Rome: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica Tour
Description
Visit the Vatican Museums on this guided tour with skip-the-line guaranteed. Discover St. Peter's Basilica and marvel at the works of Michelangelo and Bernini. Begin your guided walking tour at the Vatican Museums, with their immense collection built by the Popes throughout the centuries, and discover one of the world's most remarkable art collections. See the Pio Clementino Hall, the Laocoon and Apollo Belvedere. Marvel at works by ancient cartographers in the Gallery of Maps and wander the Candelabra Gallery and the Gallery of Tapestries. Go inside the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo's legendary frescoes. Follow your guide inside St. Peter's Basilica, the most important Christian church in the world, which houses the Pietà, Michelangelo's incredible masterpiece, and the monumental St. Peter's Baldachin, designed by Bernini. The tour will end in the magnificent St. Peter's Square, dominated by Michelangelo's imposing Cupola and surrounded by the famous Bernini's double Colonnade.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The smallest sovereign state in the world, kingdom of Christianity and governed by the Pope.
The immense art collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries and the Vatican Galleries.
The largest complex of the Vatican Museums, with the Belvedere Apollo and the magnificent Laocoön.
A bronze masterpiece by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, in the Pigna courtyard, that rotates over a period of time.
Frescoed with 40 giant geographical maps of the various Italian regions and of the main cities.
The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s masterpiece.
The most important Christian church in the world, which houses the Pietà, Michelangelo's incredible masterpiece, and the monumental St. Peter's Baldachin, designed by Bernini.
Dominated by Michelangelo’s imposing Cupola and surrounded by the famous Bernini’s double Colonnade.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- It is forbidden to bring metal objects, big bags and animals (assistance dogs allowed).
- It is not permitted to wear shorts, miniskirts and have uncovered shoulders.
- Tour not suitable for guests with wheelchairs or with impaired mobility.
- As per the new security provisions, an ID may be required.
- Should St. Peter’s Basilica be closed or not accessible within the scheduled time, the tour will include the Raphael's Rooms or the explanation of the Basilica from outside.
- The Raphael's Rooms are usually not included in the tour and are visited only when the Vatican makes the internal itinerary mandatory.
- The Basilica is not included on Wednesday morning due to the Papal Audience. It is included in July, August and when the audience is held indoors.
- No refunds will be issued to customers who are late and miss the tour.
Reviews(711)
Tour guide was very knowledgeable. She was great. I would suggest they use earbud headphones rather than the kind that wrap around your ear. Saw many of us struggling as they would fall out and we would miss key points on our tour. For that reason 4 star with a 5 star to our guide
Amazing tour! YaYa was the best! She was so knowledgeable and our entire family loved it!
Went to the tour with family during the summer, really hot and there is not AC inside the museums, really crowded. I know this has nothing to do with the tour or guide , but it was umconfortable due to the weather, the headsets provided are not very good and keep sliding off ( Vatican museums issued them). Our guide was average, in my opinion, and not very engagig.
Our guide was very knowledgable but we had a few pieces of feedback. 1) our earpieces needed to be ear buds. The over the ear was constantly muffled and falling off while looking up at all the beauty. 2) our guide knew a lot but was constantly walking away from us while talking and not interactive with the group. This made it tougher to hear/understand. He had a lot of knowledge but we also took our ear buds off and listened to other guides around us multiple times to get more insight which we found more valuable than our guide we paid for. 3) there was no personal interaction. We did a Coloseum tour and other stuff before and it was very interactive and talkative. Maps and pictures etc. we got 1 map over an hour before the Sistine chapel to go over it. We could have done it in the stairwell right before with pointers on what to watch for. There was nothing else providing a deeper level of insight. I don't want to beat our guide up, seemed nice, seemed smart, but not the best for our personal preference. It reminded me of catholic mass...very dull and monotone.
This was the 3rd tour of the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel for half our group and first for the other half. We all found the tour amazing. Our tour guide, Max, was exceptionally knowledgeable. He didn't just tell us facts, but asked us questions about historical events that related to the paintings, statues, tapestries, etc in the museum making the tour very interactive. He explained how the art was gathered by various Pope's and why. We did the tour in August, when the temp outside was near 100°, so it was very hot inside the un-AC'd museum. He kept a good pace too allow us time to cool off in rooms with fans or breezes. The Sistine Chapel can be very overwhelming, especially as tour guides are not allowed to speak inside. Before engering, he pointed out certain parts to focus on. We then proceeded to St. Peter's Bascilica. He pointed out, not only the known statues and mosaics and their significance, but also showed us little things that others might not notice first. We concluded with a walk through St Peter's Square, and time at the Vatican gift shop. I highly recommend this tour company and Max as a tour guide.
On August 4th, my family and I booked tickets for St. Peter’s Basilica (Booking #33210457) and paid €116. We arrived at the meeting point just 10 minutes past the time, and there was absolutely no partner or representative waiting for us. To make matters worse, when we tried to call the local contact phone number provided on our voucher, the automated message said the number does not exist. They left us stranded in Rome with completely fake contact details. After going back and forth in a long, frustrating discussion with their customer service, they are completely refusing to issue a refund for a service they never even delivered. Taking people's money, providing non-existent contact numbers, and then hiding behind rigid policies is unacceptable behavior. Save your money, your time, and your sanity—book directly through official sites or reputable tour companies instead. Extremely disappointed!
Dear Lusine, We believe you've reviewed the wrong tour operator. We don't sell tickets to St. Peter's Basilica, because it's included in our Vatican Museums tour. Our meeting point is our office, where our staff is always present to check in our clients. All our contact information is working, and we don't have anyone with your name or booking reference on that day. We encourage you to check better before writing things that can harm other people's work. Thank you
Skip the line was great and necessary to be able to get into the museum, Chapel and basilica efficiently. Tour guide seemed a bit disengaged and was not very informative.
Guide was hard to understand. Some of the museums felt rushed. Felt we would have probably done better on our own.
It's worth to pay to join a tour to go through these 3 important sites. The tour not only includes skip the line tickets, the tour guide knows how to navigate these 3 very crowded sites. Our guide was very knowledgeable & explained things very clearly.
The tour covered everything we wanted to see, and our guide was awesome at explaining everything in detail. We learned so much. We walked away with a treasure. But be prepared to to walk up and down lots of stairs and be on your feet the whole time. But our guide walked slow for everyone and didn’t rush us, which was important because I’ve waited 30 years to see the inside of the Sistine Chapel. I felt like I was standing inside the Bible.
