Both the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica are phenomenal. The size, scale and detailing of the Basilica was jaw-dropping even when I expected all of those things. The Sistene, particularly when you have room to move and explore or sit and contemplate, is genuinely moving. But the crowds, well, they are also phenomenal. Use these tips and tricks to not only skip the Vatican lines, but find the unique and hidden places waiting for you at the Vatican.
Skip Lines to Get In: Tour the Vatican
First, lets cover the tricks and tips to skip Vatican lines and see the stars. The Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica quite simply have justifiably insane lines. This is one of those times where paying extra and joining a group is your best bet. A guide will navigate you through the lines for both places. This includes the secret passageway directly from the Sistene Chapel to the Basilica without re-starting in the next line.) The best tours are the early morning “early entrance.” You gather just north of Vatican City, wait in group lines until you’re allowed in, and then the tours have a special trick to let you have the least jostled Sistene experience possible.
If you choose not to do a tour, use some of the tours’ tricks. Go EARLY. Well before opening time and join the line wrapping around the Vatican City’s wall. Any season outside of summer and Tues-Fri are the best days to go (but will still have lines.) Start with the Vatican Museums and end with the Basilica. The Basilica is larger than you can imagine and absorbs the day’s growing crowds better. When you get into the Vatican Museums head first for the Sistene Chapel with haste. Enjoying the Sistene before it’s shoulder-to-shoulder is close to rapturous and is very different than just an hour later. Then you can retrace your steps (groups are doing it everywhere, it’s fine) and start back at the beginning. Free audio tours (like Rick Steves’s cheesy but perfectly timed options) are helpful to make sure you hit the highlights.
After you go through the Sistene Chapel again (with much larger crowds), try to cozy your way next to a tour group that is taking the restricted passageway to the Basilica instead of going all the way back out and standing in a new line. You might not be able to (which is fair) or you might not feel right doing it. In that case, head as fast as you can to the Basilica line (wrapping all around the St. Peter’s Square) or consider a timed tour from one of the hawkers walking around.
Vatican Necropolis: For the Planners
Underneath the feet of the Basilica, up to five floors below, are ancient burial grounds of the Roman Empire. First century pagan burial grounds mix with later Christian-era tombs in carefully preserved excavations. In the midst of this lies the tomb of St. Peter that, along with his execution site, are the reason for everything that exists above your head. The Vatican allows only 250 visitors a day into the delicate area. You can apply directly with the Vatican, well in advance and by writing, or take one of the few tours that combines the Necropolis with the Basilica. Plan well in advance!
Grottoes: Free, Easy, and Mostly Missed
Just one floor under the Basilica are the tombs of other famous saints, monarchs, and popes, including Pope John Paul II. Yet most people don’t know the grottoes exist and miss them entirely. They are free to visit, open anytime the Basilica is, and accessed from inside the Basilica without limits. Many tours end in the Basilica by letting you explore on your own. So whether you’re by yourself or with a tour that didn’t cover it, head down and see the people that have been a part of Catholic history.
Cupola: An Entirely Different View
We’ve gone down so now of course it’s time to head up. All the way at the top of Michelangelo’s massive, miraculous dome is the cupola and from here you can see a 360 view of Rome. There are two ways to make this happen and the first is just to walk all 551 steps.
The other is to pay an extra fee to take the lift up to the interior balcony at the base of the dome. From here you can take in the dome and its mosaics as well as the Basilica scenes from above. A short walk out onto the terrace gives you views of the square and the dome statues. If you desire, 320 steps climbing a spiraling, claustrophobic staircase from here is the cupola. The view from the top is spectacular for those that make the climb and a separate staircase down solves the grid-lock problem. Give yourself an hour round-trip.
The Vatican’s City’s Personal Hidden Museums Tour
There are a lot of tour operators exploring all parts of the Vatican and many provide a great product. But when possible, anywhere, the best tour for the best price is normally hosted by the site itself. Here the Vatican City State hosts the Hidden Museums Tour including best access to parts of the Museums and exclusive access to two things: the Niccoline Chapel and the Bramante Staircases.
