Rome travel question, Sistine Chapel

It is a "I can say I've been to the Sistine Chapel" type of experience. Unless you have a limited group tour you are herded through like cattle as you are trying to view something well above your head while trying not to bump into the person next to you doing the same.

Also, I just saw that they are doing some restoration work on the ceiling so there will be scaffolding and netting in some portions. They are cleaning the layer of salt from tourist sweat that has filmed onto it.

Huge let down if you are expecting a solemn experience.

There are no pews in there. It's a wide open room just jam packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder.

They basically manuever you from one end to the other so you have a limited time.

The other posters are correct about no photos and supposedly no talking. Tourists will be tourists and it's a cluster. I could have done without it.

I agree with everything, everyone has already said.

However, the Sistine Chapel is amazing. I still don't believe a man painted it.
It is darker than you expect. You will not have an awe that lingers with you the rest of your life, but it is really cool... and if you've always wanted to see it, you have to!

The tour of all the art collection in the Vatican leading up to it is awesome.
The rooms throughout the Vatican are almost as cool as the chapel.
The tour inside St. Peters afterwards is also worth it.
If you are going to do anything for a day in Rome. The Vatican tour (including the chapel) is the best way to spend it.

We were lucky enough to see the Sistine Chapel inn 2009. Our guide was well known by the guards at the Vatican and was at the very front of the line when it opened. He told us we would skip looking at the two museums that you go through prior to the Chapel and we would "speed walk" to the Chapel then circle back and catch everything that we had initially missed including a second trip through the Chapel. When we reached the Chapel they were just turning the lights on. My wife, myself and our guide spent 20 minutes in the Chapel by ourselves. It was truly incredible to be able to walk all through the Chapel and see all of the works and be able to hear our guide. And while you are not supposed to take pictures, our guide was able to take a number of us by ourselves. When we circled back though, the Chapel was packed, like going through the student section to get into an LSU football game. You just had to squeeze through the crowd in the Chapel and forget about hearing anything. Afterwards my wife told me whatever we paid for our guide, we it was worth every penny.

I found it odd you can't take pictures in the chapel. It's the only part of the Vatican that's open too public that you can't. I did the Vip tour with dinner and our group was only 12 people and we were the only ones in the chapel. Also the last ones that day.

Sistene Chapel is hands down the greatest thing I have ever seen

Seems like everyone here is talking about how small and crowded it is. No doubt it's small but i guess I lucked out and when I went it was not crowded at all and I was able to sit on a pew and comfortably take it all in

So I'll defer to them but for me it was magnificent