Vatican Fax Number for Tickets

Vatican fax number for tickets is a surprisingly narrow question, and I want to give you a straight answer before anything else. The only fax line I can point you to on an official Vatican page is +39 06 69873017, and it belongs to the Excavations Office, which runs the Scavi tour beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. For everything else, such as the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, I found no fax route in the official material, so the practical way to buy is online.

That matters because fax numbers get passed around on old travel pages, and a wrong number costs you days. Below I explain exactly what the number is for, what a fax request must contain, what it costs, and what I’d do instead if you just want to walk into the Museums on a given morning.

What Is the Vatican Fax Number for Tickets?

The Vatican fax number for tickets shown on the official Scavi reservations page is +39 06 69873017. It is the line for written requests to the Excavations Office, and it covers only the Scavi visit, not the Museums or the basilica.

The same page says requests may be submitted in writing by fax or in person at the Excavations Office. The office also lists an email address, scavi@fsp.va, and a telephone number, +39 06 69 885 318, so fax is one of several ways in. I’d treat the fax as the formal, paper-trail option and the email as the quicker one.

Two cautions from me. First, copy the digits straight from the official page rather than from a forum post or a reseller site, because one wrong digit sends your request nowhere. Second, numbers can change, so check the page again on the day you send anything.

Want a closer look? Vatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance Ticket, from $36See times →→

Which Vatican Tickets Can You Request by Fax?

Vatican tickets you can request by fax are limited to the Scavi visit, the only one documented that way in the sources I used. Scavi means “excavations”: it is the guided visit to the ancient necropolis under St. Peter’s, and it is arranged through a written request rather than a normal checkout page.

Book aheadVatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance TicketCheck availability · from $36

The official page describes a request-and-reply system. You send details, and the Excavations Office replies with the specific information about the visit it grants. In its words, all requests, even urgent ones, are fulfilled depending on the places left available at the closest date to the one requested.

If you want the exact wording and a sample of what to send, I wrote a separate guide to the request for reservation by fax. Use it if Scavi is your goal. This page stays focused on the number itself and the alternatives.

What about the Vatican Museums?

Vatican Museums tickets have no fax number anywhere in the official excerpts I checked. What the Museums’ own pages do show is an online ticketing flow. For example, the official page for pilgrim groups says that when booking online you must give the precise number of participants and their names, and that tickets are subject to availability and paid in advance.

So if someone tells you to fax the Museums for a standard ticket, I’d be skeptical. The reliable route is the official Vatican Museums site or a reseller with a clear confirmation voucher.

Skip the ticket line: Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-The-Line Ticket, from $32Check dates →→

How Do You Send a Fax Request for the Scavi Tour?

A fax request for the Scavi tour is one written message with five items, and the Excavations Office replies with a date. The office states that it is “absolutely necessary” to provide this information, so a short note without it is likely to stall.

The official list is:

1. The exact number of participants.
2. The names of the participants.
3. The language requested.
4. Possible dates when the office can assign your visit, with the month written out in full (for example, from 01 January 2013 to 08 January 2013). The office picks the time.
5. An email address, a fax number, or a complete postal address for the reply.

I’d add a line about who the visitor is. The page says requests should be sent directly by the visitors if possible. If someone else sends the request, such as a parent or a travel planner, they should include the visitors’ names and email addresses so the office can reply to both.

Tips for a clean request

A clean request writes the dates as a range with the month spelled out, offers several options, and name a reply method you will actually check. Group leaders, such as universities, parishes, cultural associations and agencies, are asked to send a complete list of participants and the name of their organization.

Keep a copy of your confirmation page from the fax machine or service. If you hear nothing, use the email or phone contact on the same page rather than sending the identical fax again.

Short on time? Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Ticket, from $40Book a slot →→

What Does a Scavi Ticket Cost and When Is the Office Open?

A Scavi ticket costs EUR 13 per person, and the office hours given on its page are Monday to Friday 9:00 to 18:00 and Saturday 9:00 to 14:00. The price includes the contribution for the guide, and the office says no reductions are given for any reason.

At the ECB reference rate of 1.1165 dollars per euro on 2026-11-06, EUR 13 is about $14.51. I used the European Central Bank reference rates for that conversion, so your card rate will differ slightly.

