Att'n Buenchico - Visiting the Sistine Chapel

[MichaelZZ]

Chris, I've read your reply from October 2008 regarding tickets for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. My wife and daughter will be going to Rome next month and definitely want to see the Sistine Chapel. My wife is not a good walker and does not relish the prospect of a long slow walk through the museum to get to the Chapel. Apart from seeing the SC, she is a bit of a Philistine where art is concerned and would happily by-pass all the museum exhibits.
Do you know if it is possible to do this? (Or it like trying to negotiate your way through IKEA?)
Thanks and regards
MZ

[KARL]

Sadly, the SC closed just as we got to it on our Rome visit - it is at a sort of side location to the Vatican and that was largely why we were late there (check the location before going so you can best plan things. I don't know the answer to your precise question but just wanted to point out that certain weekends mark free access to all museums in Rome - one such is European Culture weekend of which there may be more than one a year. You can see an awful lot for free in a weekend so check which weekends are free and perhaps aim to be there at that time - it was a lovely weekend for us bar missing the SC (next time).

[Mosaic]

It's pretty much the IKEA approach I'm afraid, unless you happen to be a visiting president of a powerful country.

[samak]

IKEA approach definitely.
Th problem with the free days is that it is an absolute zoo. We probably had to stand in the hot sun for at least 30 minutes to get in. Then shoulder to shoulder all the way to the SC, by which time we really couldn't appreciate it.
Maybe better to fork out the ridiculous sum requested on the days which are not free, or give it a miss entirely.

[Buenchico]

As I live over 70 miles from the nearest Ikea (and have no desire to visit one anyway), your analogy is rather lost on me.

But, from reading through a few blogs of people who've visited there it looks as if you have to fork out €15 and then be herded around like animals entering an abattoir

Chris.

[MichaelZZ]

Thanks for your comments Chris. Yes, that pretty well sums up Ikea - except you're wrong about the €15!

[bobbie22]

lots of steps down to the Sistine Chapel. Worth a visit though

[spudqueen]

I was in Rome 6 weeks ago and went to see the Sistine Chapel. We booked timed tickets into the Vatican Museum, which does NOT get you into the Sistine Chapel at a certain time, it just means that you can bypass any queues to get into the Museums.
http://biglietteriamu...eTipoVisita=26&step=2
I would say that it IS a long walk through the Museum, we took the 'short route' to the Sistine Chapel (at least those were the signs that we followed), and it still took us the best part of an hour to get there (though I suppose we did stop and look at things on the way). Yes, I think that you liking it to IKEA is just right, you know what you want to look at, but have to go the long way round! There was a lot of Museum that we did bypass by following the 'short route', eg the Egyptian bit, which I wouldn't have minded seeing, but we didn't have time to do everything.

I've just had another look at the Vatican Museum website and you can hire wheelchairs, which may suit your visit http://mv.vatican.va/.../MV_Info_Servizi.html

[spudqueen]

Just had another thought. How are you getting to the Vatican Museum? If going by bus be VERY careful as the express tourist bus to the Vatican is a pickpockets favourite. If going by Metro then look carefully at the map as the signs when you get out of the metro station will take you a longer way round to the entrance than you need to go, presumably to take you to the end of the queue, if you've bought the timed entrance tickets then you don't need to join the queue and can take a shorter route.

Also, the RomaPass is well worth buying. It doesn't get you into the Vatican Museum, but it gets you three days free travel on public transport and will get you into your first two archaelogical sites and/or museums free, all others half price. There is a special queue at the Colusseum for Roma Pass holders. On the day that we went there were a couple of hundred people queueing to pay at the ticket office, we just followed the Roma Pass line and went passed all those queueing, there were just 6 people in front of us when we got to the turnstiles, so the pass was worth it's weight in gold!
http://www.romapass.it/?l=en