Best of the Vatican Tour: Fast Track Highlights
Description
Meet your expert guide by the Vatican Museum entrance and enjoy skip-the-line entry to what is arguably the most important collection of art in the world. Your guide knows every nook and cranny of the museums and will navigate seamlessly through the more than 1,200 galleries. Much of this tour will be dedicated to the majestic Sistine Chapel, from its commissioning to the finishing touches applied by none other than Michaelangelo Buonarroti. You will hear the true life story of this fascinating yet tormented artist, who considered himself a sculptor and not a painter yet dedicated countless years of his life painting frescoes on a ceiling 44 feet high. Learn of the physical and psychological damage inflicted on the artist as your guide helps you to discern between myth, fact, and popular Hollywood fiction regarding this epic work of art. At the end you can explore some of the remaining 1,400 galleries of art at your own pace.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your guide knows every nook and cranny of the museums and will navigate seamlessly through the more than 1,200 galleries while emphasizing the Rooms of Raphael, the Ancient Roman and Greek pieces in the Belvedere Courtyard and the Gallery of Maps while ensuring that you stay on track with an eye on the ultimate prize: the Sistine Chapel.
Much of this tour will be dedicated to the majestic Sistine Chapel, from its commissioning to the finishing touches applied by none other than Michaelangelo Buonarroti. You will hear the true life story of this fascinating yet tormented artist who considered himself a sculptor and not a painter yet dedicated countless years of his life painting frescoes on a ceiling 44 feet high. Learn of the physical and psychological damage inflicted on the artist as your guide helps you to discern between myth, fact, and popular Hollywood fiction regarding this epic work of art.
Enjoy Fast track entry to St. Peter's without having to exit and wait on the security line. Explore the Papal Basilica on your own.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A dress code is required. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders must be covered for both men and women.
- Due to the route covered and/or transportation used, it is not possible to participate in this tour using a wheelchair, scooter, or other aid. Please contact us to inquire about customized tour options for guests with mobility challenges.
- Please note: This description is provided as a general example. Actual experiences may vary slightly depending on the season, local conditions, and other factors beyond our control
- On days immediately surrounding religious holidays at the Vatican, alterations to tours may become necessary due to partial closings of areas normally included in this tour
- Access to St. Peter's Basilica is not possible on Wednesday morning during the weekly papal audience.
- Please note that essential travel documents and final itinerary details might be delivered electronically closer to the activity date.
Reviews(437)
This tour definitely delivered what it promised - we got some helpful background facts and in/out of the Vatican with ease which, given the massive amount of visitors and people baking in lines, we greatly appreciated
Definitely worth the money to get a guided tour. We usually prefer self-guided, but the chaos of getting into the Vatican combined with the tremendous crowds and extreme Summer heat, made the guided tour well worth it. Instead of waiting in outdoor lines that never seem to move, for this tour we met in a nice air conditioned lounge across the street from the Vatican entrance. The lounge is appointed with water and restrooms. Sabrina was a thorough and knowledgeable guide. We learned a lot. Sabrina knew all the hot spots, which was a plus, because otherwise we probably wouldn’t have found everything we wanted to see on our own. Our family included a 13 and 19 yr old and everyone enjoyed this tour.
Nadya was very engaging and made the tour great. Easy tour to follow and she was a pro. Highly recommend
Good humor. Wish there was a bit more history about Vatican I vs II and how important was pope Pius IX. How was society then. What motivated them and how did they manage to spend that much? The end instructions wasn't very clear.
We had a really excellent experience with Nadya. She was soo knowledgable! There is so much to see and its so crowded, Nadya did an excellent job navigating the crowds with our group while ensuring we were all following and we could all hear. Wonderful tour. Also so glad we got to see St Peters Basilica at the end, WOW!
Our tour guide was knowledgeable and thorough. She did an amazing job brining the Vatican to life. What a wonderful time!
Our tour guide was great! Very informative and kept our attention for the entire tour. Would definitely recommend!
We were late for our tour despite leaving 90 minutes to arrive due to lack of taxi availability and Rome traffic. I immediately contacted Italia Tours ahead of the tour time to try and find a solution. They told me they couldn’t help as it was a Viator problem and Viator told me they couldn’t help as it was an Italia Tours problem. Both companies just deferred the problem/. The net situation is I am out $400 to see the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and no one is willing to help or offer an alternative solution. Yet I can still see available tours on Viator for today or tomorrow but both companies have told me I will have to pay again. I have literally wasted $400 and over 4 hours of my day trying to find a solution with two providers who have no interest in helping fix a customer service experience. Thumbs down all around to both.
Really nice skipping lines but a little long. Very interesting. The guide was fun and very knowledgeable.
Lovely tour, super easy and helpful meeting location with toilet and water filling facilities. Staff were lovely! Would recommend booking an early tour as we walked over and was in a lin for about 5 mins then went right in! The Vatican Museums are huge and with a tour guide made a lot easier to navigate. I liked that we got free time to explore the St Peter’s Basilica at the end. Would recommend the tour to those wanting to see the highlights of the museums.
