Vatican Museums: when tickets go on sale, closing days and free Sundays (2026-27)

Tickets · Vatican Museums, Rome (Vatican City)2026-27

No exact release day to calculate: see the official rule below

According to the official Vatican Museums website, checked on 31 October 2026, the official pages give no fixed day on which tickets go on sale, and the only official site for buying tickets online is tickets.museivaticani.va; the next free last Sunday is Sunday 29 November 2026 and the next holiday closure is Sunday 1 November 2026.

Official tickets: tickets.museivaticani.va. Dates calculated on 31 October 2026.

Museums and attractions can change their rules, add closures or release extra tickets at short notice. We quote their official pages word for word, with the date we checked them, and calculate the dates from the official rule. Before you book, check the official page. This site is not affiliated with any museum or ticket seller.

Next six months: ticket releases, free days and closures

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How tickets go on sale: the official rule

No fixed release day

The only official site for purchasing tickets online is https://tickets.museivaticani.va Please beware of potential scams and websites that use domains similar to the official one, which may charge significantly higher prices.

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

The official pages we can read do not say how many days or months ahead tickets go on sale, so we do not calculate a date. The ticket site itself did not answer our checks.

Free days, closing days and opening hours

Free days: Last Sunday of the month, 9 am to 2 pm (not on Easter Sunday, 29 June, 25, 26 or 31 December)

Every last Sunday of the month (provided this does not coincide with Easter Sunday, 29* June Sts. Peter and Paul, 25 December Christmas Day, 26 December Feast of St. Stephen and 31 December Feast of St. Sylvester) 09.00 a.m. – 02.00 p.m. (final entry 12.30 p.m.) Free entry

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

Free entry Vatican Museums Last Sunday of the month (subject to the Calendar of museum openings/closures).

Source: Vatican Museums: Prices and Tickets (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

The next free days are Sunday 29 November 2026, Sunday 27 December 2026 and Sunday 31 January 2027. There is no free entry on Sunday 28 March 2027 (Easter Sunday).

Closing days: Sundays (except the last Sunday of the month) and the holidays on the official list

Closures Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month, if not in conjunction with the Feast of 29* June, Saints Peter and Paul) 1 and 6 January 11 February 19 March 6 April 1 May 29* June 14 and 15 August 1 November 8, 25 and 26 December

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

Next six months: Sunday 1 November 2026, Tuesday 8 December 2026, Friday 25 December 2026, Saturday 26 December 2026, Friday 1 January 2027, Wednesday 6 January 2027, Thursday 11 February 2027, Friday 19 March 2027. Also closed every Sunday except the last one of the month (weekly closing day, not listed in the table). The official list also gives 6 April, which was Easter Monday in 2026. It does not give the date for 2027, so we leave it out of the calculation.

Special opening hours

VATICAN MUSEUMS (all sectors) Period: 10 November Hour of closure: 08.00 a.m. – 09.00 a.m.

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 8 pm (last entry 6 pm)

From Monday to Saturday 08.00 a.m. – 08.00 p.m. (final entry 06.00 p.m.)

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

Official tickets

Official tickets for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel are sold at tickets.museivaticani.va; resellers may charge more.

The only official site for purchasing tickets online is https://tickets.museivaticani.va Please beware of potential scams and websites that use domains similar to the official one, which may charge significantly higher prices.

Source: Vatican Museums: Days & Hours of closure (Vatican Museums), checked on 31 October 2026. Quoted word for word.

Where to stay near the Vatican Museums Affiliate

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Questions

When do Vatican Museums tickets go on sale?

The official pages we can read give no fixed release day or time. They do say where to buy: “The only official site for purchasing tickets online is https://tickets.museivaticani.va Please beware of potential scams and websites that use domains similar to the official one, which may charge significantly higher prices.”

Is the Vatican Museum free on the last Sunday of the month?

Yes, with exceptions. The official page says: “Every last Sunday of the month (provided this does not coincide with Easter Sunday, 29* June Sts. Peter and Paul, 25 December Christmas Day, 26 December Feast of St. Stephen and 31 December Feast of St. Sylvester) 09.00 a.m. – 02.00 p.m. (final entry 12.30 p.m.) Free entry” The next free days are Sunday 29 November 2026, Sunday 27 December 2026 and Sunday 31 January 2027. There is no free entry on Sunday 28 March 2027 (Easter Sunday).

Is the Vatican Museum open on Sunday?

Only on the last Sunday of the month, with free entry. The official list of closures starts with: “Closures Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month, if not in conjunction with the Feast of 29* June, Saints Peter and Paul) 1 and 6 January 11 February 19 March 6 April 1 May 29* June 14 and 15 August 1 November 8, 25 and 26 December”

Is the Vatican Museum open on Christmas Eve?

Yes, as far as the official list shows: Thursday 24 December 2026 is not one of the closing days it lists. The official list says: “Closures Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month, if not in conjunction with the Feast of 29* June, Saints Peter and Paul) 1 and 6 January 11 February 19 March 6 April 1 May 29* June 14 and 15 August 1 November 8, 25 and 26 December”

Is the Vatican open on January 1st?

No. Friday 1 January 2027 is on the official list of closing days: “Closures Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month, if not in conjunction with the Feast of 29* June, Saints Peter and Paul) 1 and 6 January 11 February 19 March 6 April 1 May 29* June 14 and 15 August 1 November 8, 25 and 26 December”

Is the Vatican Museum open on Easter Monday?

The official list of closing days includes 6 April, which was Easter Monday in 2026, but it gives no date for 2027: “Closures Sunday (except the last Sunday of each month, if not in conjunction with the Feast of 29* June, Saints Peter and Paul) 1 and 6 January 11 February 19 March 6 April 1 May 29* June 14 and 15 August 1 November 8, 25 and 26 December” Check the official calendar before you plan a visit around Easter.

Where does this answer come from?

From the official Vatican Museums website, read on 31 October 2026 and quoted word for word on this page. The dates are calculated by us from the official rule, from today to six months ahead; museums can change their rules, so check the official page before you book.

Other attractions

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