Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
Seven kilometres of galleries that end beneath Michelangelo's ceiling.
Duration
3 hrs – 5 hrs
Best time
First entry of the day
Open
Closed Sunday, except the last of the month
Entry price
20 EUR
The museums run seven kilometres of galleries on a one-way route that ends at the Sistine Chapel — the whole layout is built for it. The Raphael Rooms, just before, are often crossed at a march by people in a hurry to get there.
Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512, standing on scaffolding rather than lying down as legend has it, and he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. The Last Judgement on the end wall was added twenty-five years later; the drapery covering some of the nudes was painted in after his death.
Getting there
Metro line A, Ottaviano station, then ten minutes on foot along the walls. The entrance is on viale Vaticano, not St Peter's Square.
What the price covers
adult entry. Children, €8.
What to bring
- Covering clothes
Rules on site
Closed on Sunday, except the last of the month when entry is free and the queue enormous. Shoulders and knees covered or you are turned away; photography is banned in the Sistine Chapel, and it is enforced.
Checked on 28 August 2026 at Tarifs.org — Vatican and Sistine Chapel ticket