A little fun fact: St. Peter's Basilica isn't Rome's cathedral, despite being the center of the Papacy. The church that has always held this honor is St. John Lateran.
the vatican sells tickets 60 days in advance. absolutely no problem getting our tickets for our dates 60 days in advance. saved a ton of money compared to third party sites and the tickets bought on official vatican website come with a time (skip the line) and a guide for a small fee. i’m wondering if you did your homework when you said you couldn’t get tickets? booking thru a third party is A LOT more expensive and also does not guarantee you have tickets
I respectfully but whole heartedly disagree with your comment. The official Vatican site has been an absolute nightmare for years. There are several problems with the site, from not processing bookings properly to the insane 60-day system that they have in place which penalizes those who plan ahead and don’t want to waste their life away waiting for midnight 60-days before their expected visitation. For the record, I’m hardly the only one who has dealt with this issue… it is discussed by hundreds of others travelers ad neaseum on Reddit and other travel forums and discussion groups. Just do a google search. My video has now been viewed thousands of times… I’ve had a significant number of people reach out to thank me personally for the advice and for saving them a significant amount of time and frustration. I double down on my recommendation… if you want to avoid the frustration… just book through a reputable 3rd party operator. You’ll pay $10-$20 more per person… but the convenience is absolutely worth it if you can’t immediately find the date and time you desire on the frustrating Vatican web site.
I agree with @susanne or at least others have stated the same. Tickets go on sale 60 days in advance for everyone including tour operators. They sell you tickets which they don 't have hoping they can get them when they go on sale, if they can't get them they cancel the tour and try to sell you something else. "Skip the Line" is a marketing term to entice sales for tickets from a 3rd party vendor , if you buy directly from Vatican on line you also would "skip the line" but they do not call it that.
So I checked today and the 60 day advance sale opens at exactly midnight CET. After 5 min, about half of the available slots were gone and after 10 min, only one slot at 14:00 was left. Now, at 00:15, everything is booked out The two aftenoon slots were the first to go, followed by the 9:30-11:30 ones. So calculate the date of the sale and set your alarm clock if you need to need to reserve...
Like I mentioned in the video… I never cared much for the official Vatican web site. Rather than play that frustrating game… it was just easier to book through a third party agency and go when I wanted.
I was planning on booking the tickets through their site tomorrow at midnight their time and stressing out that I won't get tickets. It will be exactly the 2 month mark. Then I stumbled on your video and am considering the third party option. I would like to know which third party site you went with and how early do we have to book?@@bradball
OMG! Thank you so much for this video! I was wandering around those passes that include the Vatican and other 'must see' places in Rome and was absolutely lost, so I tried to see how much would it be if we'd buy each ticket individually directly through the museum’s websites...but yeah the Vatican's website is a mess and there are no tickets to be seen. I am organizing my trip 3 months in advance and there are no tickets until the end of the year. You are awesome!Thank you so much!S2
Thank you so much for this video. Almost booked a private tour which would’ve cost so much more than this and I would prefer not to have a guide but I do want to skip the line. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the great video! When you are on a tour do you have to stick with it? We really want to do the basilica and apparently you have to be on a tour to gain access.
I think there are various different options with each tour operator. In our case the tour guide only accompanied us into the Vatican museum... then we were on our own. Some tours allow you to take a shortcut from the Sistine Chapel to the Basilica which would be a significant time savings (also much less walking) however there are certain places within the Vatican museum (such as the spiral staircase) that would be missed. I would ask some in-depth questions to the tour operator, specifically what items they skip and if the access they claim to provide is exclusive (I'm pretty sure the basilica is open to all who purchase a ticket... but priority access via the Vatican museum may be limited to those with a tour guide).
Hey your videos are stupendous... Very crisp, No nonsense, Answers exactly the questions that I have in mind!! Thank you.. Booked a 3rd party tour that includes St.Peters.. Have a doubt, was unclear of what you meant about being cautious while clicking pictures at 7.31.. Do they allow DSLRs at the Vatican, also do they allow DSLRs at all the monuments in Europe? Thanks in advance..
Glad you enjoyed the video. Hope you enjoy your tour. The Vatican is very particular about taking pictures, but mostly just in the Sistine Chapel. Not so sure about many other places in Europe, though I don’t remember too many other places that prohibit photography.
Just because you didn't get your tickets on vatican website, or you could not handle the website, doesn't mean going to the third party should be the default choice. I see that in other comments like these, you are being defensive. I got my tickets for an 8am visit at Vatican website. You should go to third party website only if you cannot plan in advance. It should not be the first stop. You have mentioned that you cannot go back from Sistine Chapel. May be Yes, If you are with a tour group! Unless you are with a tour group that takes you to St Peters Basilica - you can go back to the beginning and spend as much time as you can.
such a useful video! thank u :). After buying ticket by 3rd party agency Tour, could you discover the museum independently? or always followed with Guide?