All of it comes from the official Scavi reservations page. Prices and hours change, so confirm them there before you send a request.

Prefer a guide? Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Entry Ticket, from $53See tours →→

Is Fax Better Than Phone or Email?

Fax versus phone or email is mostly an easy call: email is the better first move for most travelers, and fax works as a fallback or a formal record. Email reaches the same Excavations Office and gives you a written reply you can keep on your phone, which is useful on the day of the visit.

Fax makes sense in a few cases. You might be a group organizer who already sends official letters on headed paper. You might work at a parish or institute that handles all bookings by fax. Or you might want a dated paper record for a large party.

If you would rather talk to a person, my separate guide covers what the Vatican tickets phone number is and which offices answer which questions. And if you need a number for the Museums’ own desk, there is a page on the ticket office phone line too. I keep those pages separate because a phone call and a fax solve different problems.

Planning ahead? Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Ticket-Line Tour, from $110Check availability →→

How Do You Dial a Vatican Fax Number?

To dial a Vatican fax number, enter it exactly as printed, starting with +39, since the Scavi fax is written in the Italian format. The Scavi office prints its fax as +39 06 69873017, and Rome numbers use the 06 area code.

You may notice that Wikidata lists a separate country calling code for Vatican City, +379. The Scavi page does not use it, so I would copy the number as the office publishes it and not swap the prefix yourself. If your fax service or phone carrier rejects the number, check its international dialing instructions rather than editing the digits.

For context on why Vatican City has its own code and domain, the Wikidata entry for Vatican City lists the calling code +379 and the top-level domain .va. That is the same .va you see in addresses like museivaticani.va and scavi.va, and it is a good quick test: official pages end in .va.

Most booked this week: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica Tour, from $60See prices →→

Vatican Fax Number for Tickets by the Numbers

The Vatican fax number for tickets sits alongside a few official figures that help you plan around the Scavi fax and the wider Vatican visit. These come from Wikidata, and I added what each means for you.

• Area: 0.44 km². The state is tiny, so the Museums entrance, the basilica and the Scavi office are all close together. You can walk between them.
• Inception: 1929-02-11. The modern city-state dates from the Lateran Treaty, which is why it runs its own offices and numbers.
• Population: 949 (2024). It is a very small resident population compared with the visitor crowds.
• Currency: euro. Ticket prices are in euros, so convert before you compare.
• Official languages: Italian, Latin. Write your fax in Italian or English; the Scavi page asks you to name the language you want for your visit.
• Heritage designation: World Heritage Site. That status is one reason access to some areas is controlled by request.
• Calling code: +379. The Scavi page still prints +39 for its numbers, so use what the office publishes.

Best value pick: Vatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance Ticket, from $36View dates →→

What Should You Do If You Just Want Museum Tickets?

Vatican Museum tickets are best bought online as a timed slot, with no fax involved. For the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, that is the practical choice, and I’d pick a slot, book it, and keep the voucher on your phone.

If you want a place to compare options, our Vatican tickets page lays out the ticket types side by side. Our Vatican Museum tickets guide goes deeper on prices and time slots, and the tickets hub lists every related question we answer.

The tours below are the entry-only options that match what most people want. Prices and availability come from GetYourGuide at the time of writing, so confirm the final price when you pick a date.

The cheapest entry in the brief is $32.31 for the Tours And Tours skip-the-line ticket. The listing says to arrive 15 minutes before your start time and that the ticket is valid only for the reserved time. The first option at $36.21 uses a dedicated GetYourGuide entrance, and you scan the ticket at the desk marked CASSA ONLINE E GRUPPI after the security check.

One traveler summed up why timed entry is worth it:

“The only way to visit the Vatican Museums are with a skip the line ticket, because you will spend around 4h in the museum if you want to enjoy it properly, but if you don't have a skip the line ticket, add at least 2-3 hours of waiting in line. A line that is literally at least 100 m long”

I’d treat that as a planning note, not a promise: queue lengths change by day and season.

Going with family? Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-The-Line Ticket, from $32Compare tickets →→

Where Is the Vatican Museums Entrance and What Are the Opening Hours?

The Vatican Museums entrance stands on Viale Vaticano, in the 00120 Vatican City postal area, and Google Maps gives daily hours of 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Saturday with Sunday closed. Always confirm hours on the official site before you travel, because special closures happen.

