The Vatican Museums are reliably among the five most visited museums in the world. In 2024 the Vatican came second in the ranking with 6,825,436 visitors, behind only the Louvre in Paris. At the height of the season (April to October) more than 30,000 people a day come through the museums, so it is best to buy tickets well before your trip to Rome.
You can:
- Buy tickets online — our step-by-step guide with photographs will help you do it on the official site, even without any English or Italian.
- Buy at the ticket office — but in high season that is a poor option. You risk queueing for a very long time in the blazing sun only to be told the tickets have run out.
How to buy Vatican tickets online: the museums and the Sistine Chapel
Step 1. Open the official site of the Vatican Museums: https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home
In the top right corner you can choose the language (Italian or English) from the drop-down menu.
Please note. We provide detailed instructions for buying Vatican tickets on the museums' official site, but we do NOT sell them and have NO connection to the official site. All responsibility for the booking and the use of the tickets rests with the buyer.
Step 2. Choose the date and the number of tickets
- Visitors – the number of people
- Date – the date of your visit (dates marked red in the calendar are unavailable)
- Area – what you are visiting (choose Vatican Museums)
- Who — Optional – the type of visitor: choose Singles if there are fewer than 10 of you, or Groups if there are 10 or more (optional)
Press the yellow SEARCH button.
Step 3. The system will offer several kinds of visit (with breakfast or an aperitif, for instance). For an ordinary entry ticket choose Admission Tickets — Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel and press BOOK.
Step 4. Choose the ticket category
Full price ticket: €20 – for adult visitors aged 18 and over
Reduced ticket: €8 – for children and teenagers from 7 to 18, and for students up to 25 (you will need to show a student card in the Latin alphabet or an international student card such as an ISIC)
Free: children under 7, visitors with disabilities plus one companion.
IMPORTANT! Children aged 0 to 6 inclusive enter the Vatican Museums free and need no ticket. When you visit, you must carry a document confirming the child's age, or an electronic copy of it on your phone.
Free tickets for visitors with disabilities and their companions are issued on presentation of documents (in English or Italian) confirming the disability, at the Special Permits or Reception desks in the entrance hall of the Vatican Museums.
Buying online, you will also pay a pre-sales fee — €5 per ticket.
Step 5. Choose the time of your visit. Available slots are highlighted in yellow. SOLD OUT means there are no tickets left for that time.
Extras (optional). You can add an audio guide (if you do not want one, simply scroll down) and press the yellow PROCEED button to carry on.
Step 6. Fill in the buyer's details. Note that every field is required.
Step 7. Fill in the Participants List. Surnames and first names must be given in the Latin alphabet exactly as in the passport.
Tick the box next to I am not a robot. Then confirm that you accept the purchase rules by ticking I accept General Purchase Rules and Reduced tickets are for children aged between 7 and 18 (18 years old included)… (the rules and conditions for reduced tickets). Then press the yellow BUY button.
Cards issued in Russia are currently not accepted. Tickets can be paid for with Visa and MasterCard cards from any other country.
Enter the card details and your email address, tick I confirm I have read terms and conditions of purchase and I authorize the payment, and press Pay.
A payment confirmation window will then open. Press CONFIRM if you are ready to pay for the tickets, or CANCEL if you need to change or cancel the order. After that your bank will send an SMS or a push notification with a confirmation code, which you enter on the ticket page.
Hurraaay! You have just bought Vatican Museums tickets online!
A few minutes after the payment, an email with a pdf voucher will arrive at the address you gave in the booking. If the tickets have still not come after 15 minutes, check your spam folder.
IMPORTANT: the voucher is not a ticket! You must print it or keep it on your phone and present it at the museums' Cassa Online e Gruppi desk in the entrance hall. There you will be given the paper tickets that let you through the turnstiles to the collection. Do not forget to bring photo identification.
Things worth knowing when buying Vatican tickets
1. A strict time slot
Tickets carry a fixed date and time of entry. You may be no more than 15 minutes late. Miss your slot and you lose the right to enter.
2. Exchanges and refunds
Tickets are non-refundable, but you may change the date or time of your visit once (subject to availability). The number of visitors cannot be changed.
3. The order to do things in, for the best planning:
First book a private tour or a children's quest tour
Agree a convenient date and time with your guide
And only then buy the tickets
In peak season (April to October) tickets need booking several weeks ahead.