Having taken several of these guided tours, I'd recommend just buying the skip the line tickets from the third party operators and explore the museums on your own. You may get detailed explanations on a few exhibits but most of the time, it's rushing from one section to another.
Yes. Many of the third party tours, including the one that we used (Maya Tours) allow you to skip the line queue and enter the museum. Once you are in the museum, you are on your own and can tour at your own pace.
Why would you promote third party sellers who OVERSELL TICKETS and now 2024 - the third party resellers are being restricted. Tripadvisor charges tour operators 30% commission and send people to guides they dont even know and send them to do tours people working in Viator have not even experienced. And these big resellers DONT EVEN PAY TAXES IN ITALY. What a joke!
Ask yourself for a moment… Why is there even a market for third parties? It’s a simple question. Because the VATICAN MAKES IT SO DAMN HARD TO FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO PURCHASE TICKETS IN THE FIRST PLACE! With all due respect… I’ve been to most of the major museums in the world. This is not a problem at places like the British Museum in London or at the Smithsonian museums in the USA… because tickets are controlled and easily made available through the official museum. Unfortunately the Vatican has allowed this mess to happen... It an absolute shame they’ve created an environment where everyday tourist must go though third parties agencies… but that’s the reality. It’s much the same as visiting the Giza pyramids in Egypt… a complete shit show! Just to give a concrete example… I checked TODAY (Jan 25) to see if I could book 1 ticket in mid-June. No tickets were available. I tried 4 different dates in June and July… none available. There's a short window where tickets are made available, and the Vatican allows them to be immediately snatched up by third parties. Absolutely ridiculous. Don’t blame Trip Advisor or the tour groups… blame the Vatican for creating such a mess!
Productive video! When visiting another city or country, every educated person must visit a museum. Visiting museums is very useful and fascinating. A love for the "eternal" and "beautiful" is awakened in a person, the beginnings of greatness and respect for history are inculcated. It is impossible to turn the excursion into something banal, ordinary and boring. The person should be a comprehensively developed person, cultured, educated, critically and analytically thinking, with knowledge of foreign languages. It is the knowledge of a foreign language that opens wide prospects for a person to realize his/her creative potential, career and financial growth. I would like to recommend the practical training course by Yuriy Ivantsiv "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language", where you can find lots of useful information how to learn a foreign language quickly. Learn a foreign language and realize your creative potential on an international scale! The international community needs creative ideas! Thanks to the author of the channel for a very fascinating tour!
We did a skip-the-line entry (guided tour led us into the Vatican, but we toured in our own with a headset. Cost was about $30 / person. For a skip-the-line entry plus guided tour with a third-party tour guide, price can range from about $40 to $100 or more per person. I would research on Trip Advisor.
I'm pretty sure that's a NO. We didn't need them last summer.... but masks were still required during our visit. My understanding is that has changed now... but I would check a few sources just to be sure.
A little fun fact: St. Peter's Basilica isn't Rome's cathedral, despite being the center of the Papacy. The church that has always held this honor is St. John Lateran.
the vatican sells tickets 60 days in advance. absolutely no problem getting our tickets for our dates 60 days in advance. saved a ton of money compared to third party sites and the tickets bought on official vatican website come with a time (skip the line) and a guide for a small fee. i’m wondering if you did your homework when you said you couldn’t get tickets? booking thru a third party is A LOT more expensive and also does not guarantee you have tickets
I respectfully but whole heartedly disagree with your comment. The official Vatican site has been an absolute nightmare for years. There are several problems with the site, from not processing bookings properly to the insane 60-day system that they have in place which penalizes those who plan ahead and don’t want to waste their life away waiting for midnight 60-days before their expected visitation.
For the record, I’m hardly the only one who has dealt with this issue… it is discussed by hundreds of others travelers ad neaseum on Reddit and other travel forums and discussion groups. Just do a google search.
My video has now been viewed thousands of times… I’ve had a significant number of people reach out to thank me personally for the advice and for saving them a significant amount of time and frustration.
I double down on my recommendation… if you want to avoid the frustration… just book through a reputable 3rd party operator. You’ll pay $10-$20 more per person… but the convenience is absolutely worth it if you can’t immediately find the date and time you desire on the frustrating Vatican web site.
I agree with @susanne or at least others have stated the same. Tickets go on sale 60 days in advance for everyone including tour operators. They sell you tickets which they don 't have hoping they can get them when they go on sale, if they can't get them they cancel the tour and try to sell you something else. "Skip the Line" is a marketing term to entice sales for tickets from a 3rd party vendor , if you buy directly from Vatican on line you also would "skip the line" but they do not call it that.
