Sistine Chapel Express and St Peter Basilica

The Basilica of St. Peter is beautiful and you can visit it for free, the Sistine chapel I feel is very overrated. The guards ask you to be in the middle, all tight trying to look at the ceiling paintings, they ask you to get out quickly. I paid for the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican museums, the latter more worthwhile.

From the first moment we met Monica early in the morning, outside the Vatican, she was full of stories, history, images, maps, and so much energy! We were learning and laughing together immediately! She deftly guided us straight into the key rooms, including the corridor of maps and Sistine Chapel before anyone else got there, meaning we had it magically to ourselves, which is totally unheard of. It was beyond a dream. She tailored the tour for us personally, focusing on scandal and history for my husband and deep and academic art knowledge for me, all the time weaving us into and through the most hidden and special treasures. We were with Monica for 4 hours and the time totally flew by. When our time was up she wouldn't let us go without finishing a few last things, so ran us through them and landed us up at the best pizza we had in the whole trip! She is an absolute gem, a barrel of laughs and a font of knowledge. Her expertise is endless and full of contagious enthusiasm. This tour was worth every penny and remains a firm and fond memory.

Monica was amazing. We did a 28 day European vacation and took many tours. She was the best tour guide hands down. She was educated about her subject and very passionate. She could explain everything we asked and was able to evaluate our level of knowledge of religion and history (more than the average person) and tailor the tour to us. We didn't get any information that we already knew and learned a lot. The skip the line was great. These museums are not to be missed and I would recommend having Monica go with you to explain what you are seeing. There is so much and it is so overwhelming. She kept us focused on certain aspects so that we didn't just go brain dead with the amount of information and things to see.

My father and I joined Monica Carosi for a 5 hour tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, entering an hour before the museum opened. While this duration initially seemed daunting, the time flew by as we surveyed the vast collection of treasures, stopping at important and unusual works to better appreciate and understand what we were seeing. Monica was energetic and highly informative, but the tour never felt rushed. We felt our guide was a resident of the Museum with a 6th sense – she knew all the guards, she anticipated sudden time-limits to access to make sure we made it, and she even photographed us in front of the “Pieta” reproduction, critical when we later discovered that the original was curtained off for a special mass in St. Peter’s. The pace had a comfortable rhythm. We headed straight for the Sistine Chapel, admiring the nearly empty Gallery of Maps on the way. The Chapel did not feel crowded, and her detailed prep before entry allowed us to thoroughly appreciate the scope and beauty of the Chapel’s artworks for about 20 minutes or so. We exited back into the museum and strolled to the Pinacoteca. After a snack break (her treat :-) we visited Laocoön in its peaceful courtyard and stopped to study the Belvedere Torso, both brought to the Vatican by Michelangelo, kick-starting the collection. We revisited the Gallery of Maps more slowly, looking for places we had already visited in Italy, before appreciating Raphael’s captivating works. We short-cut through the Sistine Chapel, bypassing the now shoulder-bumping crowds to the tour-guide’s exit to St. Peter’s. As you can tell, we covered a lot of ground and artworks. We never fell victim to “museum-fatigue”, though, and never felt we we’re going through a checklist. Instead, we felt like we spent a morning with a friend eager to share the beauty, history and character of a place she deeply knew and loved.

We were so fortunate to spend the first weekend of our month long tour of Italy with Monica at the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's. She certainly set the bar high for all guides during the rest of our trip! She picked us up at our hotel and took us to a non touristy nearby restaurant, as we requested, for a delicious lunch before getting us all a taxi to the Vatican. There, her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm just shone as she guided us for several hours through history, teaching us many facts we never would have gotten on our own. The awe we experienced looking at the beauty of St. Peter's was only surpassed by all the facts she could tell us such as the band of gold circling the ceiling of the church was 12" high.... quite a valuable design placement!!! We learned much about religious behavior and life in general both in those days and through modern times. She still gave us a nice break to rest and absorb all the information we gained from her vast knowledge and ended the tour by calling a taxi for us and warning the driver to treat us well as he took us on to our destination! Monica gave us much insight into the non tourist side of Italy as well and paved the way for an absolutely wonderful Italian vacation. We highly recommend her to everyone!

The truth is that we did the tour of the Vatican Museums- Sistine Chapel and Basilica of St. Peter. The Vatican museums are nice but it is an exhausting walk, the lack of air conditioning, the crowding and the eternality of the walk made me feel exhausted and without much desire to continue until we reached the Sistine chapel: SPECTACULAR AND JUST A NEW AIR.Seeing Michelangelo’s magnificent work leaves you with a totally justified neck pain. It's a beautiful, magnificent work that just blows your mind. You’re so amazed that the fact that they don’t let you take pictures is simply in the background. It is something you MUST SEE IF OR IF you go to Rome. If you go with a travel agency, it is always better to buy tickets in advance through the Vatican website and not with the agencies since they are always 3 to 4 times more expensive (my agency sold the package for 105 euros per person and cost us 36 euros per person on the page).

Monica was fantastic. We felt totally taken care of in so many ways. My husband and I were traveling with our granddaughter. We have been to Italy many many times and I loved there for a year. This was the first time we hired a guide and it was wonderful. I, for once, could be in the role of visitor, all the pressure was off. Monica knew exactly how to pitch her presentations to appeal to the different levels of knowledge in our triad. Monica modulated everything perfectly. I highly recommend Monica to others.

My husband and I were in Italy to celebrate our anniversary and we booked this tour. We made an excellent choice! Monica is friendly, fun, and is deeply knowledgeable about history, art history, and architecture. We booked this tour, which also included the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s. Monica met us at our AirBNB and got us a cab for the quick trip to the Vatican. Once there, she secured our early entry tickets to the Sistine Chapel. After a brief wait, we entered the Chapel with one other group of about 20 people. So two dozen of us had the Sistine Chapel all to ourselves! We stayed about 35 minutes, and no one else came in while we were there. Amazing! Monica had given us maps of the different panels in the Chapel, and that made the viewing much more enjoyable. We then continued to the Vatican Museums. There is so much amazing artwork and pieces of history it is impossible to describe it all. Monica took us through several of the museums, explaining what we were looking at. Her art and history background really helped us. She had us look at things we would have missed if we had been on our own. It was starting to get crowded in the Museums, so we stopped for a food break, and Monica bought us cappuccinos and pastries, a very nice treat. We then got in line to go through the Sistine Chapel again, as there was an exit door from the Chapel that allowed entry into St. Peter’s without having to wait in line. By this time, the Sistine Chapel was really packed. It really made us appreciate our early entrance. I should say here that I wear a brace on my right knee, and Monica set the pace nice and easy. At St. Peter’s, we were overwhelmed. Monica guided us through some of the highlights,and explained the architecture of the building. We then went to St. Peter’s Square and into a gift store which was also a Vatican post office, where I bought stamps and mailed a bunch of post cards I had written. As we were leaving the square, Monica treated us to take away pizza. She had parked her car nearby early that morning and even gave us a ride home! It was a joy to spend time with Monica. She also gave us a real appreciation for Rome, helping us understand why we had fallen in love with the Eternal City. Monica made our anniversary very special. We highly recommend Monica, and we know we will see her again!