Visiting the Vatican

[Turn7]

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Cheers !

[BigBen]

TheGuru said:

smifffymoto said:

Even if you buy tickets on line you have to que where as tours skip them.

Not when I went last September, pre-bought tickets go straight in.

Ditto last March (or whenever the six nations was)

ETA 2016 now I think of it

[montecristo]

Get there early. In fact, it opens before they say it opens - I went half an hour before opening to avoid the queues and there were already people inside. The map room is much better seen without the crowds. For the Sistine chapel, that's not so important - yes, crowds don't help but you get to see everything anyway. I would prioritise those two for earliness rather than St Peter's. St Peter's is very nice but somewhat derivative, and not all that outstanding compared to other Italian churches and considering it is arguably the "main" Catholic church.

[marcosgt]

Riley Blue said:

Too Drunk to Funk said:

MikeGoodwin said:

We went to the Vatican on a Sunday and we heard the bloke talking but the queues were massive so fked off after that. Don't regret not seeing it since Rome has so freaking much to offer.

Never been to Rome but a trip around The Vatican certainly wouldn’t figure in my plans.

How dull.

It's anything but dull. I was in Rome over a Palm Sunday weekend and a group of us went to the Vatican. It was an incredible experience with hundreds of thousands crammed into St Peter's Square and the Pope addressing them in around 20 languages. St Peter's itself is amazing to see, I'm glad I didn't miss it and I'm not at all a religious person.

We went a couple of years ago and decided to skip the Vatican, because, to be honest, we weren't terribly interested and only had 3 days (the last we spent at Ostia Antica, but that's not a drug fuelled rave either, so maybe not exciting enough for some ).

That said, we walked through St Peter's square and admired the buildings - The atmosphere (the Pope was doing a personal appearance or whatever he calls them) was pretty exciting, I guess for a lot of people it's something they really enjoy.

I would probably take a tour if I went back, as we saw most of the sites we REALLY wanted to on the last trip and it's one of those places I feel I'd like to have experienced once (Like Vegas or Dubai! )

M

[JuniorD]

As above, a guided tour is the best way to avoid possible huge queues.

St Peter' is simply astounding, and the view from the outside (and inside) the dome is amazing. Quite incredible to think the Statue of Liberty could be stood up inside the dome with plenty of room to spare.

Sistine Chapel is a cool thing to see. It's surrounded by "silence please" signs, however I would challenge anyone not to scream "shut the fk up" at the sheer number of people who simply ignore this with their babble.

Of the many cities I've been in the world Rome is by far the most breathtaking.