You have to go-if you're in Rome and you leave without visiting this wonderful museum then you're an idiot. This museum is so great, and you should go at least just for the Sistine Chapel-it's a sight to behold read more

The museums are very beautiful and HUGE! You definitely need multiple days to see all the museums. My girlfriend and I spent about 4 hours just to get to the Sistine Chapel. The tickets are €20 per person online. Definitely but online to skip the long ticket queues; I didn't think it was worth buying the fast pass to get skip the long entrance queues for security check. read more

Went on a guided tour and glad I did....there is too much to see here. Book ahead of time...the lines were long when we went during the Christmas holiday. This is a must-see place...even though my baby didn't seem to think so. read more

What can I say it's the Catholic Church mist of the worlds treasures have either been there or at least crossed its path.

Wow! Is to say about the overall experience. We purchased our tickets through the main website. When we arrived, we arrived 45 minutes early and grabbed a piping hot coffee across the street to start our early morning. Our tour guide, was phenomenal! Didn't get her name-darn! But she was will versed in so much history and spoke perfect English. A downside was waiting for people who were late. We had a group of 20-25 and we waited for a family of 5 so we stayed inside for 30 minutes looking at digital photos while the guide explained the photos. Tour didn't actually start until 9:05 when we booked an 8:30 tour. People are right, it can become overwhelming with the heat, people sweating, babies crying but that's what you expect by now, right? Words of advice, don't bother with a back pack, wear light/breathable clothes- it does get really warm in some places as you will be a sardine amongst others during the tour, bring your own headphones (they give you some but for 1 ear only) and remember you're there for a purpose, so enjoy the tour and don't focus on the negatives that might damper your experience. read more

Big tip for you. To get to the Sistine Chapel you have to go through the Vatican Museum which is behind the Vatican. Yes there is a fee, but it is worth it! IT IS BEAUTIFUL. The History, the Art.. and to end it with the Sistine Chapel, I think I said "Oh. MY. GAWD." 10 Times just looking at the ceiling! read more

Very crowded to get in, even more once you do. It is something everyone should see once, but I wouldn't recommend more than that unless you get a private tour. A constant battle waiting for people to get out of your way to take your pictures, trying to find your travelmates through the seas of high school led tours, and getting shushed and pushed through the Sistene Chapel. One of fave parts once we got in was the Poste Vaticani, a unique post-stamp for postcards to family and co-workers, a pretty fun aside. read more

One of the largest museum systems in the world. I have spent many days wandering the halls of this glorious testament to the creativity of humankind. read more

Such opulence for people that have taken a vow of poverty. The hipocracy sickens me. It's all a blur of unbridled spending.

It was really hot and basically we were herded in like cattle (way to many people) unless you're religious or into art, it's lame and uncomfortable. (July) read more

This was the best tour we took while in Italy. We booked through Viator (a Trip Advisor company) and got an amazing tour guide named Francesca Dresda. She was not only educated and thoroughly informative on every aspect of Vatican City, but she was sweet, funny and very friendly. She conducted the tour with the utmost of respect for the surroundings and for each one of her tourists. I did not feel rushed at all as some tours can make you feel. We enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. I thought the Sistine Chapel was going to be the highlight but the St. Peter's Bascilica was the most gorgeous, huge and historical place I've ever seen. Be willing to reserve about 4 hours and believe me it is absolutely worth the time ! read more

Amazing museum, beautiful artwork, especially the Sistine chapel. Make sure to go as early as possible and go straight to the Sistine chapel, then explore the other parts of the museum. The chapel gets very busy and packed later on in the day. Enjoy! read more

Amazing art and culture. We took a shortcut that a local showed us, and the time we saved not waiting in line was well spent touring this ginormous and beautiful place. You have to go and visit the Musei Vaticani, if ever in Rome!!!!! read more

Not usually a fan of museums but this is a must see! The museum was great - we only wish we had done more homework before going so we knew more background of masterpieces and such. The museum displays an immense collection built by the Roman Catholic Church over centuries. It includes some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. read more

