In a nutshell
- The Vatican Museums are among the top highlights in Rome. To avoid long lines, buy an online ticket in advance — ideally at least a week before your visit.
- The undisputed star of the museums is the Sistine Chapel, but don’t overlook the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps, and the Egyptian Museum.
- The Vatican Museums also include the beautiful Vatican Gardens — absolutely worth adding to your visit if you can.
- Because the museums are so enormous, we strongly recommend booking a guided tour. It handles all the logistics and often costs only a few euros more than a skip-the-line ticket.
- Plan at least two to three hours for your visit, and avoid weekends and public holidays if you want smaller crowds.
Vatican Museums: Tickets and Prices
Like most museums in Rome, the Vatican Museums sell tickets either on-site or online.
The on-site ticket costs 17 euros — but expect a seriously long line at the box office. It’s rarely worth it.
A much better option is the online ticket. You can buy it directly on the official Vatican Museums website, or through GetYourGuide.
The key difference: GetYourGuide has its own fast-track entrance, so you skip the queue entirely. With a standard ticket from the official website, you’ll usually still have to wait in line. That’s why the GetYourGuide ticket costs a little more.
Another big plus with GetYourGuide: you can cancel your ticket up to 24 hours in advance and get a full refund. Standard online tickets can’t be canceled — you can only rebook them.
The table below compares all three Vatican Museums ticket options so you can decide which works best for you:
| Ticket on-site | Ticket from official website | Ticket from GetYourGuide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast entry | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audio guide | Available | Available | Available |
| Cancellation with refund | No | No | No |
| Price | 17 EUR | 20 EUR + 5 EUR fee | 33 EUR |
| Buy here | Buy here |
Our tip: Book your Vatican Museums tickets at least one week in advance. Slots fill up fast, and if you wait too long, your preferred date may already be sold out.
By the way, you don’t need to pay admission for the Vatican itself — you can simply walk right in.
Our Highlights of the Vatican Museums
If you don’t have an entire afternoon to spend here, focus on specific collections. These are the Vatican Museums highlights we’d recommend:
The Raphael Rooms
The Raphael Rooms are four rooms filled with stunning frescoes, painted by Raphael da Urbino during the Renaissance — at the same time Michelangelo was working on his masterpiece nearby. The name comes from the Italian “la stanza” (the room). These were originally the private chambers of Pope Julius II.
You probably remember one of the frescoes from history class: The School of Athens, which brings the greatest philosophers of antiquity — including Aristotle and Plato — together in one scene.
Pinacoteca Vaticana
If you’re into art, the Pinacoteca is an absolute must. It houses a vast collection spanning eight centuries across 16 halls, making it one of the most important painting collections in Europe.
You’ll find works by the true greats: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bellini.
Fair warning — it’s always very crowded in here.
Gallery of Maps
What did we ever do before Google Maps? Oh right — actual maps! And 40 of the most beautiful historical maps are displayed as gigantic frescoes along the walls of the Galleria delle carte geografiche. They all show Italy and the world as people imagined it in 1581.
But these aren’t just maps — they’re works of art with incredible attention to detail. The room is as long as a football field yet only about eight meters wide, which makes the effect even more striking.
The Bramante Staircase
The Bramante Staircase sits at the exit of the Vatican Museums — and the name is actually a little misleading. There’s a second, older staircase in the Vatican that was built by Bramante himself. This one was designed by Giuseppe Momo.
It’s a really great photo subject, especially if you’re into architectural photography.
The staircase spirals downward with ornately decorated railings. What makes its design unique is that it actually contains two separate staircases — one for visitors going up, one for those going down — that never intersect.
The Egyptian Museum
Did you know that ancient Egypt was once under Roman rule? It’s true — and that’s why there’s a dedicated Vatican museum showcasing mystical artifacts from ancient Egypt.
You’ll find mummies, sarcophagi, statues, and reliefs from Egyptian tombs. Because it offers a window into an entirely different culture, the Egyptian Museum is one of our personal favorites at the Vatican Museums.
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel has been the site of papal elections for centuries.
This breathtaking hall is the main attraction of the entire Vatican Museums. Its walls and ceiling are covered with some of the most significant works of art in the world.
It’s especially famous for the elaborate ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo — you almost certainly know at least one of them: The Creation of Adam, where the fingers of God and Adam nearly touch.
The Sistine Chapel is located at the very end of the Vatican Museums tour route.
Note: Photography is strictly prohibited inside the Sistine Chapel!
