bypassing the queue

This was a lesson learned by taking a chance. The Vatican Museums open everyday at 9 a.m. We figured that by showing up thirty minutes early, we'd be at the front of any queues. Wrong! At 8:30 a.m, the queue already stretched all the way down the block, around the corner, and down the next block as well. We never imagined the queues could be so long. This was a line that would take HOURS. There was no way we could wait in it and also make our reserved tour of the Scavi (excavations underneath St. Peter's) in the afternoon.

While we stood, disheartened, at the back of a long queue thousands of tourists long, we were approached by a young woman. There were some extra places in a 9 a.m. guided group tour in English. If we hurried, we could join that tour. We took the chance and gave up our spots in the queue. She took us to the office of the tour guide. We paid for two guided tours and got our tickets. She took us all the way to the front of the line where we entered the Vatican Museum and met the rest of the group. We had an informative tour of the museum, being able to hear the tour guide clearly with special headphones that worked very well. The tour ended in the Sistine Chapel (the ceiling of which is pictured above). By exiting to the right, the guide informed us, we could go directly into St. Peter's and avoid ANOTHER long queue (which we did!). So in one morning, we saw the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's, and then had time for lunch before visiting the excavations.

Two lessons to be learned.

(1) There are queues at EVERY notable tourist attraction, both in Italy and throughout the world.

(2) Many of those lines can be avoided with good planning.

You can get a guided tour of the Vatican Museum and avoid the queues. You can avoid the long lines to buy your ticket to see the Colosseum by purchasing your ticket at the nearby Palatine Gardens. You can get reserved tickets for the Academia and Uffizi Gallery in Florence. You can buy a Museum Pass in Paris and use special entrances that avoid the long queues. You can buy your tickets online to the MOMA in New York, bypass the lines, and pick up your tickets at the Will Call window.

Sometimes the price is the same. Sometimes it will cost you a bit more for a reservation. Occasionally, you will have to pay significantly more for a guided tour... but look at it this way. If you save and plan for one big trip a year, your greatest asset is your TIME. This is not the place to save every last dollar. You want to maximize the few days you have to enjoy your destination. Sometimes the best investment you can make is to work through an experienced travel consultant. And as I have confessed above, sometimes travel consultants get that experience the old-fashioned way!

Vatican travel queue St.+Peters Rome