Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museums form one of the largest and richest art complexes on earth, a near-continuous 7-kilometre route of galleries inside Vatican City that funnels every visitor toward its climax, the Sistine Chapel. From the entrance on Viale Vaticano the marked itinerary leads through the Egyptian and Etruscan collections, the open-air Pinecone Courtyard, the Gallery of Maps with its 40 frescoed topographical panels, the Raphael Rooms painted for Pope Julius II, and finally the Sistine Chapel itself, where Michelangelo's ceiling and his vast 'Last Judgement' wall cover the space he frescoed between 1508 and 1541. Visitors look up to the Creation of Adam, the prophets and sibyls, and the swirling drama above the altar; the chapel is also where cardinals gather in conclave to elect a pope. A full visit runs three to four hours and involves a great deal of walking, much of it without seating. The route is largely one-directional, so it pays to slow down at the Maps gallery and Raphael Rooms rather than rushing the early antiquities. The single best vantage points for photography are the Pinecone Courtyard and the spiral Bramante-style Momo staircase near the exit; photography is forbidden inside the Sistine Chapel, where guards enforce silence. Crowds are intense: the museums are busiest mid-morning and on the last Sunday of the month, when entry is free and queues are very long. Booking a timed-entry ticket weeks ahead is essential and lets visitors bypass the standby line that can stretch around the Vatican walls. A strict dress code applies throughout the Vatican, with shoulders and knees covered for all ages. Friday and some summer evenings bring extended hours that are noticeably quieter. Located in the heart of Rome beside St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums reward an unhurried morning and an early arrival above almost any other planning choice.