Later in afternoon for VATICAN?

I have been through the Vatican Museum early in the morning, but I have read in a few places that the crowds are much smaller after about 2:00 in the afternoon. Can anyone confirm this? It sure would be nice not to be shoulder-to-shoulder with so many others that it is hard to truly appreciate the art.

We booked a private tour with Romeinlimo. Jany booked us for 1pm with a private guide.

It was fine until we approached the Sistine Chapel and at that point it was crowded.

This was in Sept 2013 so not sure if that was a factor.

We had a 2:00pm tour with a guide booked through Rome In Limo in early October. It was a moving "mass of humanity" from beginning to end :eek:. We were able to see some things close up but basically we just moved along with flow. Maybe in a really "off" time of the year the crowds would be smaller.

<<<Karen>>>

The lines out front have been noted to get shorter in the afternoon. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it is less crowded inside as some people take their time and spend several hours or more in the museums. Even in the off-season, the crowds don't seem to thin out appreciably, though I'm sure the numbers are slightly less.

Outside of booking one of the before- or after-hours tours, the best way to avoid crowds is to pre-reserve a ticket for the earliest entrance; get there ahead of time, and sprint like a rocket to whatever areas you want to see sans-crowds. (If it's the Sistine, good luck -- it's about a 20-minute sprint.)

IMHO time of year is more important. Mid November wasn't bad. In the Hall of Maps, I took pictures from across the hall of some of the art work. We spent 30 minutes in the Sistine Chapel and could sit down in various place and enjoy the ceiling.

We were there just 2 weeks ago on a guided tour that started at 1:30. The lineup wasn't bad at all to get in. As we went through, it was busy but I was able to take unobstructed photos just fine. By the time we got to the Sistine chapel, probably about 2:30, that room was noticeably more crowded-not shoulder to shoulder, but pretty crowded, though I was able to move around okay. The step that runs the length of the 2 sides of the room was completely full of people sitting. You can't take photos in there though, so it is easier to just look and admire. And they do want you to be quiet in the chapel, which is understandable. But it was kind of amusing-the security guards that were hushing people by shouting 'silence' were louder than the people talking..!

Something to remember is on Wednesdays there's the papal blessing mid-morning, and Pope Francis is very popular. (They claim about 80,000 to 100,000 are currently attending the blessing.). From what I saw most were headed to the museum (the Vatican remains closed all morning) after the blessing. I would think Wednesday afternoons would be very busy at the museum.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did a morning visit, around 9am and it was not bad until the chapel. After 2pm makes some sense as lots of cruise passangers will be making their way back to their ships but not all. As a stop, we were docked until 11pm.

As someone said above, time of year is probably more of a factor. Only advice is to buy your entrance ticket in advance to at least avoid waiting in the line the snakes around the outter wall of the city.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Forums mobile app

Something to remember is on Wednesdays there's the papal blessing mid-morning, and Pope Francis is very popular. (They claim about 80,000 to 100,000 are currently attending the blessing.). From what I saw most were headed to the museum (the Vatican remains closed all morning) after the blessing. I would think Wednesday afternoons would be very busy at the museum.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We were there last year on a Wednesday afternoon and it was packed.