How to Get to the Vatican Museums Entrance
You cannot reach the Vatican Museums from St. Peter’s Square — the entrance is located outside Vatican City.
To get there, leave St. Peter’s Square and walk along the Vatican’s city walls via Via Porta Angelica until you reach Piazza del Risorgimento. Turn left onto Viale del Vaticano, and just a few steps further you’ll find the Vatican Museums entrances.
Depending on whether you already have your ticket or still need to buy one, there are three entrances:
- the entrance with a ticket counter, if you still need to purchase your ticket,
- the entrance for online tickets from the official website,
- the fast-track entrance for GetYourGuide tickets.
The entrance with the ticket counter is easy to spot — it has the longest line.
Walking from St. Peter’s Square takes about ten minutes. The nearest subway station is Cipro on Line A, also about ten minutes from the entrance.
The Vatican Gardens
For the full Vatican Museums experience, make sure to also visit the Vatican Gardens.
They cover 23 hectares of beautifully landscaped grounds featuring sculptures, fountains, temples, medieval ruins, and even a small forest.
You’ll discover several centuries of garden design in English, Italian, and French styles — a real contrast to the busy streets of Rome just outside the walls.
The Vatican Gardens can only be visited on a guided tour, either on foot or by minibus. You can book them as a combo ticket with your Vatican Museums entry.
Note: The Vatican Gardens tour sells out quickly. Book well in advance!
Combo Ticket: Vatican Museums & Gardens by Minibus
Combo Ticket: Vatican Museums & Gardens on Foot
General Tips for the Vatican Museums
Book a Guided Tour of the Vatican Museums
Instead of exploring the Vatican Museums on your own, consider booking a guided tour — we really recommend it. The Vatican Museums are enormous, and a guide handles all the logistics while leading you straight to the most important highlights.
You’ll also automatically skip the line with a tour. And yet, a tour sometimes costs only a few euros more than the skip-the-line ticket — so it’s genuinely great value.
Tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel: The classic guided tour option. You visit selected rooms of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.
Vatican Museums with St. Peter’s Basilica: Since you’re already at the Vatican Museums, it makes perfect sense to visit St. Peter’s Basilica with a knowledgeable guide at the same time. This tour lets you do exactly that.
Wear Appropriate Clothing
There’s no dress code for the museums themselves, but there is one for the Sistine Chapel — and that’s part of the visit.
Just like in any church in Italy, bare shoulders and knees are not permitted. A skirt is fine as long as it covers the knees. So it’s worth dressing appropriately before you head out.
Allow Enough Time for Your Visit
The Vatican Museums have more than 1,300 rooms — you could easily spend an entire day here. You probably don’t have that long, but we’d suggest setting aside at least two to three hours for the main collections.
Our tip: It’s better to see fewer rooms and spend more time in each one. If you rush through the exhibitions, you’ll only absorb a fraction of what’s on offer.
The Best Times to Visit the Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums are always busy, but they tend to be less crowded early in the morning and late in the afternoon (check the Vatican Museums opening hours here). You should also avoid weekends and public holidays.
On Wednesday mornings, the Papal Audience takes place at St. Peter’s Square, which makes the museums slightly less crowded. However, if you’re planning to visit St. Peter’s Basilica afterward, keep in mind that it won’t be accessible again until the afternoon.
Note: Normally, admission on the last Sunday of each month was free for all visitors — making it even more crowded than usual. This policy is currently suspended indefinitely.
Rent an Audio Guide
Many exhibits in the museums have no information panels at all. At the entrance, you can rent an audio guide for 7 euros. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s genuinely worth it — especially given how much context you’d otherwise miss.
Visit St. Peter's Basilica Afterward
Your visit to the Vatican Museums ends in the Sistine Chapel. There are two exits: the left one is for visitors without a tour and leads to the Bramante Staircase. The right one is for visitors on a guided tour and leads directly into St. Peter’s Basilica.
Without a tour, you’ll have to exit the Vatican Museums entirely and line up again at St. Peter’s Basilica from scratch. Booking a tour saves you a lot of time. We’ve linked suitable options above.
Of course, you could try slipping through the right exit as a regular ticket holder — with so many people around, it often goes unnoticed. But it’s not allowed, so do with that what you will.
Take Advantage of Discounts
Children under six get free admission to the Vatican Museums. Young people up to age 18 and students up to age 25 pay only 8 euros, plus the online booking fee of 4 euros — students will need to show a valid student ID.
You also get free admission with these tourist passes for Rome:
Our top pick is the Turbopass Rome — it offers the best overall value if you’re planning to visit several attractions.
