Visiting Patron Information
When planning to visit the Vatican Museums, you must first contact either your Chapter Leader or the North American National Office Manager, Mrs. Lorna Richardson, who will fill out a Patron Visit Request for you. No visit Request will be accepted without the signature of your Chapter Leader or Lorna, unless you are an International Patron. In this case, you may contact the Vatican Office directly. TO SCHEDULE A PRIVATE TOUR OF THE VATICAN MUSEUMS: 1 Visit requests are to be received by the Vatican Office at least three weeks prior to your desired date of visit. 2. Please specify your desired date of visit to the Vatican Museums and any particular desired areas of interest for example, the Restoration Laboratories. Once the Visit Request has been received a member of the Patrons Office staff will be in contact with you, confirming the date and time of your private tour. We ask that you kindly arrive on time for your scheduled tour. Furthermore, please inform your chapter leader of any changes in your travel plans in order to advise the Vatican Office. 3. Please note that Vatican Gardens tours are not arranged through the Patrons Office as they are not part of the Vatican Museums. Please contact the Office of Guided Visits at +39 06 6988 4249 or faxing them at +39 06 6988 5100. Please specify that you are Patrons. Although as a Patron admission to the Museums is gratuitous, the cost of a Gardens tour is 12 Euro per person. 4. Excavations below St. Peter’s (Scavi) are also not arranged through the Vatican Office as they are under a different jurisdiction. You may contact this office by sending either an email or fax to the following: +39 06 6987 3017 or email at: scavi@fsp.va. You may also download form here. 5. Papal Audiences are held every Wednesday in Saint Peter's Square or in the Hall of Paul VI during the winter months. Please note that although the Patrons Office makes the necessary requests for the Audience tickets, it is the responsibility of the visiting patron to pick-up the tickets. Tickets will be under the name of the guest and are to be picked up at the Bronze Doors in St. Peter’s Square (Tuesday afternoons from 3-8 pm or Wednesday morning before the Audience beginning at 8am). Note that as seating at the Audiences is not numbered, we suggest that you arrive to the Audience as early as 9:00 on the morning of the Audience. Furthermore, please come prepared with umbrella, sun-screen and plenty of water. For your scheduled tour you are to go to the main entrance of the Vatican Museums on the Viale Vaticano. Patrons only have the privilege to avoid the lines, and can do so by going directly to the guard outside and introducing themselves. Once inside, you will have to go through a mandatory security check. To your left you will see a sign that says, "INFORMATION." Here you will be met by your Vatican Guide as well as a member of the Patrons Office Staff who will accompany you on your tour. More accurate information, including the name of your guide is sent to your hotel upon the date of your arrival. On behalf of Father Allen Duston, OP, International Director of the Patrons of the Arts, as well the Patrons Office Staff, we hope your visit in Rome is magnificent and your Vatican Museums experience exceptional.