Ok.. I'm very pleased that I got our scavi tour confirmed. And I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.. but it wasn't confirmed in the time frame I had wanted... so, now I need assistance in reworking my "vatican day"..
My plan was to show up at the vatican at sunrise, to see the sun come up over the basilica... explore the basilica, climb the dome... then do the scavi tour.. after that... go have a late morning meal.. and then spend the whole afternoon at the museum...
but now, my scavi tour is in the middle of the day.. 1:45 pm. So, can someone help me restructure my day there? I don't want to be at the museum, and have to leave halfway through to go to my tour. Could we make it a late day instead? if so... how late is the museum open? they said the scavi tour is an hour and a half.. so I'm thinking I wont be done with that until about 3:30 or so... what about doing the whole museum in the morning? what time does that open? really I'm open to any suggestions...
My plan was to show up at the vatican at sunrise, to see the sun come up over the basilica...
Unless you plan to position yourself in the rear of the basilica, you will have a difficult time seeing the sun come up over the St. Peter's. The front of St. Peter's faces east.....so, while you might see the sun set over the dome, it will be difficult--I think--to see it come up over the building.
The Vatican Museums open at 8 am for reserved ticketholders.....so spending the morning there is definitely an option.
I have been in the Vatican Museum as late as 5 pm (17:00) but I think they stop admissions at 4 pm http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Orario.html Unless you sign up for a guided tour you can wait hours in the morning in the line to get into the Vatican Museum/sistine Chapel. The shortestr amount of time I have wiated in the line in the morning and actually got in was 1 hour and 40 min. I would jsut show up later at the vatican and watch the sun come up on some other monument. You can fill up time before the Scavi tour with St Peter's Basiilcia and Castel Sant'Angelo.
Posts: 4367 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
You could do the museums in the morning, but be prepared for big crowds, since this is usually the case. Doing a tour and skipping the line helps, but even without waiting in line, the crowds inside may be off-putting.
We had a similar problem, and wound up doing them on separate days. At first I fussed because it wasn't fitting into my planning, but if my biggest problem is being in Vatican City two days in a row, I'll take it!
Such great news...even if you have to rework your schedule, it will be worth it. What is the date of your tour...I'm still waiting for my reservation and was wondering how far out they are scheduling right now.
Thanks for your help.
Posts: 56 | Location: Stati Uniti | Registered: 27 April 2005
gosh.. I knew the lines to the vatican museum were long.. but the shortest? an HOUR and 40 minutes?! oh my... I really don't want to take a guided tour because I prefer to wander on my own... But, I can't see my husband having the patience to stand in line for 2 hours?! are there any times, or days that it is less busy? I'm sure he isn't going to want to spend 2 hours of our precious time in rome.. standing in a line...
If I remember correctly, you will be in Rome for 5 or 6 days... correct?
If that is the case... I would still pick one day to go to St. Peter's at sunrise ... not to "view" the actual sunrise... but to experience St. Peter's square and Basilica when there are virtually no tourists in the vicinity... you will probably be the only ones there...it really is quite amazing at that time of day! You will be done w/ St. Peter's, the climb to the Dome/Cuppola and all there is to see by 10:30 am.
If you decide that St. Peter's at sunrise is a "must" ... you could do one of the following...
1. On the same day as you visit St. Peter's at sunrise... you could find something else to do between seeing St. Peter's and going to the 1:45pm Scavi Tour ... and not do the Vatican Museum on that day ... do it another day in the afternoon.
OR...
2. Do St. Peter's at sunrise on one day... and do the Vatican Museum Tour & Scavi Tour on a different day. If you choose this option, I would definitely book an early Vatican Museum tour directly through the Vatican ...this would be the most inexpensive way to insure not having to wait in any lines. After spending a few hours in the Vatican Museums ... you could go to lunch and then after that make your 1:45pm Scavi Tour.
Either option would be fine... OR...
You could also check the opening and closing times of both St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums ... and if the times work...you could forget St. Peter's at sunrise and ... do the Vatican Museum Tour in the morning ... the Scavi at 1:45 ... and then St. Peter's Basilica late afternoon ... maybe even at sunset (Jim says sunset would be good). If the times are ok, sunset might be as good as sunrise w/ less tourists... just be sure you can take the climb to the Dome in late afternoon or early evening, b/c this was a highlight not to be missed.
Good luck... Karen
Posts: 365 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 26 January 2005
Hello everyone I am having trouble trying to decide how to work out my days in Rome, I am arriving on a sunday afternoon and have a 3:00 p.m. Scavi Tour appointment on monday, I will be leaving Rome on wednesday. My question is should I do St. Peters's, The Vatican, and Scavi tour on the same day? from your experience is it better to do it in 2 days.
Scarlet, Thanks for posting my question! Seriously, I had planned to do the exact same thing you described here and just this morning received my confirmation for a 1:45 Scavi tour at the end of November.
I had planned on hiring a private guide for a tour of St. Peters but held off on that until I learned this. Now I may have to skip that luxury and just do my own tour of St. Peters.
I'm going to keep watching this thread to see what others think but just thought it odd that you had the same dilemna as the one I have faced for less than 5 minutes this morning!
I just re-read everything and wanted to post some information for Scarlet directly.
Being at St. Peters at sunrise to me is one very cool experience. It was something that we stumbled on by accident on our first trip back in 2003 and on each of the four following trips I have made sure to work in.
The crowds have gotten much heavier in that time as it seems there are more and more tour groups getting an early start. That removes some of the magic of our first few trips where it really seemed like no one was in the church and we had the Pieta all to ourselves.
But one thing hasn't changed and that is the cool feeling (and pictures) that you get when that early morning sun comes through the windows above the doors as you stand about halfway down the main nave. It is a great experience personally and I think you should work it in to your schedule even if the Scavi tour forces you to make two trips to the area.
I think there is a lot of luck in visiting the Vatican Museum. Our first visit was on a Monday and we got there about 11.45am during June 2007 to find a queue a few hundred yards long. So we went to St Peters and had a light lunch then back to the Museum about 2.00pm and walked right in the front door and up the steps to the ticket office! You can hire a self guided headset. The Sistine Chapel is at the end of the walk through and yes was crowded.
Similarly we went to the Colesseum about 3.00pm one afternoon and waited about 10 mins to get in. I am not convinced that arriving early is the best way. A lot of people have the same idea.
Posts: 391 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
I've not run into an admission fee for any part of St. Peters before or after the death of JP II except for the dome, treasury and scavi. The grottoes certainly have seen long lines form but there's not been admission tied to them in my experience.
