Rome: Complete Early Morning Vatican Tour

Experience the Vatican like never before with our small group Vatican tour. Get early access to the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums, enjoy personal attention from expert guides, and explore St. Peter’s Basilica before the crowds arrive.

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • What a Life Tours - The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums’ entrance.
What's Included
  • Meet your guide at our comfortable offices near the Museums’ entrance
  • Skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica
  • Headsets to hear the guide
  • Small group
  • Expert English-speaking tour guide
  • Early entrance guaranteed
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Gratuites
Additional Information

Meet at our comfortable offices less than a block from the museum entrance. Join our small group Vatican tour in the early morning with a top-notch tour guide and get early entrance to the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums & Raphael Rooms. In a small group, you will be able to discover with no rush the extraordinary abundance of history and art.

Your guide will tour you through these corridors and halls, pointing out the exhibits on display. Once through, the Sistine Chapel awaits you.

The finale of our early entry Vatican tours culminates in St. Peter’s Basilica. Majestic and inspired, it is the perfect place to come full circle on the morning’s itinerary. Feast your eyes on Michelangelo’s Pietà and admire the stunning interior of the dome he designed, as well as Bernini’s massive bronze baldachin sitting over the Pope’s private alter directly above St. Peter’s tomb and other little-known details that can only be spotted when inside!

  • While the Vatican Museums are equipped with elevators for wheelchair access, they are not conveniently located on the group tour route and only give access to specific sections of the Museums. As a result, we cannot accommodate wheelchairs on this tour.
  • 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.
  • Please plan on being at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the start time.
  • We recommend that you bring your own headphones as the ones provided by the Vatican have a single earpiece only, and you may prefer to use both earbuds to hear the guide better.
Location
What a Life Tours
Via Santamaura
The tour meets directly at our office, the exact address is Via Santamaura 14/B. Please remember that Rome’s streets can be confusing, so we recommend allowing extra time in case you get lost.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(1462 Ratings)
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J5892xmlisas
Sep 30, 2024
Early Morning Vatican Tour is Great! - We THOROUGHLY enjoyed our early morning Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica with Marina and the What A Life Tours! She was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. We would HIGHLY recommend this particular tour to avoid the heavy crowds.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Barry
Sep 28, 2024
Professional expert tour - Elaine was very knowledgeable, charismatic and a joy to learn from. From the in-depth knowledge of the master pieces to the little quirky graffiti on the walls. She brought the museum to life. Overall the company was well organized and easy to find. Also looking at the long lines to get into the vacation as I left, the money is worth it if you can afford it. Would highly recommend this company
Review provided by Tripadvisor
A
Sep 28, 2024
Go Early. Go Elaine. ‘Nuff said. - Being in Rome, it seems wrong to miss the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel but you hear about the horrendous crowds. Two things you need to know. The early morning tour is likely the only time to do this to give yourself a fighting chance and secondly, go with Elaine. Elaine knows every trick in the book to keep you moving and seeing every thing with noting. She has an exceptional British sense of humour and is so knowledgeable of this subject matter. I can honestly say that with her strategic navigation and know-how you will come away from the experience fulfilled but not thrashed! 😊
Review provided by Tripadvisor
366jeffr
Sep 27, 2024
Vatican Tour was wonderful - Our guide was Elaine and she made the tour of the Vatican great. She explained everything well and had a lot of great stories and was very witty. She also didn’t walk too fast and checked to make sure everyone was still with her throughout the tour. I’d definitely want to go on a tour with her as the guide again
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Douglas_c
Sep 26, 2024
Great tour and guide - This was a great tour for our first visit to the Vatican, providing an excellent overview while hitting the classic highlights. Elaine was our guide and she is fantastic. She did a great job of providing interesting commentary and insight about everything we were seeing. She has an excellent knowledge of the Vatican and also knows how to navigate the group through the crowds.
Review provided by Viator
Theresak
Sep 26, 2024
Best way to see the Vatican - This is absolutely the best way to see the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. We did beat the crowds by taking the early tour and our guide, Lucia, was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and was able to share the history of the Vatican and it's many pope's. She has a great personality and is able to entertain us in her sharing of the history.
Review provided by Viator
Melodier
Sep 25, 2024
If you want to enjoy your tour, this is the one! - Tour was great and Elaine was excellent with a ton of knowledge and a great sense of humor. Perfect timing to miss the crowds.
Review provided by Viator
Deb_f
Sep 22, 2024
Amazing tour with an amazing tour operator and guide - We were late to our tour group and got a call from Rexhina to remind us. She ran with us to get us to our tour group, using every trick in the book. Then our tour guide Yanira was just amazing. So knowledgeable and funny. Our tour was so perfect and Rexhina and Yanira went out of their way to make it so. Thank you for such an amazing experience!
Review provided by Viator
Scenic47865109876
Sep 22, 2024
Awesome! - We had a wonderful tour with Elaine who was so knowledgeable and kept us engaged the whole time. We learned so much and would highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anna_k
Sep 21, 2024
Fantastic tour - Fantastic tour! The first half of the tour was wonderfully uncrowded, allowing for a more personal experience. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, offering insightful information and answering all our questions.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 4 guests
1 Adult
October 2024
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