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Small Group Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, & St. Peter’s Basilica Guided Tour

Badge of ExcellenceRoma, Italy
Likely to Sell Out

From HK$463.12

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Unique Experiences
  • 3 hours (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

Discover the Vatican on a group tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums with an expert guide. Navigate the vast complex of rooms, artwork, and history with a guide, who brings the ancient collection to life. Skip all the entrance lines to explore halls such as the Gallery of the Maps; step inside the Sistine Chapel to admire ‘The Creation of Adam’ by Michelangelo and finish your tour visiting St. Peter's Basilica. Choose from several departures, or upgrade to a small-group tour.
  • Enjoy the Vatican highlights including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica
  • Choose from several different departure times, or upgrade to a small-group tour
  • Audio headsets are provided to make sure you can hear your guide clearly
  • Avoid long queues with skip-the-line entrance tickets

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

“Skip the line” with this tour means using a special entrance to bypass even the fast-track line.

What's Included

  • Reserved Priority Access to the Vatican Museums
  • Guided visit of St. Peter’s Basilica (If Option Selected)
  • Access to the Sistine Chapel
  • Audio headsets so you can always hear your guide
  • Small groups of 20 people or less
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Via Tunisi, 4
    Via Tunisi, 4, 00192 Roma RM, Italy

    Meeting point: At the bottom of the steps across the street from the Entrance of the Vatican Museums. The steps are located right next to Caffè Vaticano on the corner of Viale Vaticano and Via Tunisi. The closest Metro stop is Line A (Ottaviano – Musei Vaticani).

End point

  • St. Peter's Basilica
    Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

What To Expect

Vatican tours with skip-the-line access are sought-after, so even the fast-track lines are long. This experience includes admission through a special entrance, so there are no lines whatsoever. Follow your guide directly inside the vast collection of private artwork that is the Vatican Museums.

Walk through the Gallery of the Maps and Gallery of Tapestries as you listen to tales of Vatican intrigue. Gaze at artifacts such as timeworn yet fascinating Italian maps, and admire the sculptures and candelabras of the Gallery of Candelabras. Stop for photos in front of the Pigna statue in the Pinecone Courtyard, designed by Donato Bramante.

Step inside the Sistine Chapel—the pope’s personal place of worship and a highlight of any Vatican trip. Stand beneath Michelangelo’s 'The Creation of Adam,' which cloaks the ceiling, and admire 'The Last Judgement,' his colorful mural that adorns a wall.

After your Sistine Chapel visit, continue to St. Peter’s Basilica, the symbolic heart of the Catholic church. Learn about its history and see more Vatican art including Michelangelo’s 'La Pietà,' which was sculpted when the maestro was only 24 years old. Gaze at the baldachino by Bernini, and then say goodbye to your guide in St. Peter’s Square.

Keep in mind that St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square might be unavailable on Wednesdays due to the weekly Papal Audience. As an alternative, enjoy an extended itinerary within the Vatican Museums, which still includes the Sistine Chapel and Raphael's Rooms. If you want to make sure that St. Peter's Basilica and Square are included in your tour, don't select Wednesday as your travel date.

If you want to enhance your Vatican experience, select one of the following experiences:

Small-Group Tour in the morning: Enter the Vatican Museums as soon as it opens, before the other lines enter. Your tour is limited to 10 people for personal attention and information about the Vatican’s must-see sights.

Tour in the evening: Explore the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel after the doors close to the general public. A visit to St. Peter’s Basilica is not included.

Vatican Museums

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • We regret that we are unable to accommodate guests with wheelchairs or any impairments requiring special assistance. We are also unable to accommodate strollers or baby carriages on our group tours.
  • Avoid bringing large purses, bags, or backpacks on your tour
  • We may experience delays in getting through mandatory security checks when entering these venues
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
  • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • 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.

about cancellations.