So I checked today and the 60 day advance sale opens at exactly midnight CET. After 5 min, about half of the available slots were gone and after 10 min, only one slot at 14:00 was left. Now, at 00:15, everything is booked out The two aftenoon slots were the first to go, followed by the 9:30-11:30 ones. So calculate the date of the sale and set your alarm clock if you need to need to reserve...
Like I mentioned in the video… I never cared much for the official Vatican web site. Rather than play that frustrating game… it was just easier to book through a third party agency and go when I wanted.
I was planning on booking the tickets through their site tomorrow at midnight their time and stressing out that I won't get tickets. It will be exactly the 2 month mark. Then I stumbled on your video and am considering the third party option. I would like to know which third party site you went with and how early do we have to book?@@bradball
Nevermind, I read the other comments and saw which one you used though I'd still like to know how far in advanced you booked for the tour.
OMG! Thank you so much for this video!
I was wandering around those passes that include the Vatican and other 'must see' places in Rome and was absolutely lost, so I tried to see how much would it be if we'd buy each ticket individually directly through the museum’s websites...but yeah the Vatican's website is a mess and there are no tickets to be seen. I am organizing my trip 3 months in advance and there are no tickets until the end of the year.
You are awesome!Thank you so much!S2
Thanks a lot, precisely what our family needed, a video packed with useful tips! Best Vatican video I have seem on UA-cam!.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your kind comments,
We booked only entree online and no problems at all😊
Congrats... have a terrific trip. Did you book on the official Vatican web site? If so... how far in advance?
The "no photo" policy is also to protect the frescoes as flash might cause damage.
It is indeed. Good thing my sunglasses have no flash.
Big thanks for your tips, so helpful. For the Sistine Chapel, I amazed at your RayBan sunglasses camera (must be pricey).... I just subscribed!!
Wonderful tour... thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for watching… hope it was helpful.
Thank you 🙏 Brad for this wonderful vlog... will definitely help us to our forthcoming holiday in the City next month
Thank you for watching. Good luck on your upcoming trip.
Thank you so much for this video. Almost booked a private tour which would’ve cost so much more than this and I would prefer not to have a guide but I do want to skip the line. Thank you so much.
Glad it was helpful. Good luck on your visit!
Thanks for the great video! When you are on a tour do you have to stick with it? We really want to do the basilica and apparently you have to be on a tour to gain access.
I think there are various different options with each tour operator. In our case the tour guide only accompanied us into the Vatican museum... then we were on our own. Some tours allow you to take a shortcut from the Sistine Chapel to the Basilica which would be a significant time savings (also much less walking) however there are certain places within the Vatican museum (such as the spiral staircase) that would be missed. I would ask some in-depth questions to the tour operator, specifically what items they skip and if the access they claim to provide is exclusive (I'm pretty sure the basilica is open to all who purchase a ticket... but priority access via the Vatican museum may be limited to those with a tour guide).
Very useful,
Did this allow you to see St. Peter's too or just the museum?
@@mommylohse1767 went to Saint Peter’s as well. Wonderful place. I believe it’s more $ if you go to the top… but not to enter inside.
Can you give me the link from the web that you take the tickets
Maya Tours: mayatoursroma.com/
Hey your videos are stupendous... Very crisp, No nonsense, Answers exactly the questions that I have in mind!! Thank you.. Booked a 3rd party tour that includes St.Peters.. Have a doubt, was unclear of what you meant about being cautious while clicking pictures at 7.31.. Do they allow DSLRs at the Vatican, also do they allow DSLRs at all the monuments in Europe? Thanks in advance..
Glad you enjoyed the video. Hope you enjoy your tour. The Vatican is very particular about taking pictures, but mostly just in the Sistine Chapel. Not so sure about many other places in Europe, though I don’t remember too many other places that prohibit photography.
Just because you didn't get your tickets on vatican website, or you could not handle the website, doesn't mean going to the third party should be the default choice. I see that in other comments like these, you are being defensive. I got my tickets for an 8am visit at Vatican website. You should go to third party website only if you cannot plan in advance. It should not be the first stop.
You have mentioned that you cannot go back from Sistine Chapel. May be Yes, If you are with a tour group!
Unless you are with a tour group that takes you to St Peters Basilica - you can go back to the beginning and spend as much time as you can.
such a useful video! thank u :). After buying ticket by 3rd party agency Tour, could you discover the museum independently? or always followed with Guide?
The 3rd party we used only got us in to the museum - once inside we were on our own.
Having taken several of these guided tours, I'd recommend just buying the skip the line tickets from the third party operators and explore the museums on your own. You may get detailed explanations on a few exhibits but most of the time, it's rushing from one section to another.
