How to Buy Vatican Tickets and Skip the Line in 2021

Among the abundance of amazing sights of the capital of Italy, the unique city-state, located in the heart of Rome, is especially popular. This is the center of the Catholic world – the Vatican. The residence of the Pope attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims from all over the world. On 44 hectares of land there is a real treasury, consisting of Christian relics, architectural values, as well as sculptural and pictorial exhibits. Guests of the Vatican can take a walk around the famous St. Peter's Square and admire the majestic facade of the legendary cathedral for free. To see the masterpieces of the great masters and get acquainted with the beautiful works of art, travelers need to purchase tickets. It is recommended to plan a visit to a small country in advance. A huge number of people want to feel the thousand-year history of Christianity and spiritually imbued with the creations of brilliant artists. Step-by-step instructions on how to buy a ticket to the Vatican will allow you to avoid languishing in a large crowd of people.

What are the tickets and how much do they cost

There are several types of tickets. They can be purchased directly at the box office of the Vatican Museums or via the Internet on the official website. Among the guests of the Papal Residence, the following types of tickets are in special demand:

1. Standard package. It covers visits to museums, palaces, exhibition halls and galleries, as well as the world-famous Sistine Chapel. Price – 17 euros + 4 euros (booking). For children under 18 years old and students under 25 years old, a discounted ticket price of 8 euros is provided.
2. Evening visit. The €16 program is an overview of works of art, relics and artifacts from 19:00 to 23:00.
3. Guided tour in Russian. Professional connoisseurs of the Vatican conduct fascinating tours of museum expositions. Tourists will meet with St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, as well as a walk through the halls with paintings, sculptures, tapestries and various ancient artifacts.
4. Early visit. Travelers are offered a wonderful chance to enjoy the masterpieces of art in complete silence before the influx of the bulk of inquisitive visitors. A walk through the territory of one of the smallest countries in the world starts at 7:00. Early visit includes a light buffet breakfast. The price is 68 euros per person.
5. Gardens of the Vatican. For 37 euros, tourists will take a walk through the amazingly picturesque well-groomed parks of the Vatican, visit the Sistine Chapel and museum complexes.

How to buy online

Every day, about 50 thousand people seek to enjoy the greatest collection of art of the Vatican Museum Fund. Therefore, many people have to wait in line to enter the famous exhibition halls filled with world-famous paintings, sculptures, tapestries, Christian relics and many other outstanding artifacts. Buying a ticket in advance via the Internet, tourists are given the opportunity to bypass the numerous queues.

To successfully purchase a ticket, you must complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Vatican Museums website – biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/. Press Enter. You can select English or Italian.

3. Next, you need to select the ADMISSION TICKETS item. It means booking an entrance ticket to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel without many hours of waiting in a queue.

5. Website visitors are informed that tickets can be reserved up to 90 days before the actual date of the visit. To do this, you need to click on the VATICAN MUSEUMS AND SISTINE CHAPEL.

7. In the window that appears, the price with possible discounts appears. It also describes the rules for confirming a booking and receiving an e-voucher. Select the month and the number of people, then click NEXT.

9. Mark the date of your visit on the calendar provided. Available dates are displayed with a green circle.

11. Next, the exact time of the visit is selected from 9:00 to 15:00.

13. In the next window, you need to determine the type of tickets based on the number of adults and children. In this case, the total number of visitors must correspond to the previously declared number of participants. Adults visit will cost 17 euros, children under 18 years old – 8 euros. An additional booking fee of EUR 4 applies.

15. There is a transition of registration of tickets. To do this, you must provide information about the customer. The fields should include the last name, first name, gender, city of residence, date of birth, email address. If necessary, you can add the names and surnames of all group members. The checkboxes are placed in front of I accept the Conditions and I know all the rules to purchase reduced tickets, which means: I accept the conditions and am familiar with the rules for purchasing reduced tickets. Enter the specified code at the bottom of the page.

17. Payment processing. The payment procedure must be completed within five minutes. Otherwise, the booking will be cancelled. The Conclude Reservation button is pressed, after which a window appears for entering bank card data (Visa, MasterCard). The PAY button confirms the purchase of tickets.
18. The final stage of the booking is confirmation of payment and receipt of an email with a voucher. The barcode can be printed or saved to the phone, and then presented at a special box office intended for customers of the online booking system. Tourists are given paper tickets.

How to buy skip-the-line tickets

Travelers can purchase tickets in advance online through the official website, use the services of a guide or buy a special Vatican multicard. This will avoid huge queues at the box office of the Vatican Museums. It includes priority access to the Sistine Chapel, Pinacoteca, Pio Clementino, Pio Cristiano, Borgia apartments, Raphael's Stanzas and many other halls of the Pope's residence.

On the site, you must specify the date and time of visiting the attraction, enter personal data and make a payment. After that, a voucher will be sent to your email address, which you can print or save on your smartphone. On the day of the visit, the voucher will need to be shown at a special box office, where it will be exchanged for paper tickets.

Buy a multimap of attractions in Rome and the Vatican online for € 79. Also included in the price is a map of the city, where all the sights are marked and an audio guide in the application on the smartphone. A very advantageous offer.

Professional Russian-speaking guides offer tourists to go to the treasury of the Vatican and get acquainted with the masterpieces of world art. The cost of individual excursions includes the purchase of tickets, as well as access to galleries and exhibition halls with masterpieces by Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Titian and many other outstanding masters of their time. Sculptures, frescoes, tapestries and various artifacts collected by the heads of the Catholic Church over the course of many centuries will appear in all their splendor.

What to consider when buying

Важно знать, что купленные билеты через интернет будут стоить немного дороже. К их цене добавляется сбор за сервис бронирования. Следует обратить внимание на конкретную дату и время посещение музеев. Допускается опоздание не более чем на полчаса. Рекомендуется заблаговременно уточнить график работы галерей, выставочных залов и легендарных комнат.

Museums do not receive guests on Sundays. However, on the last Sunday of each month, admission to the Treasury of the State of the Pope is absolutely free. Tourists should not forget to print the e-voucher or save it to their smartphone. The issuance of a real ticket is carried out after checking the barcode. The E-Voucher must be booked up to 60 days before the planned visit. When buying online, tourists need to enter their personal data. Surname, name and date of birth are indicated as in a foreign passport.

What to do if you have not received a letter with a voucher

After confirming the payment for tickets, a letter with a voucher should be sent to the customer's email address within one hour. If this does not happen, then you need to go back to the page of the official website of the Vatican Museums and select Voucher Resending. Then fill in the appropriate fields, where the e-mail and the code of the automatic reservation system are indicated. It is also possible to contact the support service: [email protected].

Tips for travelers before visiting

Inspection of numerous expositions requires compliance with the dress code. Visiting places of worship in too open clothes is not welcome. Comfortable footwear is recommended as viewing of the artworks and exhibits will require a full day of walking.

The Vatican is famous for its various collections and exhibitions of particular interest. It is impossible to cover everything with close attention in one visit. It is recommended that you first familiarize yourself with the expositions on the site. This will allow you to better plan your visit so as not to miss the world-famous sights of the Vatican. Before entering the museum halls, tourists are examined with the help of metal detectors. It is forbidden to take bulky bags, suitcases, glassware. Large personal items will have to be left in the storage room.