Which Vatican Museums ticket should you buy?
Buy the museums' own full ticket if you want the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel on the date printed on the ticket, without a guide. That ticket does not include St Peter's Basilica or the dome. A guided tour further down this page is a different product: you are paying for a guide and a meeting time, and you should compare that total with the official total in the table.
Vatican Museums ticket prices (official)
Published by the venue's own ticket office. Verified dates are shown per row.
Prices checked 9 November 2026.
Vatican Museums ticket prices (official). Full price: €20 at the door, or €25 online (€20 + €5). Source: Musei Vaticani — Prices and Tickets, last checked 9 November 2026.
| Ticket | Price & source |
|---|---|
| Full price | €20 at the door, or €25 online (€20 + €5).Musei Vaticani — Prices and TicketsLast checked: 9 November 2026 |
| Full entry ticket | €20 at the door, or €25 online (€20 plus a €5 booking fee). Includes the Museums and the Sistine Chapel on the day it is issued. Not refundable. Does not include St Peter's.Musei Vaticani — Prices and TicketsLast checked: 9 November 2026 |
| Reduced entry ticket | €10 at the door, or €15 online (€10 plus a €5 booking fee). Listed for the reduced ticket, and for students, pilgrimages and university institutes. Valid the day it is issued.Musei Vaticani — Prices and TicketsLast checked: 9 November 2026 |
| School / seminary ticket | €5 at the door, or €7 online (€5 plus a €2 booking fee). Schools, seminaries and religious colleges. Valid the day it is issued.Musei Vaticani — Prices and TicketsLast checked: 9 November 2026 |
| Free entry | Children below the age of 7. Last Sunday of the month, subject to the calendar. Disabled visitors with a certified invalidity of at least 67 percent, plus one companion if the visitor is not self-sufficient; those free tickets are issued at the Special Permits or Welcome Desk, not online.Musei Vaticani — Prices and TicketsLast checked: 9 November 2026 |
VisitRome.com recommends
Independently compared options — pick whichever suits your visit.
Planning your visit
Verified 2026-11-09- 18:00 Monday to Saturday. 12:30 on a free last Sunday.
- Final entry
The small print (10)
- Opening hours
- Monday to Saturday 08:00–20:00, final entry 18:00. Last Sunday of the month 09:00–14:00, final entry 12:30, free entry, unless that Sunday is Easter, 29 June, 25 December, 26 December or 31 December. Leave the halls 30 minutes before closing.
- Reduced entry ticket
- €10 at the door, or €15 online (€10 plus a €5 booking fee). Listed for the reduced ticket, and for students, pilgrimages and university institutes. Valid the day it is issued.
- Refunds
- Tickets cannot be refunded. The ticket is valid only on the day it is issued.
- Full entry ticket
- €20 at the door, or €25 online (€20 plus a €5 booking fee). Includes the Museums and the Sistine Chapel on the day it is issued. Not refundable. Does not include St Peter's.
- Official online ticketing portal
- Checking current price
- Official online booking fee
- €5.00 on a full or reduced ticket booked as skip-the-line on the official website. €2.00 on a school or seminary ticket.
- Full price
- €20 at the door, or €25 online (€20 + €5).
- School / seminary ticket
- €5 at the door, or €7 online (€5 plus a €2 booking fee). Schools, seminaries and religious colleges. Valid the day it is issued.
- Closed days
- Sundays except the last Sunday of the month (and not when that Sunday coincides with 29 June). Also closed 1 and 6 January, 11 February, 19 March, 6 April, 1 May, 29 June, 14 and 15 August, 1 November, 8, 25 and 26 December. Shorter closures are listed separately and change.
- Free entry
- Children below the age of 7. Last Sunday of the month, subject to the calendar. Disabled visitors with a certified invalidity of at least 67 percent, plus one companion if the visitor is not self-sufficient; those free tickets are issued at the Special Permits or Welcome Desk, not online.
Official tickets
The official ticket office usually has the lowest base admission price. It's worth booking directly there if your date and time are open and you don't need extra flexibility, a guide, or additional access: the official ticket office.
When are they open, and when are they shut?
Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 20:00, last entry 18:00. Most Sundays are closed. The last Sunday of the month is a free-entry morning, 09:00 to 14:00, unless it lands on Easter, 29 June, 25 or 26 December, or 31 December. The hours page also posts short closures that are not part of that standing list, so read it again before you travel. Visitors have to leave the halls 30 minutes before closing.
How timed entry works
The prices page adds a booking fee when you book the museums' own skip-the-line ticket on the official website. That fee is part of the price in the table. The same page says tickets cannot be refunded, and that the ticket works only on the day it is issued.
The prices page does not publish a bag-size rule or an identity-document rule. Anything a reseller page says about security at the museums door was not on the official page checked for this guide.
The museums entrance and the basilica entrance are not the same door. The photograph is the walk up Via della Conciliazione in August 2024. It is not the museums, it is not the Sistine Chapel, and it is not the queue as it is now.
Via della Conciliazione towards St Peter's, August 2024. Photo: Marcus Cent.
The basilica is a separate door
The museums ticket does not get you into St Peter's. The facade below was photographed in August 2024. Adding the basilica means a second building and a second security check.
The facade of St Peter's Basilica, August 2024. Photo: Marcus Cent.
The square is not the museums queue
Bernini's colonnade is the approach to the basilica, not a published wait at the museums door. The layout of screening in the square can change, and this photograph is August 2024.
Bernini's colonnade in St Peter's Square, August 2024. Photo: Marcus Cent.
What the ticket includes
The prices page says the entry ticket covers the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, and only on that day. It does not say the ticket includes the basilica, the dome or the Vatican Gardens. There are no photographs of the museums or the chapel in this guide.
The museums do not print a recommended visit length on the pages checked. Last entry on a normal day is 18:00, and the halls clear 30 minutes before closing, so a late ticket is a shorter visit than a morning one.
Security tents in St Peter's Square, August 2024. Photo: Marcus Cent.
Official ticket or a tour?
Use the official total in the table when you are comparing. The tour cards on this page keep their existing partner links. A higher tour price can be the right buy when you want a guide. It is not a cheaper official ticket. The museums use the words skip-the-line for their own online booking. A tour sold with the same words is not that booking.
Explore around the Vatican
Vatican City is the smallest country in the world — the entire walk from St. Peter's Square to the Museums takes about 15 minutes. Tap a pin to see what else is nearby.