Traveler Photos

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Traveler Tips

Arrive early since it is a bit difficult to locate the tour guide to check in.
Bring water with you as you won’t find any inside.
Don’t go on a Wednesday because the Pope will be doing mass and it supposedly gets really crowded.
Reviews
4.5
27,519 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 27,519 reviews
Book direct
Eric_D, Apr 2023
Not accommodating at all, did not help us get to the destination and left us. Called for help and only got a voicemail. Buy ticket direct.
Sal does great job!!!
Louise_F, Apr 2023
Sal was a great tour guide. Very knowledgeable, funny, great stories and really highlighted the key things. Great trip and experience. Really brought the whole Vatican experience to life.
SHE KNEW HER STUFF AND WAS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE
Robert_E, Apr 2023
Guide I am sorry forgot her name was great and remember all our tour folks by name. She is an English teacher too
Great experience
stashis, Apr 2023
The tour was good. Well organized, easy to find, started on time, no hassle in getting in with the guide and easy to follow. Our guide Paula was great. It is true Not only for her professional knowledge; we had an elderly lady in the group and the guide was extremely nice and patient and accommodating. Same applied to a few kids, including my son. Vatican museums are difficult to go through but the guide was great maneuvering between different points and showing us the best for the time we had. Same with the Sistine chapel and Basilica. Knowledgeable, sweet, well organized, lovely to deal with. Thank you.
Our guide Oscar was...
Ioli_B, Apr 2023
Our guide Oscar was amazing! Very knowledgeable and friendly. The group was small and fun. Would recommend
Very informative...
Elitza_I, Apr 2023
Very informative entertaining and smooth tour. Small group, easy to navigate. Wonderful art and history explanations.
Great tour guide, very organized.
Chris_G, Apr 2023
Tatiana was an awesome tour guide and had so much energy and passion for the day. She made the entire day a pleasure.
Worth it just to skip the line.
Tim_B, Apr 2023
Arrived 30 minutes early. Very easy to find the tour guides etc. waited until the time then started to walk up to the Vatican. That’s where the issue began. We could not enter for another 45 minutes. NOT the tour guides fault. Something with security. The guide was very nice. But she spoke very softly…and had to search for English words often. Sometimes just trailing off. A little disappointing for an English language tour. St Peter’s Basilica was awe inspiring. Overall not a ton of information…but still worth it just to skip the humongous line!
Highly Recommended Tour
rnjhen, Apr 2023
I highly recommend this tour our guide is very knowledgeable. Just fyi no picture taking inside the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum is amazing , awe-inspiring experience for the whole family.
Must do
Samantha_W, Apr 2023
Tour was great and our tour guide Guia had lots of passion and a wealth of knowledge. Would recommend.
Colosseum your
Johanna_K, Apr 2023
I don’t know if we would book this tour again. It may be worth to spend the extra money for the underground portion to some, but there are much affordable options that seem to be just as enjoyable. Either way, the colosseum is a must see while in Rome.
Mario was great. He added...
Darlene_M, Apr 2023
Mario was great. He added extra information during the tour. He made our day do enjoyable and memorable.
Really enjoyed this tour
Anibal_S, Apr 2023
We really enjoyed this tour. Amil was our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable. She was also upbeat, friendly and always willing to answer all our questions. We learned a lot and a lot better than if we just visited those places just by ourselves.
1 traveler found this review helpful
Vatican experience
Stanton_W, Apr 2023
This tour was one of the most memorable and intellectual tours that I and my wife have been a part of! It was amazing.
Vatican museum and Sistine chapel.
Ignacio_y, Apr 2023
Alessandra was great at explaining the history of the paintings within the Vatican Museum and Sistine chapel. Unfortunately we were unable to get the guided tour of the basilica due to an event scheduled there that day but felt the added time in the museum was definitely worth it especially the addition of the tapestry room. We were able to get into the basilica later on in the day on our own and would have benefited from some of the narrative being provided.
Our guide, Alessandra was...
sara_m, Apr 2023
Our guide, Alessandra was so helpful in knowing what to point out and helpful with navigating a large group through crowded spaces.
Excellent tour
Kristine_C, Apr 2023
Our tour guide Amile was excellent, made the tour fun, interesting & informative. Booked the skip the line which was well worth as it saved time from long que!
Exceptional
Robert_L, Apr 2023
Exceptional tour guide, clear, concise and knowledgeable. Vatican was busy but expected it to be. Once in a lifetime experience.
Great site, muffled commentary.
Alan_M, Apr 2023
Great tour, but guide's voice was not very strong and ear sets were muffled so lots of details were missed.
1 traveler found this review helpful
Overcome with emotion. The guide is the only way to do this tour. Wonderful.
Stacey_G, Apr 2023
Guiseppe was above and beyond fantastic. Everyone was kept together. He knew so much. The tour had options, as some did not want to go into the Basilica. Meeting place was clear. Headsets were clear. It's crowded, very crowded. This tour should be done with a service/guide like this so that you do not bypass the fantastic sculpture history and so much more. It was a highlight of my vacation and one of the most overwhelming and humbling experiences. I was in awe. Do not miss.
...

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Product code: 3731VATICAN

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