Until recently the Niccoline Chapel, hidden the Apostolic Palace, was only open to the most honored visitors. Now the Vatican has opened the doors to select, small tour groups and the private, 15th century chapel is yours to gape at. The Bramante Staircase is the double helix wonder that is popular in pictures, looking down the spiral at those below. The modern one (1932 black and white version) is open to all but missed by many. The original Bramante Staircase, the 1505 brick double helix with columns, can only be seen on the Hidden Museums Tour.
Bonus tip: Another great way to skip Vatican lines! Vatican City has a huge list of after dark tours, happy hour tours, and “out of hours” tours to mostly inaccessible places or inaccessible times. Check them out if you’re looking to go even more in depth into the Vatican’s history.
Passetto di Borgo: The Escape Route to the Castel
Several popes have used this passageway to pass unobserved from the Vatican to the Castel Sant’Angelo and at least two fled for their lives to the fortified palace/prison. Hidden in an simply city wall, the passetto dates from 1277 and expanded by the infamous Borgia Pope Alexander in 1492. Pope Alexander finished this (allegedly to be able to visit both his children and his new young mistress, the beautiful Julia Farnese) but it came in handy immediately as he fled from the invading French king Charles VIII. Charles and Alexander were able to peacefully negotiate the whole Naples situation (Pope Alexander was nothing if not wily.) Pope Clement VII was not so lucky.
Poor Rome was viciously sacked in 1527, ironically by the “Holy Roman Emperor” Charles V. Europe was being rocked by Reformation and land grabs and he who controlled the Pope controlled the referee (for example, Henry VIII was desperate for his divorce from his first wife, had been counting on permission from the Pope, and had an epic tantrum that his wife’s nephew now had the Pope hostage.) Rome itself was torn apart and the Pope fled for his life against the savage soldiers. The Swiss Guard defended the Basilica at the steps and the flight of the Pope at the door to the passetto. Of the 189 on duty, only 42 survived. Over 40,000 people were killed or fled Rome in the 5 months the Pope was under siege in the Castel before he paid a ransom and escaped as a peddler to Orvieto.
A Castel guided tour is the cheapest way to see the Passetto di Borgo . This is another book in advance situation due to limited spots that fill up fast.
Vatican Gardens: A Peaceful Haven
The Vatican gardens take up about half of Vatican City but access is limited to just a few small groups. Topiaries, fountains, shrub mazes, and even the Pope’s heliport hide away from the crowds. If you’re craving some green space in Rome and fresh Vatican view, the gardens are your best bet. Book a tour for access and keep in mind that tours usually include the Museums, but start in the gardens.
The Inaccessible (?) Archives
You won’t skip any Vatican lines or ditch crowds here. The Vatican’s Archives hold many of the most priceless historical documents in the world. Virtually inaccessible by everyone, and tightly maintained and contained for preservation, most people will never lay eyes on it (that one scene in Angels and Demons comes to mind.) Documents range from excommunication of kings, correspondence around Reformation, pleas from endangered royalty like Mary Queen of Scots, and the minutes of the trials against the Knights Templar. Now, maybe, there might be a tour that allows very select visitors to see the Archives. But as you can see for yourself, no promises!
When you finish your Vatican adventures stop and take a rest in the square, maybe sitting on one of the shaded steps in the key of the piazza. We took a long rest for our feet (21K steps that day) and processed the sheer brilliance of what we saw. I’m glad we did; all of that art and beauty is overwhelming! Then, if you’re hungry or thirsty, avoid the main street and instead go north a few blocks to the pedestrian Borgo Pio or Borgo Vittorio for a better selection at more reasonable prices.
May the road rise to meet you, travelers, may you always skip Vatican lines, ditch crowds and get to feel the awe of the truly awesome.
(So, you’re ready to travel deeper and have the dark history of Florence come alive, but not sure how to afford it. Europe has a price tag but never fear! Need some help getting a good deal on airfare, earning and using points, finding upgrades, finding the right hotel or scoring good hotel deals in expensive places/events? Stick with us. We got this.)
