Visiting Vatican on Last Sunday of month?

[sellinonebay]

MDW and I are Trying to decide to sail on the Oct 25 Breeze from Barcelona or earlier in Oct. Anyone have any details if tours will be able to bypass lines on last Sunday of the month when in Rome visiting the Vatican? From what I've read it is free (last Sunday of month) and no tix required, not even certain if tours are available on a Sunday? How crowded will this be in Oct? On the positive side (imho) the Pope will give his blessing on the square at Noon on Sunday. In your opinion is this a plus or minus for this sail date to be in Rome on last Sunday? Thanks! p.s. this will be our first time to Italy...

[euro cruiser]

The time of year doesn't matter in this case - every time the Vatican Museums are free they are unbelievably crowded. Also, keep in mind that the museums close at 2 PM on the free Sundays.

[sellinonebay]

The time of year doesn't matter in this case - every time the Vatican Museums are free they are unbelievably crowded. Also, keep in mind that the museums close at 2 PM on the free Sundays.

 

Thanks, thats what I was afraid of....I actually thought I read somewhere they close at 12:30 on Sunday? I think I'll look at the previous week when they'll be in Rome on Tues.

[euro cruiser]

The museums close at 2 PM but the stop allowing entry at 12:30.

[D4]

I would never advise any cruiser to go to the Vatican Museums on a free admission day because of the horrendous line and crowd. There's no way to bypass the line those days.

 

Personally, I wouldn't even go to the Vatican Museums if I only had a port day in Rome. IMO, if you don't go right when it opens, it is too crowded to enjoy it. YMMV. I would go to the Basilica and other sites in Rome.

[kuldalai]

The safest way to visit the Vatican Museums or Vatican Gardens and to maximize your sightseeing time is to pre-book your admission for a specific date and time on-line . You can do this via Vatican website or via Tikitaly website. Then you just bowl up at the appointed time walk right past the queue, show your Voucher to the Guy on the door who will point you to a special ticket window. There you exchange your voucher for the tickets and you are in . Simple as that but don't be late for your set time, or you will be turned away .

 

The alternative is to stand for hours in a shuffling queue that stretches back for hundreds of metres in stifling sun and heat .

 

As for the free admission Sundays forget that idea, unless you want to spend all morning in the queue with the risk of still not getting in when the admission closes at 12.30PM .