Vatican Tour Question

[NoWhiners]

1 hour ago, marazul said:

We may be talking about two different things.  I was referring to the long line at St Peter's basilica,  not to the Vatican museum. As cruisemom and I said before, the line to enter the VM with a timed ticket moves right along. They say to arrive 15 minutes before your timed ticket and that works.

There are no timed tickets or any kind of tickets to St Peter's. It is free admission but you have to stand in line for security. That was the line we decided to skip because of the heat. There were no lines for our early VM tour.

 

No, I was replying to cruisemom and now I understand about the timed entry to the Vatican. I should have quoted her reply but it's late and I'm sleepy 🙂

 

Thanks to both of you for explaining all this.

[WESTEAST]

Another Vatican tour for consideration is one that we found particularly interesting, the Scavi Tour. We purchased tickets directly via: http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html.  It was approx. 90 min tour to the lowest levels (excavation site) of St. Peter's Basilica.  It is the site of an ancient pagan and Christian cemetery and burial ground from the 1st century, this is the presumed location of Saint Peter’s burial tomb. 

[NoWhiners]

Thanks to all the help here, especially cruisemom and marazul, we booked our tickets for a Vatican tour for Oct 28. One glitch with credit card company trying to confirm it was me, but a quick call to them, and the transaction went through. All I have left is to wait for Colosseum entry tix to be available and I can just cruise to the day we fly to Rome (see what I did there 😁)

 

So nice to come to these boards and get all the useful info that makes cruising and visiting  places so much easier.

[IndyCapt]

15 hours ago, marazul said:

They are in the same country.  Actually, the short cut between the museum and the basilica is currently closed.  You have a very long walk around the Vatican City walls between them. Take a taxi.

Ok got it! Makes sense. Thank you for the clarification. 

[TheHawk1]

45 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

Thanks to all the help here, especially cruisemom and marazul, we booked our tickets for a Vatican tour for Oct 28. One glitch with credit card company trying to confirm it was me, but a quick call to them, and the transaction went through. All I have left is to wait for Colosseum entry tix to be available and I can just cruise to the day we fly to Rome (see what I did there 😁)

 

So nice to come to these boards and get all the useful info that makes cruising and visiting  places so much easier.

It seems like we have the same tour plans 😄  I'm also waiting to book my official Colosseum tix one month before.  I have that planned for the morning and the Vatican in the afternoon and at a much better price than I originally saw with various tour groups.  I know others have said it's a lot to cram into one day, but that's all the time I have in Rome, so want to make the most of it.  Thanks again to others for their advice.

[NoWhiners]

21 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

It seems like we have the same tour plans 😄  I'm also waiting to book my official Colosseum tix one month before.  I have that planned for the morning and the Vatican in the afternoon and at a much better price than I originally saw with various tour groups.  I know others have said it's a lot to cram into one day, but that's all the time I have in Rome, so want to make the most of it.  Thanks again to others for their advice.

 

Thanks for starting this thread, very timely. That will be a long day but you have to do what you have to do 😉 I agree about the prices. If I hadn't come here, I never would have known that we didn't get anything for the extra money. Hoping I can snag a Colosseum tour in English; otherwise, I'll follow the advice here and book Italian or Spanish and "linger" (or flat out join) the English tour group.

[NoWhiners]

Just had to come back and post my experience with getting Vatican tour tickets. As I noted above, we booked our tour tickets last Thursday but I have yet to receive the vouchers. I got an email confirming payment was received but never got the vouchers. They claim you get them within an hour; it's been 4 days for us.

 

I'm not happy about this and I have emailed every email address I've been able to find with no response. Today I found a FAQ under Support on the Tickets page that included a form to fill out if you have issues. Did that and waiting to see what happens.

 

Those 'skip the line' tours may charge too much for nothing but at least you get in!

 

Anyone out there have any suggestions on what I can do to get my vouchers???

 

Thnaks.

[euro cruiser]

Please don't be insulted, but have you checked your e-mail spam folder?

 

If the Vatican's system, like many others, sends out vouchers in batches rather than individually your spam filter may find it suspicious.

Edited August 2, 2022 by euro cruiser

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

Anyone out there have any suggestions on what I can do to get my vouchers???

