Hotels near Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museums hold one of the greatest art collections on Earth, accumulated by popes over 500 years and laid out across roughly 7 km of galleries inside Vatican City. The route ends at the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's ceiling (1508-1512) and Last Judgement cover almost every surface in some 5,000 square feet of frescoes that remain the high-water mark of Renaissance painting.

Highlights along the way include the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps, Laocoön and His Sons in the Pio-Clementine sculpture wing, and the Pinacoteca picture gallery with works by Caravaggio and Leonardo. Plan for a minimum of three hours and book online - walk-up queues frequently exceed two hours in spring and summer.

Pro Tip: Book a Friday-evening Vatican Museums ticket if available - the museums stay open until 22:30 in spring and summer and the Sistine Chapel is far quieter than during the day.