Kids-Friendly Fun & Educational Sistine Chapel & Vatican Fast Access Guided Tour
Description
It can be quite daunting visiting the Vatican with children. What will they enjoy seeing? How can we keep them from being bored? Look no further. This 3-hour tour has been specifically designed for families. It is a fun, learning experience for the whole family. You get to see the wonderful artwork in the Vatican Museums as well as the famous Sistine Chapel , Saint Peter's Basilica and Saint Peter’s Square.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Skip-the-line access means that there is no queuing, so after you meet you guide outside the entrance you can put your belongings into the Vatican cloakroom and go straight to explore the treasures of the Vatican. On this interactive tour, there are quizzes, scavenger hunts and lots of other games for the whole family to take part in; even some prizes to be won!The kids will love the colossal Greek and Roman statues and the sarcophagi of the Empresses Helena and Constantina, the mother and daughter of Constantine the Great. You explore some of the wonderful galleries and rooms, including the Gallery of the Candelabra and Gallery of Tapestries. The kids will love the Gallery of Maps – the largest collection of Renaissance Maps in the World. The Sobieski Hall has one of the largest canvases in the Vatican – How was it painted? Raphael’s Rooms are a riot of color. Why were they painted and for whom? The kids will love asking questions of the very knowledgeable guide and getting to know more about this magical place.
Of course, no tour is complete without a visit to the Sistine Chapel, still used today for the conclave to elect a new Pope. Your guide will tell you all about the Bible stories, including the creation of Adam depicted in the wonderful frescoes that adorn the ceiling and walls. The kids will be amazed at how long it took Michelangelo to paint The Last Judgment.
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.
The best way to learn is through play. At the end of this tour both you and you children will have learnt a lot about the Vatican and its treasures. Your guide can customize the tour for your particular gamily group – just ask! You will say goodbye to your guide in Saint Peter’s Square next to the taxi rank and bus station. Then it is back to your hotel to share your memories of these wonderful 3-hours spent in the Vatican.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
- READ CAREFULLY: Because of the growing popularity of the current pope Francis and his intense activity in organising mass events in the Vatican some areas might get closed last minute without previous notice. This has already happened this year and can happen again during you Vatican tour. In case of such events our tour guide will provide you with a valuable alternative focusing the tour inside the Vatican museums.
- PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Jubilee the Basilica might not be accessible as part of the tour. Unfortunately, we know that very last minute. In any case, you can go there after the tour, queuing.
Reviews(8)
Wonderful day! Valeria was so patient with us. We were at the end of a very long trip, tired and hot. She was willing to tweak things when fatigue set in. The kids left saying how much they enjoyed it, and talked about it into the evening. Great tour!
Sarah was patient and flexible as our kids got a little tired halfway through. Lots of great info presented with photos, books, iPads, etc. Only recommendation would be headsets for the full tour.
Great experience. Got there early and avoided much of the crowds. Our guide was engaging, especially with our 9 and 11 year olds, spending the perfect amount of time explaining what we were seeing. Definitely recommend!
Sara was an amazing tour guide! We were able to quickly pass through entrances and take our time once we were in each area. She did a great job of answering questions and making it child friendly.
As a working archaeologist, our guide, Tomasso “Tom” was incredibly well informed and knowledgeable. He also made the tour for our family engaging and fun. He really engaged with both our children (16 and 9 years) and their areas of interest such as the Roman mythology. He sent the younger one on treasure hunts - who knew there were chihuahuas in paintings in the Sistine chapel? We all agreed it was a highlight of Rome and the depth of information and ease off access made it well worth the price for a private tour. I recommended the tour to my sister whose family also enjoyed it. Thank you!
Our guide was wonderful... however, our child was hot, tired, over it from the start.... so we just needed the very abridged version. It's so hard for guides to deviate... even though this was a private tour - just for our family. She was very knowledgable... and the Vatican is amazing!!! however, being a Child's tour- improve skills are necessary.
We have 2 children ages 13 & 10 so we booked this tour with them in mind, but Francesco kept all of us entertained for the entire duration of 3 hours at the Vatican & Sistine Chapel. We were so fortunate to have him all to ourselves and he was absolutely the best guide - fun, friendly, helpful and extremely educated on all aspects. He catered the tour to our interests, and also made it engaging for the kids, giving them games & things to look for along the way. We really enjoyed and would highly recommend this tour!
Our guide Marco met us on right on time for our 2PM tour and casually led us through the throngs of visitors to enter the Vatican Museums. He engaged my 6 year old boys from the first moment by talking to them directly, telling the stories depicted in the artwork and challenging them to answer questions in a fun way. He started before we even began our trek through the halls of the museum by sitting down with the boys and taking them through the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, panel by panel, via a color folding poster in a book so that they would be prepared for what they were about to see. It was very effective because we could not speak once in the chapel so the boys were able to recognize what they had seen in the book and point to things with excitement when we arrived and were staring upwards at Michelagelo's masterpiece. Every hall was well described and you could tell Marco had many options for places to stop but he was able to tailor the tour to our specific group and what we wanted to see. Highlights included photos he took of our family with the dome of St. Peter's in the background and the shot in the Hall of Maps when we are pointing at our family name on the map. The hall was slammed with people but Marco made sure we got the photo. We thought the most valuable part of the tour would be skipping the line at the Sistine Chapel (and this did save us an hour of precious time with two eager 6 year olds) but it turned out that our guide was worth every cent and more because he was friendly, genuine and engaging with the adults and the kids. The 3 hour tour was informative and fun...highly recommended! Thanks Marco!
