Vatican museum spiral staircase Italy

Good catch! I went there in May, and it was really crowded in the afternoon, I couldn't get any photo without at least 10 people on it.

What a great place. Nowadays this is actually the exit of the museum that is used by people who want to leave and go outside. Most of the people prefer to take the route to the Basilica San Pietro, so this exit is rarely used even when the museum is crowded. Still, try to get there as early as possible. Tripods are not allowed, but they are also useless, because you need to lean over the railing to shoot down. Wait for clouds to cover the sun so the light becomes softer and go for it. On the website of the museum they say that tripods and photography stands should be locked in a special place and wait for the owner to come back when they are returned, but I went inside with my tripod and nobody stopped me. I took my tripod inside, but did not end up using it as mentioned above.