The Vatican, Sistine Chapel and ?

[DulceDeLeche2Scoops]

Visiting Rome in early Sept. My DH has booked us tickets via the Vatican website for a tour of the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel.

However, I take it there is more to see there? Do we need to book to go into St. Peter's Square? What about the basilica?

Anything else. We have very early tickets and want to spend the morning there.

So, if you book an expensive guided tour of the vatican & Sistine Chapel then at the end of that tour, the tour guide has a special pass to take the tour group down from the sistine chapel straight into the Basilica. If you are on a cheaper tour or have just got timed tickets for entry and self-guided wandering through the Vatican at your own pace, you will not under any circumstances be able to use that route. You will exit the Vatican (via the gift shop of course) and then have the choice of either going on to something else entirely/back to your accommodation, or joining the queue to enter the Basilica, which you cannot pre book for separately. When we did this the queue looked about 2hrs long and it was beginning to rain, so we didn't bother - there's no shortage of amazing sights to see in Rome, you cannot see them all so you have to be ok with missing some.

The Roman forum and the coliseum. Mind blowing- it will be busy in Rome but you will understand why. The architecture is unbelievable. Enjoy

Your tour should include the basilica, it’s an architectural masterpiece and the Pieta is just breathtaking. The gardens are also well worth a visit.

Colosseum and forum/Palatine.

St Peter’s and Colosseum. Both amazing.

I’d highly recommend have a wander around this food market. It’s absolutely fab. We went for coffee after the Vatican museums and then back for lunch after the Basilica https://www.mercatotrionfale.store

So much more- loads of museums, art, archaeological sites (the Baths of Caracalla and a short train ride out to Ostia Antica, for example) .
IME St Peter’s is oddly lacking in atmosphere, I’d personally put lots of other things in Rome at higher priority.

Castel St Angelo
The Pantheon
Mausoleum of Augustus
Trajan's Market
The Pantheon again

Buy a ticket for the basillica dome. You get amazing views.

You can't visit Rome without going to the Forum and Colosseum. I would go to the Basilica as you're right near it. I'd highly recommend going on the train to Ostia Antica, when I went there were hardly any visitors so you could walk round freely and soak up the atmosphere of the ancient ruins, I loved it, especially after the hustle and bustle of central Rome.

I agree, it’s the only bit of the Vatican I liked. The Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel left me cold.
I love the Roman parts of the city. But you can have a fantastic time just wandering around the city and seeing the attractions.

Also the Jewish ghetto has some amazing restaurants. The guided tour of the synagogue is really interesting.

Agree. I don’t care for St Peter’s at all. I’d get out to the Galleria Borghese and the Borghese Gardens, or go out to the Protestant cemetery to see Keats’ grave.

We found the Vatican museums / Sistine chapel a gruelling and quite unpleasant experience. You will be shuffling around with a billion other people in endless corridors with overwhelming art and statuary such that by the time you get to the Sistine chapel you are beyond caring about yet another array of spectacular art. We felt it was a waste of a day in a short break.

What we really did enjoy was a Segway tour of the city which took in the Forum, circus Maximus, up on the hill and the Coliseum etc. Also Villa Borghese and Spanish Steps etc

Second this recommendation. We did a food tour there - the porcetta sandwiches were amazing. Plus there is a wine bar selling v cheap and nice local wine.

After the Vatica, walk back across one of the bridges by Castel St Angelo. We walked as far as Piazza Navona (definitely worth visiting for the Bernini/fountains).

Obvs Fontana di Trevi at night.

The Forum/Colosseum a must imho, even if you walk up the hill to view from outside.

The Basilica San Clemente is amazing.... 3 churches in one. So is San Cosmo/Damiano. These are all within walking distance of Forum.

Fun, and free, is the Bocca della Verità.

Rome is basically an open air museum.

Just got back from Rome - it's worth just walking around the city, taking it all in and exploring to be honest!
My absolute highlight was the Borghese Gallery - they limit the numbers so it's so much more enjoyable than Vatican Museum, and the Bernini statues are unbelievable. We had a very reasonably priced private tour with a fantastic guide.
We ran out of time, but will definitely go again and top of our list are the Pantheon and the Appian Way.

The Colosseum and Forum.