This place is simply awesome. You can spend hours and hours here and marvel at the architecture. It is simply a beautiful place to absorb the history of it all. The good thing we did not have to wait in line and purchase tickets as it will take forever. We purchased our tickets as part of the package since we were on a cruise. It saved us a lot of time. Once in a lifetime experience especially the Sistine Chapel. Also, there's a dress code meaning no shorts or tank tops :) read more

If you're in Rome you must see the Vatican. The Museum is incredible. The Sistine Chapel is unreal. Seeing it in pictures does not do the masterpiece Michelangelo created justice. There is a dress code so men no shorts and women must cover their shoulders and wear something long enough to cover your knees, so leave your clubbing clothes at the hotel. It is very crowded and like everywhere in Rome be cautious of pick picketers and don't fall for the beggars. The beggars are Gypsy women who pretend to be disabled. read more

Musei Vaticani - Museums Near Me - Rome, RM

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One can wander around these museums for days and not run out of things to see. There is a ridiculous amount of historic and cultural treasures contained here. A single afternoon is nowhere near enough time to visit; plan for an entire day at the very least, if not longer. The Sistine Chapel shouldn't be treated as the single thing to see; it's awesome, but by no means the "point" of coming here. Take your time, see things that not everyone gets to see. read more

So I know this is one of those must-visit places. But with how crowded it gets (including the loud tour groups), it's really stressful to visit, especially with people taking pictures every few seconds. You get pushed through like sardines when touring. Also, the food at the cafe was really awful. If it had been better, I think my opinion would have been a lot more positive. And seriously, who gives people hot drinks in flimsy plastic? They should also diminish the size of the area people can smoke in in the gardens so that non-smokers can enjoy how pretty it is. Make sure you buy tickets in advance!! The lines are insane otherwise. They're bad enough when you buy a ticket in advance. Things aren't well-marked about where to go. read more

The main thing to see here is the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. This is definitely a must see. Take a guided tour. The complex is huge. Also, take advantage of any pre-bookings, or pre-planning. If you do not, you will have to suffer the long lines at admission. read more

Obviously this is beautiful and amazing and a must see while in Rome. One thing you MUST do is book tickets in advance. This place is so crowded that you will save a lot of time and stress if you already have your tickets booked. There will be peddlers EVERYWHERE trying to charge you insane amounts of money to get in. And I mean, everywhere. Do not listen to them, they will send you in the wrong direction with more peddlers trying to act like they're your savior of the day. We had ignored them for the most part but then a guy just told us "go that way to get in" and acting very helpful. The way he sent us was 15 minutes out of the way and we ended up getting bombarded with people trying to "help" us aka sell us better tickets then what we already had - which they're not. Once we got through the mess of getting inside, it was amazing. Truly a sight to see. The sistine chapel was breathtaking - photos don't do it justice. read more

The museum itself is very beautiful, and it's not too expensive. I recommend purchasing online tickets in advance, as it gets very busy there. The staff was quite horrible, they are rude, loud, and if they want you to move in a certain direction - they will put their hands on you. Plan accordingly! read more

Amazing collection, but there were so many people. If you are claustrophobic I would highly recommend going at one of the "you have got to be kidding me" early am private tours. There are so many pieces that one is easily saturated and left bypassing major works. Noticed hundreds of people not flinching as they bypassed Chagall and Matisse only to crowd themselves into the packed to the brim Sistine Chapel. read more

Need to limit tours, you can't even stop to appreciate anything with people pushing you through the museum. I enjoy 10 mins of total of 3 hours spent in the museum. I'll come here once, hard to say again. read more

We had heard that the lines here were really long if you just try to buy tickets the same day, so we asked our travel agent about a private tour. Fully private tours were around 300 Euro, which was out of our budget but she suggested we book a semi private tour with 10 other people in advance for 35 Euro each. It was awesome. Our tour guide was great, we learned about the artwork, the history and skipped all the lines. It is very crowded in the Vatican, with something like 20,000 visitors each day so it is hard to really take everything in. In the Sistine Chapel, we were told that there was to be no talking and no photos. I can't tell you how rude people were that they were talking and tried to take photos. Security tried to stop everyone, but overall it was a little disappointing because we were distracted by the rudeness. It is definitely still a must see attraction. read more