 

In addition to euro cruiser's suggestion, what email provider do you use?  I have two different email accounts with different providers -- mainly because one of them seems to have problems with processing emails coming from outside the US.  They just disappear, don't even show up in spam.... 

 

I've never had a problem with Gmail though.

 

[marazul]

9 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

Just had to come back and post my experience with getting Vatican tour tickets. As I noted above, we booked our tour tickets last Thursday but I have yet to receive the vouchers. I got an email confirming payment was received but never got the vouchers. They claim you get them within an hour; it's been 4 days for us.

 

I'm not happy about this and I have emailed every email address I've been able to find with no response. Today I found a FAQ under Support on the Tickets page that included a form to fill out if you have issues. Did that and waiting to see what happens.

 

Those 'skip the line' tours may charge too much for nothing but at least you get in!

 

Anyone out there have any suggestions on what I can do to get my vouchers???

 

Thnaks.

I got the vouchers within minutes of payment.. Yes, check your spam folder.  The email with the Q code vouchers comes from this address:

biglietteria.musei@scv.va

 

Also, I did write to them at one point with some questions and I got a prompt reply. The address was:

tours.musei@scv.va

Edited August 2, 2022 by marazul

[NoWhiners]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have been checking my Junk mail folder (that's where spam goes on msn.com), that was the first thing I checked when they didn't come it after an hour. I've been checking every day.

 

I sent emails to several addresses. One was musei@scv.va, one was info.mv@scv.va, another was info@vaticantickets.tours. I even sent an email to some Director of the org, not expecting to hear from him (I didn't).  I tried using biglietteria.musei@scv.va, but got an "undeliverable" from that!

 

I am happy to say that at 1 am today, I got a reply. I have to give them credit--they have tried to send it 4 times; this time they sent me a copy of their record and asked for a different email address. I gave them DHs, hoping that works better (his is Outlook). The reply I got came from info.musei@scv.va.

 

I have been using my email address for many years and have always gotten replies, even from foreign vendors. I will chalk this up to another mystery of email and hope we them at DHs email soon.

 

I'll come back and post the result as soon as I know. Maybe this thread will show up for anyone else who might have a problem, if they do a search in the future.

 

Thanks again euro cruiser, marazul and cruisemom for your help, I really appreciate it.

[marazul]

For all who have questions about "skip the line" tickets here is the info printed on the admission ticket to the Vatican Museums:

 

On the day of the tour, before entering the Vatican Museums (Viale Vaticano), present an identity document and voucher to the Customer Care Staff at the entrance. There is a line reserved for visitors with a booking. Visitors are asked to present themselves 15 minutes before the departure of the tour.
After security clearance, climb the stairs on the far left of the entrance hall. The meeting point is located at the ‘Guided Tours’ desk. The applicant is asked to print off the voucher (it is also possible to show it on a smartphone or tablet) as to present it on the day of the tour.

[puppymama1]

On 7/27/2022 at 11:13 PM, marazul said:

They are in the same country.  Actually, the short cut between the museum and the basilica is currently closed.  You have a very long walk around the Vatican City walls between them. Take a taxi.

Well that’s not good news…. We have 3 hours of free time on our Viking excursion and we wanted to use that to go to St. Peter’s for awhile and then wander the Vatican museum with whatever free time we had left… Last time we were there we used the secret short cut to get from the Vatican to St. Peter’s… But if we have to take a taxi between them now, I guess we will just go to St. Peter’s and not the museums…

[SraLiz]

HELP! 

I am trying (for three days now) to purchase tickets on the official Vatican site and I go through all the pages and enter all my info.... but when it moves to the payment page I get an "error code 404 page not found" screen.... It's killing me! I did send an email to the website on their contact us page but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas... Thanks! 

[peachykiehn]

On 7/28/2022 at 12:42 PM, WESTEAST said:

Another Vatican tour for consideration is one that we found particularly interesting, the Scavi Tour. We purchased tickets directly via: http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html.  It was approx. 90 min tour to the lowest levels (excavation site) of St. Peter's Basilica.  It is the site of an ancient pagan and Christian cemetery and burial ground from the 1st century, this is the presumed location of Saint Peter’s burial tomb. 

WESTEAST thanks for the info on the Scavi tour. Was able to book this tour for our November visit to Rome.  Did you book the Basilica tour also?  Thinking of touring the dome after the Scavi tour. 

