Early Access Vatican Museums Tour with Sistine & St. Peter’s - Group of 12 max
2631 reviews
See the highlights of the world-famous Vatican Museums in one morning on this intimate, small-group Vatican walking tour! Starting early in the morning to beat the heat and crowds, you'll skip the line and head straight inside with your priority access ticket. Led by an expert Vatican guide, your comprehensive tour visits the sacred Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms, St. Peter's Basilica and more!
Due to a new Vatican partnership, this tour provides VIP access through a reserved door, allowing you to skip all the lines – even the priority lines. Numbers are also limited to just 12 people on this unique Vatican tour, ensuring you'll see the very best of the Vatican Museums in a small-group atmosphere.
Due to a new Vatican partnership, this tour provides VIP access through a reserved door, allowing you to skip all the lines – even the priority lines. Numbers are also limited to just 12 people on this unique Vatican tour, ensuring you'll see the very best of the Vatican Museums in a small-group atmosphere.
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In Brief
Location:
Roma, Italy
Country:
Italy
Duration:
3 hours
Operates:
Varies
Highlights:
All entrance fees included
Fully narrated tour
Informative, friendly and professional guide
Likely to Sell Out
Perfect introduction for first-time visitors
Small-group tour
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Stroll through rooms like the Gallery of Maps, with its golden, vaulted ceiling; the Raphael Rooms, painted by Renaissance artist Raphael; and the stunning Sistine Chapel, considered to be the Pope’s home chapel, with Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement. On your early-access tour, you’ll find the galleries to be considerably quieter than they would be later in the day.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Citta del Vaticano 1, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Meet and greet your guide opposite the entrance to the Vatican Museums, a collection of galleries filled with classical and Renaissance masterpieces, including the Sistine Chapel frescoes.
Walk inside through a reserved door without any waiting. This access is even faster than the priority lines. Once inside, there are more than 2,000 rooms and nine miles of art, so follow along with your guide who will point out the highlights and explain the story behind each piece. The small-group nature of your tour allows you to remain close to your guide at all times, but a headset is included to make sure you can always hear the commentary clearly.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Finish with a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church ever built and one of the holiest and most important sites in Christendom. Get an overview of its long history from your guide, and get an up-close look at the Pietà, one of Michelangelo’s earlier sculptures that depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.
Your tour ends inside the basilica. After you’ve finished exploring with your group, you can stay as long as you want on your own. It’s the perfect time to head down into the crypts or climb up to the top of St. Peter’s dome (own expense) for uninterrupted views of Rome.
Duration: 1 hour
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Stroll through rooms like the Gallery of Maps, with its golden, vaulted ceiling; the Raphael Rooms, painted by Renaissance artist Raphael; and the stunning Sistine Chapel, considered to be the Pope’s home chapel, with Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement. On your early-access tour, you’ll find the galleries to be considerably quieter than they would be later in the day.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Citta del Vaticano 1, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Meet and greet your guide opposite the entrance to the Vatican Museums, a collection of galleries filled with classical and Renaissance masterpieces, including the Sistine Chapel frescoes.
Walk inside through a reserved door without any waiting. This access is even faster than the priority lines. Once inside, there are more than 2,000 rooms and nine miles of art, so follow along with your guide who will point out the highlights and explain the story behind each piece. The small-group nature of your tour allows you to remain close to your guide at all times, but a headset is included to make sure you can always hear the commentary clearly.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Finish with a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church ever built and one of the holiest and most important sites in Christendom. Get an overview of its long history from your guide, and get an up-close look at the Pietà, one of Michelangelo’s earlier sculptures that depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.
Your tour ends inside the basilica. After you’ve finished exploring with your group, you can stay as long as you want on your own. It’s the perfect time to head down into the crypts or climb up to the top of St. Peter’s dome (own expense) for uninterrupted views of Rome.
Duration: 1 hour
Inclusions
- Small group of 12 people max
- Professional guide
- Guaranteed to skip the lines
- Headsets to hear the guide clearly
- Entry/Admission - Vatican Museums
- Entry/Admission - Sistine Chapel
Exclusions
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks, unless specified
Departure Point
Via Tunisi, 4, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Returns To
St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Additional Information
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women to enter to the venues
- Big bags are not allowed in the tour
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Please be aware that due to the Basilica restrictions, tours at 2:30pm or later from April until October, the guided tour of the Basilica will be shorter & from November until March, there won’t be a guided tour inside the Basilica, due to Basilica’s restrictions.
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers
Booking Information
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
Cancellation Terms
This trip is fully refundable up to 96 hours prior to the commencement of your trip.
Booking Terms and Conditions
When you book this trip, you need to read and accept the terms and conditions for booking our day trips in excursions.
Scoring an average traveller rating of 5 out of 5 based on the last 24 recent reviews
“
The tour was well-planned and well done. The tour guide, Igor, was informative, engaging, and very knowledgeable. LOVED having the audio headsets to hear the tour guide and the explanations at every step of the way. This feature alone was worth the tour! Thanks for managing the logistics well in an otherwise very crowded venue. We truly enjoyed our tour.”
Chris M • Submitted 13 Dec 2019
“
We had a great tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. The meeting place was very crowded with groups meeting for early access tours but it was fairly easy to locate our group. We were given hearing devices and were able to hear our guide clearly without having to be huddled in a small group. Our guide, Licia was great. She spent some time explaining the Sistine Chapel using photographs before we entered the Chapel. This really enhanced our experience as the Sistine Chapel can be overwhelming at first. Our guide provided great explanations of the art on display in the Vatican Museums and included some great stories about Michaelangelo and Raphael. After the Sistine Chapel we were taken (via a short cut for tour groups) to St Peter's Basilica. Our guide gave us a great tour through the Basilica and did a great job giving us some perspective on the size of the Basilica. I would highly recommend this tour for the great narratives and the ability to bypass the very long lines to get into the Vatican.”