The Eternal City. We saw the Vatican, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Pantheon, etc. Well I've seen all these places in one of my 3 community college art appreciation courses so needless to say I wasn't impressed. Actually, once I received my student loan check I probably wasn't in class long to get to this chapter of world history. I sure learned a lot about the Chauvet France cave paintings from 30,000 BC though. I found dog shit is the best medium for Indian paintings but what do I know. In all honesty though, I spent more time trying to figure out who farted in the Sistine Chapel than actually looking at the art. His (or her) "masterpiece" ruined my day. Barf. One star. read more

museum was wonderful. line was very long. be prepared.

We did a guided tour to avoid the lines and I'm glad we did. You get more history and information with the tour guide as well. We used City Wonders and was really good. Avoid Wednesday mornings if you don't want crowds as the pope speaks on Wednesday mornings. The crowds are always large so be prepared and patient. Also you will be approached to buy all kinds of things outside. So just keep walking! read more

Simply amazing. As a fan of history, this has the greatest pieces of art and history in the world! read more

Musei Vaticani - Museums Near Me - Rome, RM

Loved everything there. Definitely worth spending the skip the line tickets. Beautiful images and history

There is a lot of fantastic art to see but it's difficult to focus on anything as the crowds are enormous! It is as bad as London's Oxford street in pre Xmas time or like traveling on the tube in Tokyo during rush hours. I guess it's one of those things you have to do but you'll definitely not be doing it again. read more

I was really excited for this but sadly the place is just a huge tourist trap. Firstly upon arrival you are greeted by hoards of persistent and rude tour guide companies. I don't understand why the city allows for these people to harass visitors. Secondly, we were pushed and shoved through overly crowded museum halls. You could not even enjoy the exhibits because of the tour groups blocking the halls, the guards pushing people along like cattle, and on top of it all, no air conditioning. For a museum that services thousands of people per day in 100 degree temperatures you think the place can invest in some proper air conditioning. The guards just had basic fans and patrons nothing. It was so crowded It actually felt quite dangerous, I can't imagine if there were to be an emergency. The Sistine chapel was horrible due to aggressive guards yelling and pushing everyone along like it was a cattle call. I also felt it was a bit cheesy for there to be gift shops in every museum hall. It just seemed like a place to make a quick buck off of tourists. I would highly recommend going to the Capital Museum instead. read more

DO NOT ask the Swiss Guard or renta-cops (same thing) any questions. #1 they are entitled, #2 they are Italian, #3 they are rude, #4 they are bored with their jobs, and 5 they hate foreigners. I didn't understand their grand system for entering, and I don't speak Italian (like 95% of the people there), so when I had my already purchased voucher in hand, not sure where to go, with signs pointing to conflicting directions, I was only able to ask the one Vatican representative I saw: the rentacop. He said: "Cassa o biglietti". I didn't understand what he said, so he merely repeated himself three times. Unaffected, I said "English?" Big mistake. He was so insulted he treated me as if I were unwelcome. "Huuuu English" he retorted. I finally realized I needed to turn in my voucher for tickets, and didn't bother to say a word to his useless duff as I passed again. I purchased lunch ahead of time, but the cafeteria ladies were so insistent upon the rules in their mistaken assumptions that I almost left. I had purchased two adult tickets and one "bambino" child menu. They had nothing my son wanted, so I passed on the order to my teenage daughter who began ordering stuff from the kids menu. Apparently there is not an adult menu or kids menu as the website sells, there is a first and a second menu. So now my daughter is ordering kid stuff (her fault), and then the lady assumes even I got the second (kids) menu. So when I ask for pasta, she would not allow me to get pasta. Okay, this is not a benefit, I actually paid $45 for the meal, so... finally a non-Italian African woman who spoke English SAVED THE DAY. I nominate her as CEO of the entire Vatican food operation. She got my son chicken nuggets, french fries, an apple, and me pasta, and the angels in heaven were singing. We tried to find the Sistine Chapel, but the map was so terrible we had to just follow the signs. We walked forever behind old ladies in the midst of thousands of people taking pictures for miles. It really dumbed down the experience. By the time we got to the Sistine Chapel we were so disoriented and tired of people we went right through in 30 seconds just so we could get the heck outta dodge and get a taxi back to the hotel. Don't think you are going to roam the grounds of the Vatican naked, because everything unauthorized is roped off and you are confined with 10,000 other people to the confines of the museums and corridors leading to the Sistine Chapel. The WORST thing is that most people these days can't walk, much less walk when looking up, much less walk when looking up and taking pictures, much less walk when looking, up, taking pictures, and hearing nothing but the tour headphones arresting one of their five senses from what is going on around them. So when you get run over by a camera or get stuck behind the 50th tour of the day, don't expect the tour guide to move his group, especially if the 100 questions are stroking his ego. Also, all the Vatican shops sell the same stuff. For the most part, the Italians of the operation are rude and particular. I say just don't go, and the Vatican will have to make customer service and kind stewardship a priority if they want people to go back. read more

