Vatican City & Sistine Chapel Skip-The-Line Tour (Small Group)
Description
In a small group, you'll admire ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sculptures, marvel at Renaissance masterpieces by Michelangelo and Raphael, and stand in awe of the Vatican's crown jewel: the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum is one of the greatest collections of art in the world, and our licensed guide will provide fun and relevant information to the highlights. The museum portion of the tour concludes in the Sistine Chapel, a place of pilgrimage for 1.2 billion Catholics.
Tour Options
Itinerary
In a small group, you'll admire ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sculptures, marvel at Renaissance masterpieces by Michelangelo and Raphael, and stand in awe of the Vatican's crown jewel: the Sistine Chapel. The morning is the busiest period of the day at the Vatican, so we'll avoid the AM masses by visiting in the late afternoon. Either I or one of my enthusiastic cohosts will provide a comprehensive tour to the Sistine Chapel and the Pope's collection of art, giving fun, relevant, and interesting info along the way. We'll also allow free time for exploration and photos. Following the Sistine Chapel, we'll take the back entrance to St. Peter's, only open to visitors with a licensed guide. This back entrance allows us to skip the huge security lines outside St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter's is the largest church in the world and the center of religion for Catholics, so we'll make sure to give it the time it deserves. During our visit, we'll go to some of the less-visited side chapels, which include sculptures by Michelangelo, paintings by Raphael, and even the exposed bodies of deceased Popes. We'll conclude the tour in St. Peter's Basilica, where you'll have an option of exploring its crypts lined with the tombs of many Popes (free to visit), and time for self-exploration.
The Sistine Chapel is astonishingly beautiful, and we'll give it the time it deserves. Your guide will provide a thorough explanation of Michelangelo's masterpiece frescos before hand (no talking in the Sistine Chapel), so you know what you're seeing before hand, then you'll be able to appreciate it beauty in person. We'll take a "guides only" exit from the Chapel into St. Peter's Basilica, saving us hours in line.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(15)
Horrible Experience. They canceled our tour 1 1/2 hours before the tour was to start.
Be warned that this operator booked another operator to run the tour for them. They didn’t book it under our bar which cause a lot of confusion. They mark the tour up and then bought a cheaper option to provide the tour to us. Would not recommend using this company at all. The tour itself was fine.
Enrico is an excellent guide for adults who want to take a deep dive into the history. He has a very soft voice so earpieces/microphone would be of benefit. He is very knowledgeable and kind.
Brent is a passionate guide, we could ask anything and he showed us the most beautiful places - very exciting! Highly recommended.
Wow, to go on a tour with such a knowledgeable and charismatic guide was a fantastic experience. Raffa O was such a wonderful guide taking the time to explain many aspects of the Vatican with detail I never would have expected. Despite having a broken foot she never skipped an opportunity to make our tour first class. If you have the chance, book a tour, you will be very happy
I booked an 8:30 tour with this company, and was extremely disappointed. We had an 8:30 reservation, which they randomly and inexplicably changed to 11:30. We were there at 11:30, but the tour had already left. At no place in their literature did they tell us to be at the Vatican earlier. We will cancel payment on this tour! Do not book with them—they are unreliable. City Wonders left a very bad taste for my family. Very disappointed to have wasted so much time with them.
Hello, We are not City Wonders. Sorry to hear about your bad experience, but you have left your review on the wrong company page. Please remove when you see this, thanks. Customer Service, Atlas
We were met by our guide Alfredo at the exact spot and we were sent a text and email confirmation of the whole tour (although I didn’t see it till the end of the tour. Confirmation would have been better a little earlier but that didn’t matter in the end) We got super lucky to have Alfredo all to ourselves and luckily the tour went ahead for which we were extremely grateful as some of our other tours got cancelled due to low numbers. Our guide was so informative and very patient. He gave us more time than he needed to and he made our trip to this most wonderful place totally memorable. Thank you so much for the insight into the history and culture.
I had the best guide in Christine. Wonderful style that grips you and opens your mind to this wonderful world of religious renaissance art history. Loved it.
We had a small group tour (5 people) with a fun guide named Luigi who new everything about the Vatican, and seemed to be a local hero. Every guard and person we passed knew him, it was like being with a celebrity. The Vatican is stunningly beautiful, and we went at a great pace to see everything of importance, take photos, but not feel rushed or overwhelmed. Thanks again to Atlas Tours and Luigi!
We really enjoyed this tour. So relieved to skip the queue on arrival as it was huge. Alessandra was a fabulous guide who is clearly so passionate and knowledgeable about her subject . She told us so many fascinating things about the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and answered all our questions. She also had a wonderful sense of humour which made the whole Vatican experience unforgettable. Would highly recommend this tour.