Lorraine J • Submitted 06 Dec 2019
“
Because it’s December, it’s slow season so I got to really enjoy the experience without cramming into a room. Our guide Doriana was so knowledgeable and kind. I would strongly recommend this tour.”
Elizabeth M • Submitted 05 Dec 2019
“
Small group of 11. Tour went through the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's. Guide was ncredible. We had individual head sets so we could hear every word. The crowds were minimal as it was off-season. Great experience.”
pfverheyen • Submitted 25 Nov 2019
“
Monica was a fantastic guide. She was personable, focused, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable. I’d recommend this tour and Monica as a guide anytime!!!”
Edward B • Submitted 25 Nov 2019
“
excellent great to see vatican city without the crowds Guide was great very knowledgeable and helpful”
robert l • Submitted 21 Nov 2019
“
Marina was knowledgeable about Vatican and professional about handling of our small group. This was our second day on tour to Vatican but we still learn more from Marina. Skip the Line makes total sense for the extra dollars spent.”
lizalschan • Submitted 18 Nov 2019
“
I strongly recommend the first tour! Our tour guide was fabulous, such a storyteller he made our Vatican tour come alive and kept me tuned in the whole time!”
gitanarose25 • Submitted 14 Nov 2019
“
Very knowledgeable tour guide...Had answers to all our questions and took the time to explain everything we saw!”
John R • Submitted 13 Nov 2019
“
The guide was friendly, and gave us tons of information. Even though we had early access and the venue had lots of visitors, we could still see the displays and hear the commentary, However, we did have to keep pace with the movement of the crowds, or lose our group.”
Arline R • Submitted 13 Nov 2019
“
Our tour guide was excellent. We realized later that we saw so much more than most people get to see on a Vatican tour. There were only 12 people in our group. Five stars isn't enough.”
Joann K C • Submitted 12 Nov 2019
“
St. Peter’s and Sistine chapel
So much to see. The guide was excellent knowledge and was able to answer all questions. This is an excellent tour for those that want a great overview of all the sites here. But had plenty of time in the chapel to be amazed”
David H • Submitted 11 Nov 2019
“
excellent guide fantastic guide incredibly knowledgable a gem made it worthwhile. tour was started promptly, clear who was in charge. clear explaination of each site”
ROBIN M • Submitted 11 Nov 2019
“
Visiting the Vatican museums is a bit of a trial as it is SO busy and crowded, but it is the only way to the Sistine Chapel. Our guide handled moving through well, stopping and finding a less crowded spot to describe an area,/work of art. Very glad to have her leading our small group ( 12 - much the best )”
alan w • Submitted 07 Nov 2019
“
Skip the line and early access was key to the success of this tour. It was worth every penny. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job of leading us through the museum and basilica and giving us the history, architectural information, cultural perspective, and political summary to understand the Vatican, the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. Definitely worth the early morning tour.”
Janet Stifflear D • Submitted 05 Nov 2019
“
Skip the line tour with a small group is the way to go. Laura did a great job sharing the history and navigating the crowds.”
Chris R • Submitted 04 Nov 2019
“
Our guide was very passionate and knowledgeable about the museums, and provided us with a lot of information during the tour.”
Craig D • Submitted 01 Nov 2019
“
We loved this tour. The guide was terrific. She had incredible knowledge and pointed out many fascinating details. Getting in early and being in a small group really enhanced the experience.”
Sonya P • Submitted 30 Oct 2019
“
This was the highlight . Beyond impressive , excellent guide at just the right pace . Not to be missed but recommend going for the early entrance so there are smaller crowds”
Carolyn G • Submitted 30 Oct 2019
“
The Early Access, small group Vatican Museums Tour was worth every penny of the cost. Our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting and kept us moving through what was a huge amount of displays to take in. Of course, the Vatican itself is indescribably beautiful and would have been worth seeing no matter the wait. But being able to literally walk right in and begin our tour without waiting in line at all plus having someone take us through and shed light on the meanings and histories of what we were seeing, made the experience all the better. We highly recommend this experience.”
Victor H • Submitted 29 Oct 2019
“
Stefania was so enthusiastic, thorough and knowledgeable. We had such a great tour with her. I definitely would recommend this tour!!!”
silva s • Submitted 28 Oct 2019
“
Our guide,Marco, gave us a fabulous tour. His breadth of knowledge was amazing and peppered with humorous anecdotes made the day perfect. The small group is the only way to enjoy the Vatican Museum,Sistine Chapel and the basilica. Avoid long lines and crowds!”
joemo81 • Submitted 25 Oct 2019
“
Sara was amazing! Excellent information! We did not ever feel like we were being rushed and was very patient with our group. She was extremely knowledgeable!”
Julie K • Submitted 24 Oct 2019
“
This is the way to see the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and Basilica - early and with just a few people in the group. The guide was very knowledgeable and easy to hear on the headsets.”
Jane D • Submitted 23 Oct 2019
In Brief
Location:
Roma, Italy
Country:
Italy
Duration:
3 hours
Operates:
Varies
Highlights:
All entrance fees included
Fully narrated tour
Informative, friendly and professional guide
Likely to Sell Out
Perfect introduction for first-time visitors
Small-group tour
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