own entrance.

What is the difference between the four Vatican tickets?

The skip-the-line ticket is self-paced, with an audio guide app. The two guided tours add a live English-speaking guide and St Peter's Basilica; the St Peter's Square option is the pricier of the two. The Mamertine ticket pairs museum entry with an audio-guided visit to the prison.

Why is there a Big Bus hop-on hop-off card on this page?

It's a hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour of Rome, sold alongside the museum tickets. It doesn't include entry to the Vatican Museums or the Sistine Chapel.

Is this the venue's official website?

No. This website sells official tickets for the Vatican Museums, but it isn't the venue's official website.

This website sells official tickets for this venue. Please note, however, that it is not the official website of the venue.

The images and videos on this website may contain visual elements that have been created or enhanced using AI technology. They are provided for illustrative purposes only.