meh. i mean - i know. i know. but this is really just a bunch of flexing. honestly kinda sus if you think about it. read more

GIve this one a pass. If you do go, be forewarned so that it doesn't ruin your vacation. Unsafe crowding, food quality that would be substandard even in third world countries, extremely rude guards treating crowds like cattle - basically they have the classic dehumanized-tourist attitudes. read more

This was my 3rd visit to the museum and chapel spread over 5 decades. The first was before the Sistine Chapel was restored with no crowds and the museum much to myself. The second was during restoration and interesting in itself. Now with more interest in art and art history, we looked forward to another visit. What a difference! The main problem is the masses of visitors and large groups blocking the views, art and traffic. You should know that the museums are huge! Trying to find and see the art work that interested us was difficult and time consuming. However the works on display are exceptionally examples, well conserved, with painting and frescos in near perfect condition. The restored chapel is beautiful but hard to appreciate with a solid mass of people taking up all of the floor space. Some advice: as others have said, get a ticket on line to avoid the long line and buy it through the Vatican site rather than a tour agency to save money. Take a taxi from downtown, about 10 euro to the entrance then avoid the taxi stand when you leave as they want a fixed fee, just walk to the corner and flag one. The walk around the walls to get to St. Peter's is long with masses doing the same. Consider making that visit another day. read more

do the guided tour at night. there will be a lot less people! we came both during the day and at night, and i definitely preferred the nighttime experience. read more

By far the most lavish and exquisite museum I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. Went with my wife on a Saturday afternoon in November. It was crowded but we were able to expedite entry by booking tickets ahead of time online. The only real challenge was weaving through the many tour groups. Tips for those without a guide: if you're looking to do both the Vatican museum and St. Peter's in a day it makes the most sense to visit the museum first, then connect to St. Peter's via the passageway that leads from the back right exit of the Sistine Chapel. When we went there was no signage indicating that route, so just be aware. Secondly, if you're going to take photos please be courteous and stand aside as you travel the galleries -- so much congestion is caused by people snapping pics in the middle of doorways. Thirdly, if you go without a your group you'll be tempted to breeze through en route to the Sistine Chapel; resist that temptation and take your time, especially in the map room. read more

Amazing! This museum will ruin you for all other art museums. Best time is to come after lunch. There was no line at 1:45pm. Same later in the week when I walked by at 2:30pm. But it was still fairly crowded inside. I would go to St. Peter's Basilica and square in the morning while all the Vatican museum folks are in line. read more

Busy even in the off season but worth the tour (tours don't wait in the long ticket lines but they move along rapidly through the Vatican).

Amazing, and even fighting thick crowds of tourists, it's still a fantastic experience that I will happily do again some day. Spent 4 hours touring the Vatican and could easily spend another 4 hours there. read more