When in Rome, a visit to Vatican City is an absolute must. Even if you are not religious, a day spent in Vatican City is a day well spent. With so much to explore, it is difficult to prioritize where to go first. Often travelers base their decisions of there to visit on the length of the lines into each attraction, which get extremely long at times. Realistically, a two-week vacation can be spent inside the walls of Vatican City alone.
The Vatican Museums house six different sections (each being considered their own museum) for travelers to explore. The most notable section of the six is hands down Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. To spend a day exploring the stories within the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the beauty of Michelangelo’s alter is just amazing. It is important to note that pictures cannot be taken in the Sistine Chapel, so a long day spent there will afford beautiful visions to remember for years to follow.
The other museums include paintings, tapestries, ceramics, sculptures and mosaics from every era and corner of the world. In the Egyptian-Gregorian Museum, you can find mummies, statues of goddesses, vases, jewelry, hieroglyphics. In the Etruscan-Gregorian Museum tourists can find one of the most complete collections of Etruscan art known to date (and including a genuine chariot among its collections!). The Ethnological Museum covers works of art and objects of cultural significance from all over the world, covering 3,000 years of world history. Inside the Pinacoteca you can find paintings and tapestries from the 11th to the 19th centuries. In Raphael’s Rooms, you can find some of Raphael’s most notorious works that he completed while decorating a series of rooms in the apartments of Pope Julius II.
When visiting the museums, it is absolutely impossible to see everything that they each have to offer. This is why it is important that you have a tour guide - whether its written in your tour book or you follow around a real live person – a tour guide will point out the highlights of each section and explain to you their importance. This is the only way to truly experience the Vatican Museums.
Getting into the Museums can be quite a process. Early birds flock to the gates when they open, getting the least amount of crowding and noise to distract them from their tours. This is highly recommended. As the day gets later, the lines get longer, until you are standing in the blistering sun for hours at a time to gain admission to the buildings. Also, it is important that you dress correctly in order not to be turned away when you finally make it to the doorways. Shoulders must be covered at all times, and guards will not hesitate to send you away after you waited an hour to get where you were.
To get to the Museums, there are a few different routes. By bus you would take the #40 or #64 which both stop close to Saint Peter’s Basilica. If traveling by Metro, the stop would be Ottavaino/San Pietro and then a fairly long walk to the walls of the City. The cost is 13 euros, but on the last Sunday of every month admission is free.
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