Opening hours
The main schedule: Monday to Saturday, 9:00–18:00 (last entry 16:00)
From April to October: Friday and Saturday, 9:00–22:30 (last entry 20:30)
Always check the current schedule on the official site.
You can get into the museums of the world's smallest state free of charge on the last Sunday of every month. On that day the museums keep shorter hours, 9:00 to 14:00 (entry until 12:30). Tickets cannot be booked online, and the queue at the entrance can take 3–4 hours.
The Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica have a strict dress code: shoulders and knees must be covered, so short shorts and mini skirts are not allowed (in hot weather it is worth carrying a shawl or a scarf to cover up if you need to).
Bear in mind, too, that security has the right to refuse entry if your clothing carries provocative images or slogans, or if you have visible tattoos that could offend religious feelings.
I cannot find the voucher email / I deleted it by accident. What now?
If the voucher email has not arrived or you deleted it by accident, do not worry — it can be put right. Simply go to the Booking section on the official site of the Vatican Museums and fill in the Reservation details form. You will need: the booking code or order number from the automatic confirmation email, the Manager email (the address you gave when booking) and the Manager birthdate — your date of birth. Those details are required to recover the voucher.
If you run into trouble, you can write to support at help.musei@scv.va. Before you do, though, we suggest checking your spam folder — voucher emails sometimes end up there.
How do you avoid the queue at St Peter's Basilica and get in straight after the Sistine Chapel?
If you visit the Vatican Museums with a guide, you have a great advantage. Instead of standing in the huge queue at the basilica entrance, you can walk in directly from the Vatican Museums. To do that you need to buy tickets for the basilica.
Booking tickets for St Peter's Basilica
Adults (18+)€7
Children (7–18)€4 (bring a document confirming their age)
Children under 7free (but a ticket still has to be issued!)
How to book online
1Go to the official site: https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/
Press Customise and buy
Choose the date and the number of people (your guide included!)
Press Search
2Choosing your entry time
Under The Basilica press View options
Our advice: book a time two hours after your entry to the Vatican Museums
Confirm your choice: Select → Confirm
Fill in the details of every participant (your guide included)
If you have no account, the system will offer to create one
Accept the conditions by ticking Terms and Conditions
Press Continue
Choose whichever payment method suits you (card / PayPal)
Important: you have 7 minutes to pay, or the booking is cancelled!
- You get the confirmation by email straight away
- 48 hours before your visit a QR code arrives — show it at the entrance
If the QR code has not come:
Check your spam folder
Recover the code through the official form https://myqr.basilicasanpietro.va, entering your email and the details from the voucher
This route lets you skip the queues and saves you 2–3 hours of waiting.
Security and conduct in the Vatican Museums
Every visitor passes through a metal detector, and personal belongings are X-rayed (as at an airport)
2. What you may not bring in
Large bags, backpacks and suitcases, long umbrellas and tripods are not allowed. All of it can be left in the cloakroom free of charge.
3. Conduct inside the museums
You may bring a bottle of water and snacks, but eating and drinking are not allowed in the museum rooms — for that you need to step out into the courtyard. Water in glass containers may not be brought in.
Smoking, e-cigarettes included, is strictly forbidden anywhere on the museum grounds.
Inside the museums you may take photographs without flash and film video everywhere except the Sistine Chapel. Tripods may not be used without special permission. In the Sistine Chapel photography and filming are strictly forbidden, and silence must be kept.
Vatican Museums opening hours in 2025
The museums are open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00 (last entry 16:00).
From April to October the museums are also open in the evening until 22:30 on Fridays and Saturdays (last entry 20:30).
Entry is free on the last Sunday of every month (unless that Sunday falls on Easter, 29 June, Christmas, or 26 or 31 December), 9:00 to 14:00 (last entry 12:30).
6 January (Epiphany)
11 February (the anniversary of the Lateran Treaty)
20 and 21 April 2025 (Easter and Easter Monday)
1 May
29 June (Saints Peter and Paul)
15 and 16 August (the Assumption)
1 November (All Saints' Day)
8 December (the Immaculate Conception)
25 and 26 December (Christmas and St Stephen's Day)
31 December (St Sylvester's Day)
The full 2025 opening schedule for the Vatican Museums can be found on the official site.
