Today, we will learn how to buy tickets to the Vatican Museum online, without intermediaries and queues, and queues at the box office there at peak times for three or four hours.
If 4 hours of your time in line costs 4 euros for an online reservation, then you can save 5 minutes by reading this manual.
Of course, we will book in advance (for 3-4 weeks) on the official website of the Vatican Museums box office - other sites or are agencies and charge you an additional fee for the service. We select English and get to this page.
To visit the Sistine Chapel and museums choose ADMISSION TICKETS
Go to the page where in the INFORMATION section we are warned that tickets cannot be returned. Choose VATICAN MUSEUMS ANS SISTINE CHAPEL (VATICAN MUSEUMS AND SISTINE CAPELLA).
Since 2018, a full ticket costs 17 euros, for the reservation of each ticket, the independent Vatican City will charge you 4 euros. The 50% discount is valid for children from 6 to 18 years old and students up to 25 years old who need to show an international student card (not suitable in Russian).
In the SELECT PERIOD AND PARTICIPANS section, select the month of visit and the number of participants. Click Next.
For the specified number of tickets, select the free date for the visit (highlighted in green). As you noticed, you can’t get to museums not every day, especially if you buy a ticket in a few days or weeks. I advise you to book tickets and plan your visit for at least a month - there will be more options.
Choose the right time.
Important: before buying tickets coordinate with the guide the date and time of the start of the tour. Usually we recommend the time from 08: 30-09: 00 if you go to our authoring program All Vatican in 6 hours and 13: 30-14: 00 if you want to visit only museums. Do not rush, wait for the response of the guide, and then book.
In our example, we consider the buying process for 2 people, respectively select the Full price ticket (full ticket) and put 2 in the QUANTITY section. If you have children or students with you, then we choose a ticket with a Reduced ticket discount for 8 euros. You are warned that if you cannot present a document confirming the age of the child (I think there will be no questions with a 10-year-old student) or a student card, you will be asked to pay the full cost of the ticket or refuse to visit. Once again at this step they warn that tickets cannot be returned and exchanged.
In the ADDITIONAL SERVICES section, the cost is 4 euros for the Pre-sales Fee (early booking) service - yes, this is what the Vatican makes money from, and for those who want to save money, please always have tickets at the ticket office, in which the queue mentioned above is always available. Click Next.
Once again we check the date and time of the visit, we are shown the total cost (Total) of 40 euros for 2 tickets, of which tickets - 32 euros, and booking - 8 euros. Visa or Mastercard are accepted for payment. Choose the type of card by clicking on the icon.
The REFERENCE DATA window pops up into which we enter the payer data. For example, you can buy tickets to friends, as I do in this example. Below in the LIST OF PARTICIPANTS section we write the first and last names in Latin letters, those to whom you buy tickets.
VERY CAREFULLY FILL IN THE EMAIL FIELD. VATICAN EVEN ASKS TO DO IT 2 TIMES. TICKETS WILL BE SENT BY EMAIL.
In the GENERAL NORMS OF PURCHASE section, check the box that I accept the Conditions. In the SECURITY CODE section, enter the code from the image. Press the button Accept the Estimate and Proceed with the Reservation (I agree, give me tickets as soon as possible).
Here we are warned in red that you should start the reservation in the next 5 minutes or you will have to start all over again. Click on the green Conclude Reservation button.
Finally, we get to the cashier, we enter your card details according to the example from the photo below. And click below Pay.
Another warning window, click CONFIRM.
Here, depending on your bank:
- or the payment will pass immediately;
- or, as in my case, you have to wait for an SMS to confirm the payment from Tinkoff Bank.
You have up to 30 minutes to complete the payment. Usually SMS comes in a minute. I click confirm.
Hooray, our transaction has been successfully completed! Click Back to merchant.
We see confirmation that our payment was successful, the reservation request is received, specially trained monks (a joke) will check all the details manually and within an hour will send you a voucher to the specified mailbox that you need to print and show at the entrance. Just in case, save this long code.
We go to the electric mail. Immediately after making the payment, I received a notification from [email protected] about the transfer.
This is what the letter looks like. If there is no such message, check the SPAM folder. A letter is generated automatically, it must come necessarily, you do not need to answer it.
In my case, after 5 minutes, the Vatican pigeons sent a letter from Ticket Office online.
In the letter is the code of your reservation, and in the attached PDF file the coveted voucher for a visit to the museums that you need to print. Congratulations!
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in buying tickets to the Vatican Museums yourself. Unless I had to spend 10 minutes filling out the data. I will be glad to answer your questions in the comments.
What to do if there are no tickets for the required date
The cost of a ticket to museums starts from 27 euros. An option with an audio guide will cost 40 euros. Also on the sites are group tours. Regular tickets for skip the line are usually called Skip The Line.
Or Last Minute Tickets - such a ticket for 33 euros can be obtained even in the coming days.
Popular questions
- How long does it take to visit museums? In museums you can spend the whole day. Yes, most tourists have heard and go to museums just for the sake of the opportunity to see the Sistine Chapel, so that "for show" you have enough hours. We advise you to plan a visit for at least 4 hours, and pre-read at least about Raphael’s stanza and other information about museums - there really is something to see!
- Can you recommend a professional, not a boring guide? Yes, we recommend licensed guides ITALY FOR ME - Marina Bogacheva, Elena Vyaznikova and Irina Kravchenko, whom we consider the best guides of Rome. Here is a description of an individual tour.
- Plans have changed, since it is impossible to return a ticket, is it possible to transfer / sell it to other tourists? Yes, theoretically possible. Of course, they may ask for your ID, but in practice this is rare.
- If I come earlier or late will let me go? Yes, in our experience, it’s allowed to arrive earlier or later by 29 minutes, but it’s better not to be late.
- What to do if you bought tickets by mistake on the wrong date or time? Do not worry. You need to go to the reservation change section, enter the email address, reservation number and date of birth indicated at the time of booking - new tickets will be sent to your mail within 72 hours, and the old ones will be canceled. Choose a new date and time, wait for a new voucher for mail.
- What to do if tickets to the mail have not arrived? Carefully re-check your mail, including the SPAM folder. If the tickets really didn’t come, then write to the official email of the Vatican Museums [email protected]
- How to get to the Vatican: See step by step instructions.
- How to climb the dome of the cathedral: See step by step instructions.
- Is it good to live near the Vatican: study the article.
- How to get to St. Peter's Cathedral after visiting museums: From July 1, 2019, all tourists (including children from 6 years old) who enter the Cathedral of St. Peter with a guide immediately from museums (without queue)are required to pay Vatican fees. Usually a guide or travel company buys such passes in advance for their customers. Independent tourists after visiting museums go to St. Peter's Square and enter the cathedral in the order of a live queue, which reaches from 30 minutes to 4 hours.
- How to visit the Vatican Gardens: Inspection of the "gardens" is possible only from the window of a special bus. You must select the Visite Guidate Singoli option.
and in the second tab OPEN BUS GIARDINI VATICANI
You will be taken by electric bus along the tracks for 45 minutes. A ticket costs 37 euros and after the gardens you can stay in museums for an independent tour. I do not recommend this option, as in Rome there is a free, much larger and beautiful park Villa Borghese.
