Given our close relationship with the Vatican City, we offer official tickets to the Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica and St Peter’s Tomb. For tourists who prefer to visit the Vatican City by themselves, we offer special skip-the-line tickets that will allow you to save time and avoid the long queues before these famous attractions. By choosing these tickets you will have the occasion of exploring at your own pace some of the world’s most famous attractions. Our tickets are flexible which allows you to choose an entry time convenient to your schedule and there is no time limit to your visit. The Vatican Museum tickets offer access to all its 1400 rooms with art collections dating from pre-Christian times. These include access to the famous Sistine Chapel where you can admire its beautiful frescoes and Michelangelo’s ceiling. Painted in shades of ochre, umber green and ultramarine blue the Sistine Chapel Ceiling is considered one of humanity’s most valuable and awe-inspiring masterpieces. We also offer priority tickets to a fast-access tour of St. Peter’s Church (Basilica di San Pietro), the spiritual centre of the Vatican City, which you will enter through a special-access corridor. Designed in Renaissance style, the Papal Basilica of St. Peter not only has impressive architecture, but it hosts incredible art such as Michalengo’s Pietà, an extremely moving sculpture depicting the lifeless body of Jesus in the arms of his mother. The Basilica is also home to pieces of Baroque décor such as Bernini’s famous Baldachin. Through us, you can also book priority tickets for a special tour that will take you below the Basilica on an archaeological visit to St. Peter’s Tomb. After visiting the tomb of St. Peter you will enter St. Peter’s Church through the back door and explore it at your own pace.
The three cards above cover the three main things people buy tickets for at the Vatican — and they aren't interchangeable. Here's how to pick.
The main queue on Viale Vaticano at the Museums entrance is the ticket-office queue, not the security queue. Skip-the-line means you already hold a valid timed ticket, so you walk past the ticket-office line straight to the security screening — which everyone does, ticket-holders included. On a typical July morning that's the difference between being inside by 08:15 with a booked ticket and being inside at 10:30 without.
What it doesn't mean: instant entry with no wait at all. Security screening takes 10–20 minutes even on quiet days. If a website promises you a "no-wait" Museums ticket, that's a marketing headline — nobody skips the airport-style bag scan.
Two paths into the Vatican Museums:
Enforced strictly at the Museums, at the Sistine Chapel, at St Peter's Basilica, and at the Dome. Shoulders and knees covered for everyone. At the Basilica specifically, men need long trousers — shorts of any length are refused. Hats come off inside the Museums. Bring a scarf or light layer if you're in summer clothing; if you show up wearing something that gets you turned away, you'll lose your entry slot buying a cover-up from a street vendor. Full detail in our Vatican dress code guide.
No. The Sistine Chapel is inside the Vatican Museums and included in the standard Museums ticket. There is no way to visit only the Sistine.
Yes. Entry to the Basilica is free with no ticket required. A paid timed reservation gets you past the security queue (which can be 90 minutes at midday in summer) and includes an audio guide.
€22 with the lift, sold at the Basilica office on-site. Includes Basilica entry and audio guide. The lift takes you to the roof terrace; 320 stairs remain from there to the top. A stairs-only option is cheaper but not recommended if narrow spiral staircases are difficult for you.
The official Vatican Museums ticket is non-refundable. Many of our guided-tour bookings can be rescheduled or cancelled free of charge up to 48–72 hours before the tour date — check the specific booking's terms.
No. Mobile tickets are accepted at the priority gate — show the QR on your phone. Download it before you arrive; Wi-Fi at the Museums entrance is unreliable.
In peak season (April–October) and around Christmas / New Year: at least a week ahead, and 2–3 weeks for the popular 08:00 slot on weekends. In quieter months a few days is usually enough. Same-day walk-in tickets exist but sell out by mid-morning most days.
Sundays are closed except the last Sunday of the month. See our full 2026 closure calendar for religious holidays. On a closed day, St Peter's Basilica is still open (Basilica hours: 07:00–20:00 daily as of 1 June 2026) — a good use of a Sunday if you can't swap dates.
Yes, and most single-day visitors do. Start with the Museums at 08:00, exit near the Sistine Chapel, and continue to St Peter's around 12:00 when the mid-morning peak has thinned. If you're on one of our guided tours that includes the Basilica, the internal Sistine-to-Basilica shortcut saves the 15-minute walk around the wall.
2.5 hours for a Museums-and-Sistine highlights visit. Add 1 hour for a guided Basilica walk-through, or 1–2 hours for self-guided exploration of the Basilica plus the Dome climb.
Shoulders and knees covered for everyone. No hats inside the Museums. At the Basilica specifically, men need long trousers. Bring a scarf if arriving in summer clothing.
Both the Museums and the Basilica have barrier-free routes and are broadly accessible. The Necropolis (Scavi) tour is not — steps at entrance and exit.
Guided Vatican tours · Opening hours 2026 · Dress code · Sistine Chapel guide · Gallery of Maps · Raphael Rooms · Vatican FAQ.
