St Peter's/Vatican City, Rome

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Favorite thing: There is a million people visiting the museum every day! The line is huge.
So buy your ticket in the internet, better at this site http://www.rome-museum.com/?gclid=CN7zkq-DyZ0CFRaRZgodniM3sw - it was a little bit more expensive, but helped a lot!!!

Favorite thing: Here is a little more information on the Vatican museums and Sistine chapel. There are three tours offered by the Vatican. They are 1) the museum and Sistine chapel. 2) Vatican gardens. 3) the vatican museums and St. Peters basilica.

The museum and Sistine chapel tour takes 2 hours and passes through the Pio Clementino, the geographical maps and tapestries galleries, the Raphael's rooms and the Sistine Chapel. The tour includes entrance fee and headset. This tour costs 30 euros and can be booked in advance at the vatican website. The garden tour last 2 hours and takes you on a tour of the small independant state. It cost 30.00 euros and can be reserved in advance at the vatican website. After the tour you may enter the vatican museums with no additional cost. The vatican museums and st. Peter's basilica tour costs 35 euros and lasts 3 hours. It, too, can be reserved at the vatican website.

The website is:biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceLivelloVisita=4&step=1

Make sure to take your confirmation email with you to the museums and you will be allowed to bypass the line. You must wear proper attire to enter the museums, gardens and basilica. For both men and women, shoulders and knees must be covered.

Favorite thing: What hasn’t been said about the Sistine Chapel? Mountains of words have been written about this cavernous room with Michelangelo’s frescoes covering every inch of the ceiling. Every scene he painted from the Book of Genesis (from 1508 to 1512), every detail of his vision of the Last Judgment, has been scrutinized under a microscope. The guidebooks are overflowing with analysis of the ceiling panels, the walls, the lunettes and the altar wall. Since the cleaning work that began in the 1980s, art historians have devoted endless discussion to whether the bright new color scheme has restored the paintings to their former glory or ruined them. As someone who visited in the early 1970s, and again in 2008, I personally couldn’t see a difference, but who am I to say. Anyway, back then, on my honeymoon, maybe I wasn’t paying so much attention.

So here is a tip that will allow you to get a better view of these glorious paintings, which invariably leave visitors with a crick in their neck: When you enter the room, don’t do what everybody else does, which is stand still in your tracks and stare up in amazement. Move to the rear! What I realized, as my feet (and neck) began to ache and I tried to find a place to sit on the benches that line the room, is that people tend to congregate in the first part of the hall. But if you keep going, through the carved partition that divides the room, not only are you getting away from the crowds, but you get a much better view (the Last Judgment is on the wall opposite you). You won’t even have to squeeze in to find a spot on the bench.

Favorite thing: “Felicior Augusto, melior Traiano” (“More fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan”)
— the Senate’s prayer for any new emperor during the fourth century

Give your postcards a prayer of a chance. It has been said that postcards mailed through the Vatican Post Office reach their destination faster than those mailed through Rome’s postal system. This may be Italian urban legend. It cannot hurt to make a test!

While visiting Vatican City look for the yellow post boxes; some can be found within the gift shop of the Vatican Museums.

The post box in the accompanying photo is located outside the main entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica, on the left-hand side as you face the church; it, too, is outside a gift/book shop.

Favorite thing: A stop at the Vatican City Post Office (right by the museum) is a must for everybody. The post office is well known all over the world for the unique stamps they sell. The prices are decent (they are regular stamps after all), but the designs are breathtaking. Buy a book or two of stamps with the design that is most appealing to you (art, saints, museums, etc). They make a great and unique souvenir!

You can also check out the Savelli Vatican shop for unique gifts too: http://www.savellireligious.com/catholic_store/vatican_shop.htm

Favorite thing: We walked straight in to the museum of Vatican, with no waiting. It was about 9.15 in the morning. Didn't have the ticket in advance. It was in the beginning of June this summer. Be prepaired to walk through the whole museum to get to the chapel, it takes about one hour even if you don't stop and look at all the marvellous paintings and statues on your way.

And don't go in the Vatican to get to the chapel, go straight to the museum (entrance outside the Vatican!) Afterwards go and see the church, there will be a long queue, but it goes fast.

Favorite thing: Be careful! There are security guards in the Sistine chapel constantly telling people to keep the noise down and NO PHOTOS. If you turn you flash off and are very, very discreet, you should get some of the fantastic ceiling.
Enjoy :-)

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Favorite thing: One of the benefits of visiting the Sistine Chapel during the slow season, (Nov. - Mar.) is that they don't limit how long you can visit the Sistine Chapel. During the high season they generally limit groups to about 15 minutes at a time, whereas when I go during the slow season I have been able to spend as much time in the Chapel as I wish. I even am able to sit on the benches along the walls which I didn't even know where there when I visited during the summer as the crowds were too intense. It is a treat to be able to take in the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel on my own clock without being rushed. 15 minute intervals is not nearly enough time to take in such a work of art, so put some consideration to visiting during the winter months.