Wilfredor, CC0Vatican Museums: tickets, opening hours and what to see
One Vatican Museums ticket covers the museums and the Sistine Chapel, valid only on the day it is issued. Buy it on tickets.museivaticani.va, the only official online seller.
In short
- A single ticket opens both the museums and the Sistine Chapel, for one day and with no refund.
- Booking online adds a booking fee to the entry price. Buy only on the official ticket site.
- Entry is free on the last Sunday of the month, with a few exceptions, and always for children under 7.
- Students qualify for the reduced rate up to 25, with proof of enrollment for the current year.
- Dress code: no sleeveless or low-cut tops, shorts above the knee, miniskirts or hats.
- In the Sistine Chapel: no photos, no phones and complete silence.
- 7 kmof rooms and corridors
- 6.9 millionvisitors in 2024
- 120 mlength of the Gallery of the Geographical Maps
- 16Pinacoteca rooms, 12th to 19th century
Don't miss
The Octagonal Court
Where Julius II placed his ancient statues early in the 16th century: the starting point of the whole collection.
The Gallery of the Geographical Maps
Forty painted maps of Italy and the Church’s territories, laid out from north to south as you walk from the south entrance.
The Room of the Segnatura
Raphael’s first work in the Vatican, with the School of Athens and the Parnassus.
The Pinacoteca
A picture gallery in date order, from Room I to Room XVI, in a building Luca Beltrami designed for it.
The Sistine Chapel
Included in the museum ticket. Read the information panels along the route first: guided groups get their explanations before going in.
Vatican Museums tickets: how to get them
Sold by tickets.museivaticani.va, at the official price.
| Ticket | Adult | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Entry ticket (without online booking)Standard entry | €20Student €10 | |
| Entry ticket with Skip the Line bookingSkip-the-line | €20Student €10 | + €5 if booked in advance · Booking required |
Free entry (2026)
- Last Sunday of the month (next: Sunday 29 November)
- Visitors with disability and one companion
Which ticket is right for you?
You want your entry settled before you travel
Entry ticket with Skip the Line booking
The same entry price plus a booking fee, bought only on tickets.museivaticani.va.
You buy on the day
Entry ticket (without online booking)
You pay the entry price only. The ticket is valid that day alone.
You have a certified disability of at least 67 %
Free entry
Not bookable online: ask at the Special Permits or Welcome Desk, which also gives priority entry.
You can come on the last Sunday of the month
Free entry
Free for everyone, with a few listed exceptions, and the museums open for a shorter time.
One ticket, two ways to buy it
The Vatican Museums sell a single entry ticket, and it covers both the museums and the Sistine Chapel. It is valid only on the day it is issued, and it cannot be refunded.
You can buy it in two ways, shown in the ticket table above. Without a booking, you pay the entry price only. With a booking on the official website, you pay the same entry price plus a booking fee. The Museums call this the “Skip the Line” booking. The fee is the only difference on the price list.
Avoid this mistake
The Museums warn that the only official site for buying tickets online is tickets.museivaticani.va. Other websites use domains that look like it and may charge much higher prices, so check the address before you pay.
Reduced and free entry: what you need to show
The reduced ticket for students applies up to and including the age of 25, with a document from your school or university confirming enrollment for the current year.
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The rule on mistakes is strict: if you buy a reduced ticket without being entitled to it, you must buy a new full-price ticket, and the reduced one is cancelled without a refund. Other reduced rates exist for schools, pilgrimages, university institutes and seminaries.
Free entry covers, among others:
- Children under 7.
- Visitors with a certified disability of at least 67 %, plus one companion if the visitor is not self-sufficient. These tickets cannot be booked online: they are issued at the Special Permits or Welcome Desk in the entrance hall, on showing the certificate or the European Disability Card, and come with priority entry.
- Holders of a valid ICOM or ICOMOS card.
- Everyone on the last Sunday of the month, except when it falls on Easter Sunday, 29 June, or 25, 26 or 31 December. The museums open for a shorter time that day. Check the opening hours below.
Dress code, bags and the security check
Entry to the museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Gardens is limited to appropriately dressed visitors. The banned items are listed under “Before you go”.
Security checks are made with a metal detector. To speed them up, the Museums ask you to take out anything not allowed before you reach the check. The free cloakroom takes what cannot go further:
- large bags, rucksacks and packages that staff judge unsuitable
- knives, scissors and metal tools
- medium and large umbrellas, tripods, video cameras and banners
- alcoholic drinks.
Food may be stored there too, but it must be collected before closing time or it is destroyed. You cannot eat or drink inside the exhibition halls.
Planning seven kilometers of galleries
The museums stretch over some seven kilometers of rooms and corridors, and in 2024 they received 6,882,931 visitors. The ticket is valid for one day only, so choose your priorities before you arrive.
- 16th century Early in the 16th century, Pope Julius II had ancient statues, among them the Laocoön and the Apollo Belvedere, moved to the Belvedere, into what is now the Octagonal Court.
- 18th century The museum around it, named after Clement XIV and Pius VI, was set up in the 18th century as a museum open to the public.
- 1797 Napoleon took its main masterpieces to Paris in 1797. Most were recovered after 1815 through the diplomatic work of Antonio Canova.