You found the Death Star!
Is that possible to book no-queue entrance but without guide? I'm really uncomfortable with a guide during my visit.
Yes. Many of the third party tours, including the one that we used (Maya Tours) allow you to skip the line queue and enter the museum. Once you are in the museum, you are on your own and can tour at your own pace.
How I can book self tour tickets in advance? And skip the lines by it ? I didnt find anything ((
I dont want the guide too and didnt find only one person tickets
Do you have any recommendations for a 3rd Party tour?
I believe the group we went with was called Maya Tours.
We booked through a third party for May and they cancelled our tour after we waited to enter for two hours. 😢
So sorry to hear this. Did you still get a chance to go through?
Interestingly... no one talks about shorts above the knee and sleevless shirts. That is one sure way to be denied entry into certain places.
Woww, so helpful, thanks for sharing …. I just subscribed !!! 🙏🇺🇸
Thanks for the sub!
Did you have to wear a mask to take the tour of the Vatican?
Yes. When we visit in June 2022 there was still a requirement to wear a mask. My understanding is that this changed a few weeks later.
Why would you promote third party sellers who OVERSELL TICKETS and now 2024 - the third party resellers are being restricted. Tripadvisor charges tour operators 30% commission and send people to guides they dont even know and send them to do tours people working in Viator have not even experienced. And these big resellers DONT EVEN PAY TAXES IN ITALY.
What a joke!
Ask yourself for a moment… Why is there even a market for third parties? It’s a simple question.
Because the VATICAN MAKES IT SO DAMN HARD TO FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO PURCHASE TICKETS IN THE FIRST PLACE!
With all due respect… I’ve been to most of the major museums in the world. This is not a problem at places like the British Museum in London or at the Smithsonian museums in the USA… because tickets are controlled and easily made available through the official museum.
Unfortunately the Vatican has allowed this mess to happen... It an absolute shame they’ve created an environment where everyday tourist must go though third parties agencies… but that’s the reality. It’s much the same as visiting the Giza pyramids in Egypt… a complete shit show!
Just to give a concrete example… I checked TODAY (Jan 25) to see if I could book 1 ticket in mid-June. No tickets were available. I tried 4 different dates in June and July… none available. There's a short window where tickets are made available, and the Vatican allows them to be immediately snatched up by third parties. Absolutely ridiculous. Don’t blame Trip Advisor or the tour groups… blame the Vatican for creating such a mess!
Productive video! When visiting another city or country, every educated person must visit a museum. Visiting museums is very useful and fascinating. A love for the "eternal" and "beautiful" is awakened in a person, the beginnings of greatness and respect for history are inculcated. It is impossible to turn the excursion into something banal, ordinary and boring. The person should be a comprehensively developed person, cultured, educated, critically and analytically thinking, with knowledge of foreign languages. It is the knowledge of a foreign language that opens wide prospects for a person to realize his/her creative potential, career and financial growth. I would like to recommend the practical training course by Yuriy Ivantsiv "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language", where you can find lots of useful information how to learn a foreign language quickly. Learn a foreign language and realize your creative potential on an international scale! The international community needs creative ideas! Thanks to the author of the channel for a very fascinating tour!
Good info! Thanks so much for your video!
🌸💞💐🌿🌺🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦🌿💒🌺💐💞🏵💮🪅😌🇻🇦🌸🥰🏵💞🇻🇦💮😉🌸🇻🇦🌿🇻🇦💞🦁🇻🇦🌿🌺⛑🇲🇬🌿💐🏵💞🌸🇻🇦💮💐🌸🇻🇦🏵💐🌿🌸🇻🇦🙋♂️
Who actually does tours?
I believe there’s multiple agencies that provide tours. Check out Trip Advisor. The name of our group was Maya tours.
How much was the guided tour
We did a skip-the-line entry (guided tour led us into the Vatican, but we toured in our own with a headset. Cost was about $30 / person. For a skip-the-line entry plus guided tour with a third-party tour guide, price can range from about $40 to $100 or more per person. I would research on Trip Advisor.
WTF are you taking video in the Sistine Chapel for?? It's not allowed. But rules don't apply to you and your family...
I broke the speed limit on the way to work today as well. Sorry.
Encouraging people to take photos inside the Sistine Chapel is seriously lame. Shameful.
Rule breaker with hidden camera? Really?
Likely carved initials in Colloseum later that day.😢😮
lol you can just take the key master tour and they allow you to take as many photos as you like.
😂😂😂
Ok Karen
amazing video do I need vaccine cards to enter Vatican City???
I'm pretty sure that's a NO. We didn't need them last summer.... but masks were still required during our visit. My understanding is that has changed now... but I would check a few sources just to be sure.