Sistine Chapel Tours and Tickets

There are plenty of ways to experience the Sistine Chapel. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

• Skip-the-Line Group Tour of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica

• Skip-the-Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's | Small Group

• Skip the Line: Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel + Optional Basilica

• Skip the Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel and Basilica Guided Tour

• Rome: Skip the Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St Peter Small Group

Admission to the Sistine Chapel is included in Vatican Museum tickets, which start from €20 for adults and €10 for students and children aged 7–18. Kids under the age of 7 enter for free. Tickets to skip the line have an additional €5 fee. Tickets for the Papal Palace and Secret Garden of Castel Gandolfo are separate.

Yes, you can get a lot more out of your trip to the Sistine Chapel when joining a guided tour. Guides can help streamline your visit, so you make better use of your time there, and provide informative, in-depth commentary about the chapel to help you better appreciate this Renaissance masterpiece.

Per one customer who booked the Skip-the-Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's | Small Group, "Our guide John was absolutely amazing! He was so thorough, and his knowledge of the history of the museums and the Vatican was top notch. We learned so much from him today. After the tour, we continued to discuss all that we experienced, learned and saw during the tour. John was so attentive to the group and very personable with every member in the group. He was the best guide we have ever had!! Thank you for such a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime tour!"

Yes. The Sistine Chapel is part of Rome’s Vatican Museums and to visit it, you need to book either an admission ticket or a tour of the museums in advance. Arriving on the day of your visit and waiting in line for entry tickets is impossible.

Yes. The Sistine Chapel is one of Rome’s top attractions, so admission tickets to the Vatican Museums—which include access to the chapel—sell out fast. If you can’t get admission tickets for a self-guided visit on your chosen day, try booking a tour that includes admission instead.

You can’t enter the Sistine Chapel directly as there’s no exterior entrance—you can only reach it indirectly via the Vatican Museums’ entrance at Viale Vaticano, on the northern edge of Vatican City. After going through this entrance, follow the signposted one-way walking route through the museums’ galleries, which leads to the chapel.

Measuring 131 feet (40 meters) by 46 feet (14 meters), the Sistine Chapel is roughly the size of two tennis courts placed end-to-end—so walking through doesn’t take long. As it’s usually crowded, most people find that 15-20 minutes is enough time to admire its stunning interior.

The Sistine Chapel is busiest from late morning to early afternoon, on Saturdays, public holidays, and from early spring through fall. For thinner crowds, aim for early morning or mid-afternoon or visit from November through March, except on Easter and Christmas. Alternatively, consider early-access or after-hours tours for the least amount of other visitors.

There are tons of fun things to do when you're done visiting the Sistine Chapel. According to travelers, these are some of the top attractions in Vatican City:

• Vatican Museums

• St. Peter's Basilica

• Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano)

• St. Peter's Square

• St. Peter's Dome (Cupola di San Pietro)

View Viator's guide to all the best attractions in Vatican City.