The Vatican Museum – The Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museum hosts some of the most precious and unique treasures known to mankind. It is one of those places that you must visit when in Rome. From their Egyptian exhibit (which has a real life mummy!!), to the many frescoes and statues alike; the place is wonderland for the art enthusiast. While I do have a certain level of appreciation for art and even more the history behind the art, a half day at the museum was more than enough for me. While there are many tour guides available, we opted for the audio guide which allowed us to navigate through the museum at our own pace.

The most noteworthy part of the visit would have to be The Sistine Chapel. Given how vast the Vatican Museum is, we decided to go to the Sistine Chapel first rather than leave it to the end when we would be all tired out from the visit…boy did that plan backfire. You see, the Sistine Chapel is actually situated towards the end of the walking route throughout the Museum, thus we hurried along through all the rooms in a quest to find the Chapel first, with the anticipation of making another lap around at a slower pace after. Needless to say, we made an attempt at that second lap, but quit halfway into it because we were in desperate need of food by then.

When we finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel, we noted that the interior was poorly lit and extremely crowded. Photography and video are strictly prohibited, however I saw many people taking illegal photos in secret. Museum workers are constantly hurrying along the visitors to control the crowds. You’d imagine that since I was on this epic quest to find that chapel all day, I planned on staying as long as I liked. Taking a few minutes to capture it all in however, I have to say that while I appreciate the significance that the Chapel holds, I do think that there were far more elaborate frescoes, paintings and sculptures throughout the Museum that I could have spent more of my time appreciating, rather than following the herds of people on what felt like a never ending quest to the Sistine Chapel. With that being said however…it’s just one of those things that you’d HAVE to see at the Vatican Museum.

Entrance fee: €16.00 (€4.00 reservation fee if bought in advance)
Duration of visit: 4 hours

Traveler’s tip: Advance tickets (subject to an additional fee) may be a good idea as the lines can be crazy long…specially during peak season and on Wednesdays following the general audience with the Pope.

Traveler’s tip: There is a Poste Italiane office within the Vatican which offers postcards and postage stamps for sale. I bought a card and mailed it home on location so it would have a Vatican stamp as well as their postmark.