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Seats for a break are in the Courtyard of the Cuirasses, the Courtyard of the Pinacoteca, the Square Garden and the Courtyard of the Pinecone.
Pio Clementino Museum and the Octagonal Court
The collection began here.
Before your visit, check the Museums’ list of works currently on loan to other institutions.
Gallery of the Geographical Maps
This corridor, 120 meters long and 6 meters wide, was built between 1578 and 1580 for Gregory XIII and painted with forty maps of Italy and the Church’s territories. It reads like a walk down the peninsula: from the south entrance, the regions follow one another from north to south. Those facing the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas are on the wall toward the Courtyard of the Belvedere, those along the Alps and the Adriatic on the garden side. At the ends, smaller maps show the Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto and four ports, among them Genoa and Venice.
Raphael’s Rooms
These four rooms were part of the apartment Julius II chose as his residence, on the second floor of the papal palace. Raphael and his workshop painted them between 1508 and 1524. The Museums present the Room of the Segnatura as the room with his best-known frescoes, the School of Athens and the Parnassus among them, and his first work in the Vatican. Keep your ticket: within seven days, it gives a reduction at the Villa Farnesina in Rome, which holds other frescoes by Raphael.
The Pinacoteca
The picture gallery opened on 27 October 1932 in a building designed for it by Luca Beltrami. Its rooms run in date order, from the 12th century in Room I to the 19th century in Room XVI.
Inside the Sistine Chapel: silence, and no photos
You may photograph the works for personal use anywhere in the museums except the Sistine Chapel, always without flash. The chapel adds its own rules:
- In the chapel, photos and filming with any device are forbidden, and phones may not be used.
- Guards may ask you to delete pictures on the spot.
- Visitors are asked to keep complete silence.
Good to know
For that reason, guided groups receive their explanations before going in. If you visit on your own, read up first: information panels on the chapel stand along the route, in the Courtyard of the Pinecone and the Square Garden.
Sundays, holidays and closed sectors
Four things to check before you pick a day and a gallery:
- Sundays and holidays: the museums are closed on Sundays, apart from the free last Sunday, and on a set list of holidays given on the official hours page.
- Closed sectors: single sectors also close for hours or days at a time, and the official hours page lists them. Check it the day before if a particular gallery is the reason for your visit.
- Closing: staff ask visitors to leave the halls 30 minutes before closing time.
- Summer heat: in summer, air-conditioning is limited in some of the busiest areas because of the buildings and the protection of the works.
Opening hours
| Period | Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All year | Monday to Saturday | 8 am to 8 pm last entry 6 pm |
| All year | Last Sunday of the month | 9 am to 2 pm last entry 12:30 pm |
| ||
Before you go
- Sleeveless or low-cut tops, shorts above the knee, miniskirts and hats are not allowed.
- There is no Wi-Fi in any museum area: download the official map beforehand, or scan the QR code inside.
- If you plan to continue to St. Peter’s Basilica, do not leave baggage in the museums’ cloakroom: the Museums remind visitors of this.
- Selfie sticks and tripods are banned everywhere.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair loan
- Yes, on site
Map and nearby sights
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sistine Chapel included in the Vatican Museums ticket?
Yes. The one entry ticket covers the museums and the Sistine Chapel, on the day it is issued.
What is the Vatican Museums “Skip the Line” booking?
It is the name the Museums give to a ticket booked on their official website. You pay the same entry price plus a booking fee.
When is entry to the Vatican Museums free?
On the last Sunday of the month, except when it falls on Easter Sunday, 29 June, or 25, 26 or 31 December. Children under 7, ICOM and ICOMOS card holders, and visitors with a certified disability of at least 67 % also enter free.
What should I wear to the Vatican Museums?
Cover up: sleeveless or low-cut tops, shorts above the knee, miniskirts and hats are refused. The same dress rule applies at St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Vatican Gardens.
Can I take photos in the Vatican Museums?
Yes, for personal use and without flash, everywhere except the Sistine Chapel. Selfie sticks and tripods are banned throughout.
Can I leave my bag at the Vatican Museums before going to St. Peter’s?
The Museums advise against it: anyone continuing to St. Peter’s Basilica should not leave baggage in the museums’ cloakroom.
Nearby
Antoine Taveneaux, CC BY-SAChapel0.4 km awaySistine Chapel
The Creation of Adam. One of the nine Genesis panels along the center of the vault, between the Creation and the Flood.Vatican Cityfrom €20
Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SABasilica0.5 km awaySt. Peter's Basilica
Bernini’s baldachin. The bronze canopy over the papal altar: look for the bees of Urban VIII on its twisted columns.Vatican CityFree entry
Julian Lupyan, CC0Landmark2.1 km awayPantheon
The oculus. The open eye at the top of the dome has never been covered: rain lands on the floor and runs off through drains in the paving.Rome, Italyfrom €7
Wilfredor, CC0Landmark2.5 km awayTrevi Fountain
Oceanus and his chariot. In the central niche, Pietro Bracci’s Oceanus drives a shell-shaped chariot pulled by a restive horse and a calm one.Rome, Italyfrom €2Sources
- museivaticani.va official 6 pages
- Wikidata
- Wikimedia Commons 3 pages
- Wikipedia 3 pages
Facts last checked on 15 October 2026. Prices and opening hours change, often in January: confirm on the official website before you go.