Who the short route is for
The short route suits:
- Visitors with less than two hours available
- Those who have already visited the museums and want to see only the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms again
- Groups with young children or people with limited mobility
- Those visiting in the late afternoon (the last two hours before closing)
It is not suitable for those who want to see the Picture Gallery, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum, the Etruscan Museum or the Collection of Modern Religious Art — these sections require significant detours from the main route.
The route: main stops
Stop 1: Pio-Clementine Museum and Octagonal Courtyard (15–20 minutes)
The entrance on Viale Vaticano leads directly to the stairs ascending to the Pio-Clementine Museum. Without detours, the short route passes through the Greek and Roman sculpture rooms and reaches the Octagonal Courtyard, where you will find:
- The Laocoön (1st century BC–1st century AD)
- The Apollo Belvedere (Roman copy, 4th century BC)
- The Belvedere Torso (1st century BC)
- Canova's Perseus (1800–1801)
Recommended time: 15–20 minutes. Linger only at the principal pieces.
Stop 2: Gallery of Tapestries and Gallery of Maps (10–15 minutes)
From the Pio-Clementine Museum, the route enters the long central axis of the museums. The Gallery of Tapestries (ten tapestries from Raphael's cartoons) precedes the Gallery of Maps — 120 metres, coffered painted ceiling, 40 maps of Italian regions from the 16th century.
On the short route, this corridor is walked at a normal pace. It is worth pausing briefly at the midpoint of the Gallery of Maps to look up at the ceiling — one of the richest in the museums.
Recommended time: 10–15 minutes walking, without long stops.
Stop 3: Raphael Rooms (20–25 minutes)
The Raphael Rooms are four rooms with fresco cycles from 1508–1524. On the short route, the essential stop is the Room of the Segnatura — the first chronologically and the most important:
- School of Athens (main wall): Plato and Aristotle at the centre, Socrates, Euclid, Heraclitus (with Michelangelo's features), Raphael's probable self-portrait at the right edge. Identifying the philosophers requires knowledge of Greek myth and history — an explanatory panel is available at the entrance to the room.
- Disputation of the Sacrament (opposite wall): Christian theology as an answer to pagan philosophy
- The Parnassus (wall with window): Apollo, the Muses, classical and modern poets
- The Cardinal Virtues (fourth wall)
The other three rooms (Heliodorus, Fire in the Borgo, Constantine) can be walked through more quickly on the short route.
Recommended time: 20–25 minutes total, with 15 minutes in the Room of the Segnatura.
Stop 4: Sistine Chapel (30–40 minutes)
The Sistine Chapel is the final section of the route. The flow of visitors is one-directional: you enter from the corridor of the Raphael Rooms and exit from the side door (which leads outside the museum).
In the time available on the short route, the ceiling and the Last Judgment are well seen in 30 minutes, provided you know in advance what to look at.
Michelangelo's ceiling (1508–1512):
- The nine central scenes narrate Genesis from the act of Creation to the Flood
- At the centre: The Creation of Adam — God's finger and Adam's finger do not touch
- The Prophets and Sibyls in the lateral arches — Jeremiah and Isaiah are the most expressive
- The Nudes (ignudi) in the corners — decorative figures that resist iconographic reading
The Last Judgment (1536–1541):
- Christ the judge at the centre, gesture of condemnation to the left (the damned) and of welcome to the right (the blessed)
- Michelangelo self-portrays in the features of Saint Bartholomew — the flayed skin with his own face, to the left of centre below
- The controversial Judge of Hell in the lower right area
Recommended time: 30–40 minutes.
What is NOT included in the short route
The following sections require significant detours and are not achievable in 90 minutes:
- Vatican Picture Gallery: located in a separate building, reachable with a 20–30 minute detour just for walking
- Gregorian Egyptian Museum: on the lower floor, before the main route
- Etruscan Museum: on the upper floor, 30–40 minute detour
- Borgia Apartments: beneath the Raphael Rooms, require a separate descent
- Collection of Modern Religious Art: accessible from the Sistine Chapel, but requires an additional 20–30 minutes
The exit: two options
Exit from the Sistine Chapel (side door): leads directly outside the museum, 200 metres from the side entrance to St Peter's Basilica. This is the standard short route exit. You cannot re-enter the museum with the same ticket.
Exit through the main museum: if you want to visit the Picture Gallery or other sections after the Sistine Chapel, exit the Chapel to the left (not through the side door) and return towards the ticket hall. This extends the visit by 30–60 minutes.
Tips for optimising the short route
Arrive at opening (9:00): the first 90 minutes are the quietest of the entire day. On the short route during this window, the Sistine Chapel is visitable with less than half the usual number of visitors.
Do not stop at the display cases: the standard short route passes through many rooms with minor objects (Roman glass, ivories, ceramics). These spaces can be walked through quickly.
Use the explanatory panels: the museums have improved their signage in recent years. The panels at the entrance of each room summarise the main points in Italian, English and Spanish.
Bring binoculars for the Sistine Chapel: the ceiling is 20 metres high. A compact pair of binoculars (8×20) makes a real difference for seeing the details of the Last Judgment.
Visiting with a private driver
A private driver takes you to opening time and waits outside the Sistine Chapel exit — the optimal solution for the short route.
Arrive at the Vatican Museums at opening with a private driver: 90 minutes on the short route in the best possible conditions. Service from €49. → Book your driver at myromedriver.com
Frequently asked questions
Is the short route signposted internally? Yes. The Vatican Museums have internal signage distinguishing the short route (around 90 minutes), the medium route (around 3 hours) and the long route (5+ hours). Arrows are positioned at the main junctions.
Can the short route be done with young children? Yes, but there are many stairs and not all sections are accessible with a pushchair. The museum provides lifts on request at the ticket office.
Does the short route include the Sistine Chapel? Yes. The Sistine Chapel is the final stop on all routes — short, medium and long.
How long does the short route realistically take? With stops at the main points: 90–120 minutes. Without stops: 60–75 minutes (not recommended — the content of the works is lost).
Can I buy a ticket only for the Sistine Chapel? No. There is no direct access to the Sistine Chapel: it can only be reached through the museum route. There are no reduced-price tickets for the short route — there is one standard ticket.
Article no. 40 — TIER S — MON-02 Vatican Museums + Sistine Chapel Type: PRACTICAL Words: ~1,600