The map block below shows the Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica and the CASSA ONLINE E GRUPPI desk, which is the box office you pass after security if you hold an online voucher. St. Peter’s Basilica is listed with daily hours of 7 am to 7:10 pm, and it uses a separate entrance from Piazza San Pietro.

I’d be careful with unofficial offices near the Museums. One listing in the map data, a tourist information center on Via Sebastiano Veniero, has a low review score, which is a reminder to buy from a seller with a clear voucher and a clear cancellation policy. Not every street office is the official ticket desk.

Want a closer look? Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Ticket, from $40See times →→

Which Vatican Museums Entry Tickets Explained: Reduced and Group Rates?

Reduced Vatican Museums tickets do exist, but they are narrow in scope and call for paperwork rather than a fax number. The official page for pilgrimages says the reduction is reserved for groups on a pilgrimage to the Eternal City, with a letter of request on headed paper bearing the official stamp and the original signature of the parish priest or superior.

The reduced ticket goes to all members of the group, up to 20 people, priest included. Free entry does not apply. The page also warns that visitors who buy a reduced ticket without entitlement must buy a new ticket at full rate, and the reduced ticket is cancelled and cannot be refunded.

A separate official page lists reduced prices for the Papal Palace and Secret Garden of Castel Gandolfo: EUR 6 for children aged 7 to 18, individual students up to 25 with proof of enrollment, and religious personnel with a document, and EUR 5 for school groups. At the same ECB rate of 1.1165, EUR 6 is about $6.70 and EUR 5 is about $5.58. Those are Castel Gandolfo rates, not Museums rates, so don’t mix them up.

If you plan to visit Rome-side attractions as well as the Vatican, our guide to tickets for Vatican City compares what is actually included in each option.

Skip the ticket line: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Entry Ticket, from $53Check dates →→

Should You Book a Guided Option Instead?

A guided Vatican tour is worth the extra money if you want context rather than just entry, and I’d choose one on a first visit. The Gray Line I Love Rome tour is listed at $109.87, runs about 3 to 3.5 hours, caps the group at 20 people and covers the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

Entry-only tickets are cheaper and give you freedom. The Inside Out Italy ticket is listed at $53.48 and includes a host who meets you at Via Sebastiano Veniero 74 and escorts you to the entrance, but the listing excludes a tour guide.

The difference is simple. An entry ticket gets you through the door at a set time. A guided tour adds someone who explains what you are seeing and keeps you moving. Neither route needs a fax.

A traveler who bought entry only put the value this way:

“value for money. I am glad that I choose this option. really helpful. thank you”

Short on time? Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Ticket-Line Tour, from $110Book a slot →→

What Should You Check Before You Send Any Fax or Book Any Ticket?

Before you send a fax or book tickets, check five things: the source of the number, the date, the group size, the language and the reply method. That short list prevents most failed requests, and I’d run through it before every booking, fax or otherwise.

• Source. Use a number printed on a .va page. Wikipedia describes Vatican City as a sovereign city-state, so its offices publish their own contact details.
• Dates. Give a range and spell out the month, as the Scavi office asks.
• Group size. The Scavi page wants the exact number of participants and their names; pilgrimage groups at the Museums have a 20-person maximum.
• Language. Name the language you want for the visit.
• Reply method. Give an email address you check daily.

If you hit a snag, my short guide on the request for reservation by fax walks through the same list from the reservation side, and the Rome ticket options page helps if you would rather skip paperwork altogether.

Prefer a guide? Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica Tour, from $60See tours →→

Final Advice on the Vatican Fax Number for Tickets

The Vatican fax number for tickets, +39 06 69873017, is worth using only if you want the Scavi excavations tour and prefer a written request. For nearly every other visit, I’d book a timed ticket online and keep the voucher on your phone.

My plan, in order: decide whether you want Scavi or the Museums, send one complete request or book one timed slot, and keep every confirmation. Then check the official Scavi page for the latest contact details before you send anything. If you are still choosing, see every ticket type on our book Vatican tickets online page and pick the one that fits your date. You’ll save yourself the wait for a fax reply that you probably don’t need.

Planning ahead? Vatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance Ticket, from $36Check availability →→