[SraLiz]

Well... it worked on my phone... but not on the laptop! Technology.... geez.

I received my voucher right away, I have printed it and should be ready to go! 

I appreciate everyone's help and encouragements on this page.  Your thoughts, trials and tribulations are appreciated!

 

[NoWhiners]

On 8/2/2022 at 9:07 AM, NoWhiners said:

 

I am happy to say that at 1 am today, I got a reply. I have to give them credit--they have tried to send it 4 times; this time they sent me a copy of their record and asked for a different email address. I gave them DHs, hoping that works better (his is Outlook). The reply I got came from info.musei@scv.va.

 

I have been using my email address for many years and have always gotten replies, even from foreign vendors. I will chalk this up to another mystery of email and hope we them at DHs email soon.

 

I'll come back and post the result as soon as I know. Maybe this thread will show up for anyone else who might have a problem, if they do a search in the future.

 

Thanks again euro cruiser, marazul and cruisemom for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

Good news--we received the voucher for our tour!! Yay. Apparently, DHs email is somehow better than mine. No matter why, we have them. Now if we can just nail down those Colosseum tix, we'll be all set. Can't request those until late September.

[button212]

If you purchase a guided tour directly from the Vatican to the Sistine Chapel and museum, can you see St Peter's Basilica also?   I have a 3rd party tour reserved currently that includes tour of all three.  

[marazul]

1 hour ago, button212 said:

If you purchase a guided tour directly from the Vatican to the Sistine Chapel and museum, can you see St Peter's Basilica also?   I have a 3rd party tour reserved currently that includes tour of all three.  

These combo tours were very popular when the short-cut between the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's was open.  It was one of the options of tours offered by the Vatican Museum. It is no longer offered.

As of now any independent operator that offers it would have to take you by car from the VM to St Peter's.  Eventually, they may reopen the short cut, but as of now you should ask for specifics from whoever is offering this.  

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by marazul

[WESTEAST]

On 8/3/2022 at 10:49 AM, peachykiehn said:

WESTEAST thanks for the info on the Scavi tour. Was able to book this tour for our November visit to Rome.  Did you book the Basilica tour also?  Thinking of touring the dome after the Scavi tour. 

We have been on the Basilica tour but on another visit - you'll enjoy both!

[FLCruiser97]

On 8/3/2022 at 1:38 PM, SraLiz said:

HELP! 

I am trying (for three days now) to purchase tickets on the official Vatican site and I go through all the pages and enter all my info.... but when it moves to the payment page I get an "error code 404 page not found" screen.... It's killing me! I did send an email to the website on their contact us page but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas... Thanks! 

I had this very same problem just today when I tried to book my Vatican tickets. I tried 4 times, called my credit card company, got international travel authorization from them but still couldn't book and got errors. Finally, I changed to another credit card and it went through with no errors. You may want to try that.

[ugagrad97]

Question on St Peters and Vatican regarding clothing.  I have seen that women need to cover their shoulders and likely their knees.  Is the knees true for men too?  Meaning does my husband need pants for this.  I believe we were thinking he could wear nice khaki shorts, but figured I would double check.  Never good to assume.

 

[carlmm]

40 minutes ago, ugagrad97 said:

Question on St Peters and Vatican regarding clothing.  I have seen that women need to cover their shoulders and likely their knees.  Is the knees true for men too?  Meaning does my husband need pants for this.  I believe we were thinking he could wear nice khaki shorts, but figured I would double check.  Never good to assume.

 

He should wear pants. That is the official dress code.

[marazul]

Same code for men. Cover shoulders and knees.  No wife-beater tshirts. No shorts.

[MeHeartCruising]

2 hours ago, ugagrad97 said:

Question on St Peters and Vatican regarding clothing.  I have seen that women need to cover their shoulders and likely their knees.  Is the knees true for men too?  Meaning does my husband need pants for this.  I believe we were thinking he could wear nice khaki shorts, but figured I would double check.  Never good to assume.

 

The last time I was there it was a hot July day — 98 degrees.  The Vatican and St. Peter’s was only part of the plans for the day.  I wore pants that had removable leg sections, converting them into shorts.  They just zip on and off.  I think they were some form of camping pants.  Khaki color.  They were perfect for my church visits.  And then cooler in other places.