Skip-the-line Sistine Chapel & Vatican Highlights Guided Tour

meet your guide at the entrance to the museums, pass the tourists in the long queues and head for the cloakrooms.  Starting in the Pio-Clementino Museum you see the wonderful ancient Roman and Greek Statues.  Your guide will tell you all about the wonderful artwork as you pass through the myriad of rooms and galleries; the visit continues to the Room of Animals and the Gallery of Candelabra; there is so much to see. Next are the Galleries of Tapestries and Maps and the Sobieski Room with its vast canvas, the largest in the Vatican.  Finally to the most visited site in the whole of Italy the Sistine Chapel. Your guide will bring the frescoes to life. The chapel holds many secrets and your guide will tell you some interesting facts about the conclave that is held to elect a new Pope.

Finally to the most visited site in the whole of Italy the Sistine Chapel. It is interesting to learn about the famous frescoes painted by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Perugino and other Renaissance artists. What to look for when you enter the chapel and see the Last Judgment, the Creation of Adam, the Genesis and the Stories of Moses and Jesus. Your guide will bring the frescoes to life. The chapel holds many secrets and your guide will tell you some interesting facts about the conclave that is held to elect a new Pope.

It is then time for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica where you will explore the numerous side chapels with their hidden crypts. You will see Michelangelo’s Pietà and your guide will explain why this is the only work that he signed. You will gain an appreciation of the mastery that went into the creation of Bernini’s altarpiece and learn how Michelangelo triumphed over his contemporaries for the honour to paint St. Peter’s magnificent dome. There is still more to see though below ground level. You guide will lead you below ground to the papal crypt where, over the centuries, many of the Popes have been interred. This special place is a site of pilgrimage for many Catholics.

You end your tour in Saint Peter’s Square where your guide will leave you with some curious facts about Bernini’s statues that surround this great square. Don’t forget to look to the balcony where the white smoke tells of a new Pope and take a picture of the colorful Swiss Guards.