Queuing along the ocher walls of Viale Vaticano under the blazing sun is a Roman experience in its own right.
But for several years, human tides have been flooding into the Vatican every day – up to 40,000 people around Easter in 2023 – and it has become impossible to go to the museums on a whim (unless you wait for many hours).
Any visit must be planned in advance on the Vatican Museums website which seems to offer different reservation possibilities.
But, clicking on the dates, a few weeks before a spring trip to Rome, no tours can be booked.
“
From mid-March until the beginning of November, all the slots are bought by the major tour operators who resell them at a high price.
To have a chance of finding one, you have to log in two months in advance and not hesitate to start the operation several times
,” explains Elena Cino, a French-speaking guide from the Visite Rome agency who is having a lot of difficulty. to find slots for its clients at the Vatican Museums during the high season.
In the urgency of departure, the temptation is great to buy one of the countless guided tours online, offering prices that can exceed €1,000 for an exclusive visit, very early in the morning, promising a discovery of the Renaissance frescoes of the Sistine Chapel before the arrival of the tourist flows…
Between January and March
Although the pontifical palaces bring together 12 museums and nearly 70,000 works, the undisputed star of the route is the Sistine Chapel.
Restored between the 80s and 90s, the famous chapel, with its vaults painted by Michelangelo, has become a must-see during a trip to Rome.
To prevent damage, the Holy See prohibits taking photos or filming videos, and silence is required.
We discover it shoulder to shoulder, just long enough to look up at the marvelous frescoes before giving way to the next group...
You will be very lucky if you manage to see the famous detail of God's index finger, joining without touching that of Adam, to give life to Man.
For lovers of art history, it is strongly recommended to schedule a visit between January and early March when there are numerous slots available.
But Rome is never as magical as in April or May when Jasmine perfumes the warm air...
Alternatives exist
“
To meet the demand of the high season, we have created an alternative itinerary where we offer a discovery of the Pinacoteca, much less visited but of extraordinary richness, of the spectacular Braccio Nuovo gallery, of the secular Gregorian museum which contains ancient sculptures and the Christian museum housing fascinating paleo-Christian remains
,” explains Elena Cino.
“
This tour ends in the Vatican gardens where we tell the story of the Sistine Chapel,”
she continues.
We then let visitors who have managed to find tickets run through the galleries to admire the famous frescoes
.”
But there is not only the Vatican in Rome, the Eternal City has more than fifty museums and sites, some off the tourist radar like Diocletian's terms, twice as large as those of Caracalla, with their impressive vault, or the Centrale Montemartini, a few metro stops from the Colosseum, a former power station housing the Capitoline Museum's collection of statues.
The contrast between industrial architecture and ancient aesthetics is stunning.
Even in the heart of Rome, it is still possible to find yourself alone in a museum in high season.
Located behind Piazza Navona, the Altemps Palace, which has nothing to envy of the Farnese Palace, houses a fascinating collection of Greek and Roman sculptures, exhibited in rooms decorated with frescoes on the walls and ceilings.
In the silence of the palace, we have the impression that they come to life.
Practical
“The Vatican differently”: 2.5 hour visit with official French-speaking tour guides from Visite Rome.
200€ for up to 6 people.
In video -
The Vatican drowned in human tides of tourists in high season