Vatican Museums Sistine Chapel Tour and Basilica Access

It was amazing to see all the art and the painting on the ceilings was so beautiful.

Disappointing!! the tour was so crowded you could barely move through the spaces. It is also very hot particularly with so many people packed into these small spaces which are not air conditioned Bathrooms are few, with long lines due to all the visitors allowed. I felt like cattle being herded to slaughter. I had to leave soon after entering the museum spaces as I have difficulty with heavily crowded spaces. Sistine chapel only tour was desired but that is not an available option.

Good experience in the Vatican. I would not book the Basilical with this tour. No instructions given and almost missed our time.

It was good tour. You get 2 tickets. One for museums and Sistine Chapel and after that tour ends you have to walk back to meeting point and get another ticket for St Peters.

My partner and I had an absolutely incredible experience on this tour, and so much of that was because of our guide, Francesco. He was knowledgeable, quick-witted, funny, and genuinely passionate about what he was showing us. His personality seeped into the enormous amount of knowledge he had about the Vatican, its history, art, and architecture, which made everything feel engaging rather than like we were simply being given a history lesson. What we appreciated most was how obvious it was that Francesco truly cared about giving us the best experience possible. The Vatican can be completely overwhelming in its size and the sheer amount there is to see, but he helped us understand what we were looking at, pointed out details we absolutely would have missed on our own, and gave us the history and context that made everything so much more meaningful. He was also just genuinely fun to spend the tour with. His humor and little quips kept us laughing throughout the day without ever taking away from how informative the experience was. You could tell that he has a real passion for the Vatican and for sharing what he knows with other people. The Vatican itself was breathtaking, but having Francesco guide us through it elevated the entire experience. We walked away feeling like we had actually learned something rather than simply walked through beautiful rooms and taken pictures. If you take this tour and have the opportunity to go with Francesco, do it. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough. An easy five stars and one of the highlights of our time in Rome!

Do not book reserve now, pay later with this tour. They cancelled my tickets only a few days before me and my family were expected to visit Rome. The cancellation was unexpected and the reason they gave me their was an ‘error in the system’ and they couldn’t offer a tour that was unavailable, which doesn’t make sense? I had this booked for over a month, my group is 6 people so now I had to pay more money with a different tour company for the same tickets! When I asked if alternative tickets were available no one got back to me regarding availability. I only want entry tickets without a guide so its frustrating and caused a lot of stress that last minute this was cancelled, knowing full well these kinds of tickets sell out frequently. They shouldn’t offer this kinda of payment plan / reservation if this doesn’t exist.

The Roman agent that trip adviser use Vivico Travels was a disaster. They eased the visit day and never booked our visit despite I received several confirmation and reminders, I called them because a discrepancy in the visit hour and find out we were not booked, finally they found a slot opening not the one we asked but when were at the museum with the guide the agency had mistaken our names so the tour started more then half and hour after, and then because a delay in the security line we lost the group, they did not check so we did not get our audio guide. It was such a bad experience So for for anyone that see the tour is by Vivico Travel asked for a different agent.

I came to the check-up point, but I didn't carefully read the document, as I just joined the group without going into the office! Make sure you go into the office before walking away. The tour guide, Tiziano, was very informative and kept us organised too. Highly recommended tour.

I booked a tour for the Vatican, the Basilica, and Sistine Chapel. The whole thing was supposed to take a no more than three hours. When we began the tour at 11 AM, we were told that we would need to go back to the meeting point/office around 2:30 PM to get our tickets for the Basilica. We had already made reservations for another tour that started at 2:30 PM. So, we never got to see the Sistine Chapel or the Basilica. We are extremely disappointed. I am a disabled veteran, living in Hawaii, almost 77 years old. I waited my whole life for this tour and now I don’t get to see what I paid for and what I came here for.

Overall best way to minimize massive lines and crowds. Tour operator still requires 10 minute walk to entrance line. Tour company rep was able to take us through the line quickly, as he had the tickets for the whole group. Only disappointment was having to return later in the afternoon to see the Basilica, as the Pope meets on Wednesday mornings, so I'd suggest booking another day in order to avoid an additional trip.