Semi-Private Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter’s Basilica Guided Tour
Overview
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, 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 10 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 10 people on this unique Vatican tour, ensuring you'll see the very best of the Vatican Museums in a small-group atmosphere.
Inclusions
- Reserved Skip-the-Line Access to the Vatican Museums
- Reserved Access to the Sistine Chapel
- Skip-the-Line Access & Guided Visit of St. Peter’s Basilica
- Semi-private groups of no larger than 10 people
- English-speaking art historian guide
- Entry/Admission - Sistine Chapel
- Entry/Admission - St. Peter's Basilica
- Entry/Admission - Vatican Museums
What to expect
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican City, Vatican City, Lazio
Get inside the UNESCO-listed complex of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica before the crowds on this early-access small-group tour that’s limited to just 10 participants.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Stroll through rooms like the Gallery of Maps, with its golden, vaulted ceiling 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: 1 hour
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Viale Vaticano, 00165 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
At last, your guide will escort you into St. Peter’s Basilica, bypassing long lines of spectators, to provide an overview of this spectacular church. At the end of the tour, you can remain in St. Peter’s Basilica at your leisure, or you may return outside to St. Peter’s Square to admire Bernini’s clever optical illusion and the basilica’s heavenly façade.
Duration: 1 hour
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican City, Vatican City, Lazio
Get inside the UNESCO-listed complex of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica before the crowds on this early-access small-group tour that’s limited to just 10 participants.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Stroll through rooms like the Gallery of Maps, with its golden, vaulted ceiling 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: 1 hour
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Viale Vaticano, 00165 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
At last, your guide will escort you into St. Peter’s Basilica, bypassing long lines of spectators, to provide an overview of this spectacular church. At the end of the tour, you can remain in St. Peter’s Basilica at your leisure, or you may return outside to St. Peter’s Square to admire Bernini’s clever optical illusion and the basilica’s heavenly façade.
Duration: 1 hour
Additional information
- Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women to enter to the venues
- Only small bags are allowed in the venue
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Saint Peter’s Basilica is subject to last-minute closures for religious ceremonies. When this occurs, we're happy to offer customers an extended tour of the Vatican Museums. While we endeavour to tell tour groups ahead of time if there are any planned disruptions to the Basilica's opening hours, this is not always possible and in these cases we are unable to provide refunds or discounts.
- On Wednesdays, due to the Papal Audiences, access to St Peter's Basilica is not possible until 1pm
- 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 experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Ticket delivery
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
Cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.
Claire_J
April 2022
Serafina was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and friendly. Only issue was St Peters wasnt included.
Serafina was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and friendly. Only issue was St Peters wasnt included.Joanne_M
May 2022
Elizabetha was a wonderful guide. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable-made the tour so nice for all of us. Very patient and never rushed us through anything
Elizabetha was a wonderful guide. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable-made the tour so nice for all of us. Very patient and never rushed us through anythingApril_S
May 2022
Marco was an incredible tour guide and very knowledgeable about the Vatican and museums. I would recommend paying the money for this experience to make your trip to the beautiful city of Rome extra special :)
Marco was an incredible tour guide and very knowledgeable about the Vatican and museums. I would recommend paying the money for this experience to make your trip to the beautiful city of Rome extra special :)Jim_G
May 2022
Our guide Claudia was very easy going and did not overwhelm us with too much information. After the tour she explained where to get into the line for St. Peter's basilica.
Our guide Claudia was very easy going and did not overwhelm us with too much information. After the tour she explained where to get into the line for St. Peter's basilica.Adam_H
May 2022
Really enjoyable tour with a very knowledgeable guide. Definitely enjoyed it and learnt more than we would have without the guide. Would recommend!
Really enjoyable tour with a very knowledgeable guide. Definitely enjoyed it and learnt more than we would have without the guide. Would recommend!RICHARD_B
May 2022
Our guide was very friendly but I saw no advantage to paying for early access. The title of the tour is misleading when it is at 3pm. The audio quality was not great - the guide needed a cover for his mic as there was a lot of extraneous noise
Our guide was very friendly but I saw no advantage to paying for early access. The title of the tour is misleading when it is at 3pm. The audio quality was not great - the guide needed a cover for his mic as there was a lot of extraneous noise