Vatican Museums Tickets, Opening Hours and Tips for Your Visit

The Vatican Museums, at Viale Vaticano in Rome, charge €20 for a full ticket and open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. Tickets are valid only on the day they’re issued and can’t be refunded, so pick your date before you pay.

At a glance

• Full ticket: €20.00 without online booking
• Skip the Line: €20.00 + €5.00, booked on the official site
• Reduced ticket: €10.00 (€10.00 + €5.00 with Skip the Line)
• Hours: Monday to Saturday, opening at 8:00 a.m., last entry between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
• Free entry: last Sunday of the month, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., last entry 12:30 p.m.
• Metro: line A towards Battistini, Ottaviano or Cipro

How much are tickets to the Vatican Museums?

A full ticket costs €20.00 without online booking. It covers the Museums and the Sistine Chapel, on the day it is issued only. Tickets can’t be refunded. Since January 1, 2024, tickets are nominative, with identity checks at entry.

The only official site for buying tickets online is tickets.museivaticani.va. Scam sites with similar domains charge higher prices, so check the address before you pay. Entry is free on the last Sunday of each month, and guided tours can be reserved that day. Children below age 7 get in free.

• Full ticket, no online booking: €20.00 · Museums and Sistine Chapel, day of issue only · adults
• Full ticket, Skip the Line: €20.00 + €5.00 · same access, booked on the official site · adults
• Reduced ticket: €10.00 · same access, no online booking · reduced-price visitors
• Reduced ticket, Skip the Line: €10.00 + €5.00 · same access, booked online · reduced-price visitors
• Students: €10.00 without online booking
• Schools: €5.00 without online booking
• Papal Palace and Secret Garden of Castel Gandolfo, full ticket: €12.00

Visitors with a certified disability of at least 67% enter free, and the free tickets are issued at the desks in the entrance hall. They can’t be booked online.

What are the opening hours of the Vatican Museums?

The Museums open Monday to Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Closing time runs between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., with last entry between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. From March, in high season, Fridays and Saturdays stay open until 8:00 p.m., with last entry at 6:00 p.m. Visitors must leave the halls 30 minutes before closing.

• Monday to Saturday: 8:00 a.m. · 7:00 p.m. · last entry 5:00 p.m. (standard hours since January 1, 2024)
• Fridays and Saturdays in high season from March: 8:00 a.m. · 8:00 p.m. · last entry 6:00 p.m.
• Last Sunday of the month: 9:00 a.m. · 2:00 p.m. · last entry 12:30 p.m., free entry

The Museums are closed on all other Sundays.

When is the best time to visit the Vatican Museums?

The last Sunday of the month is free, and the museums open at 9:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m.

Guided groups are capped at 20 visitors per accredited guide. Groups of 11 or more must hire radio headsets.

How to get to the Vatican Museums

The Museums are at Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome. The metro is the simplest route: take line A towards Battistini and get off at Ottaviano or Cipro. Bus 49 stops in the square in front of the Museums, where there’s also a taxi rank.

Other buses stop nearby. Lines 32, 81 and 982 and tram 19 stop at Piazza del Risorgimento. Buses 492 and 990 stop at Via Leone IV / Via degli Scipioni.

What to see at the Vatican Museums

The Museums include the Sistine Chapel. The wider Vatican Museums collections also take in the Vatican Gardens, the Castel Gandolfo Museum Complex and the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis.

Luggage, suitcases, rucksacks and packages go in the cloakroom before you enter the exhibition spaces. The service is free. Dress is checked: sleeveless or low-cut garments, shorts above the knee, miniskirts and hats aren’t permitted.

Photos for personal use are allowed, except in the Sistine Chapel, and flash is strictly forbidden. The Chapel asks for absolute silence. Food and drink are banned in the halls, smoking (e-cigarettes included) is banned along the whole route, and touching the works is prohibited. A barrier-free itinerary is advised for reaching the main services and points of interest, with help from the Guard Corps.

Are the Vatican Museums wheelchair accessible?

A large part of the museum areas is accessible to visitors with reduced mobility. Free rental wheelchairs are available at the cloakroom, subject to availability, against a valid ID and a deposit. Mobility scooters and electric wheelchairs are allowed but not in certain sections, where a traditional wheelchair is lent free in the entrance hall. Disabled visitors and a companion get priority skip-the-line entry, and reserved toilets sit along the route and near the catering areas. Guard staff direct families with strollers to dedicated elevators. Guide dogs are admitted with muzzle and lead. Museum-organized guided tours aren’t open to wheelchair users, except the Vatican Gardens without barriers tour.

What else to see near the Vatican Museums

The Vatican Gardens are part of the Museums’ collections and can be visited as a guided tour, including the barrier-free version for wheelchair users.

Castel Gandolfo has its own Museum Complex. A full ticket for the Papal Palace and Secret Garden costs €12.00, and the gardens run an electric shuttle that can carry a wheelchair.