Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museums hold one of the greatest art collections on earth, kilometres of galleries of antiquities, tapestries, maps and masterpieces amassed by the popes over centuries, from the Laocoon to Raphael's Rooms. The route builds to the climax of the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo painted the ceiling and the Last Judgement, among the supreme achievements of Western art.

Highlights

• The Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgement.
• Raphael's Rooms - the frescoed papal apartments, including the School of Athens.
• The Gallery of Maps - the long hall of painted maps under a gilded ceiling.
• The classical sculpture - the Laocoon, the Apollo Belvedere and the antiquities.

When to go

Year-round; a fully indoor museum, though huge and crowded. Book a timed ticket well ahead, and go early or on a late opening; the crowds funnelling to the Sistine Chapel are intense.

Practical notes

It is vast and extremely crowded, a long, tiring one-way route to the Sistine Chapel, so book ahead and pace yourself. The Sistine Chapel itself is packed and silence is enforced, with no photography. Guided or early-access tours ease the crush but cost more.

Nearby

St Peter's Basilica adjoins; the Castel Sant'Angelo is nearby.