Vatican Highlights Tour: Explore Sistine Chapel and Skip-the-Line Entry to Vatican Museum
4.6
109 Ratings
Roma
Discover the Vatican's most iconic treasures on a highlights tour. Skip the line, explore the Sistine Chapel, and learn the fascinating story of Michelangelo's masterpiece.
Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Vatican Museums - 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.
What's Included
  • Expert-led Vatican Museums tour for full immersion
  • St. Peter’s Basilica with priority access
  • Exclusive viewing of the Raphael Rooms and Sistine Chapel
  • Explore Belvedere Courtyard and classical sculptures
  • Skip-the-line privileges for a hassle-free Vatican visit
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Join a knowledgeable guide at the entrance of the Vatican Museum, and gain priority access to arguably the world’s most significant art collection. Your guide, well-acquainted with the museum’s every corner, will efficiently guide you through the overwhelming 1,200 galleries.

A key part of this tour revolves around the grandiose Sistine Chapel, from its inception to the final touches executed by the illustrious Michaelangelo Buonarroti. Uncover the compelling tale of this intriguing yet troubled artist, who saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, yet dedicated numerous years to crafting frescoes on a towering 44-foot-high ceiling. Delve into the physical and mental strain endured by the artist as your guide distinguishes myth from reality and popular cinematic fiction about this monumental piece of art.

Conclude the tour by independently exploring the additional 1,400 art galleries at your leisure.

  • 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
  • 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
  • Maximum 20 travelers on this tour
  • Due to the route covered and/or the means of 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.
Location
Via Sebastiano Veniero, 19
Via Sebastiano Veniero
Via Sebastiano Veniero 19, nearest metro station is called Ottaviano / San Pietro / Musei Vaticani on Linea A which on any Rome metro map is coloured orange.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(109 Ratings)
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Natalie_m
Jun 18, 2024
Great experience - Was a great experience. Nadya was a fantastic tour guide. My family enjoyed this experience. Was the perfect amount of time for children
Review provided by Viator
Butlerj9737
Jun 18, 2024
Vatican excursion - Wonderful tour. Giorgia provided much information on the history of the Vatican and art we were seeing. Enjoyed St Peters Basillica and visiting the Sistine Chapel.
Review provided by Viator
Melinda_f
Jun 8, 2024
Fast & Informative - The tour was very informative! The Vatican is amazing-a must see if in Rome!! And if you want a lot of information in a little time, this is your tour!
Review provided by Viator
Bhaskar_a
Jun 4, 2024
Excellent short tour of Vatican - The guide Nadia was very informative. The tour itself is very fast it it tries to cover the key items in Vatican in about 2 hours. Without a guide, it would have been difficult to understand the background. Things to watch for : Crowds, crowds and crowds. Even the skip the line had a 20 min queue (although short compared to the 2-3 hours if you try to get a ticket by standing in queue)
Review provided by Viator
Explore274536
May 30, 2024
Highly recommend, just the right balance for me. - Definitely recommend this tour. We had an excellent guide who was very informative and you could see her passion for the arts. The Sistine Chapel is well worth the trip, but so was all the other works of art throughout the Museum. It was around 2-3hours and to me that was long enough to see the basics. If you would like to stand and admire pieces for any amount of time I suggest you book a much longer tour this is just a skim through for the average persons interest.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sylvie_b
May 30, 2024
Memorable - Our guide Nadia was wonderful and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed the tour and could see Nadia's passion for history. Best tour ever taken!
Review provided by Viator
Carol_t
Jun 6, 2024
Too fast thru museum. It... - Too fast thru museum. It was very crowded. Tour guide was great. Because it was Wednesday did not have advantage of tour thru St. Peter’s basilica. Should get discount or something further on tour
Review provided by Viator
Julie_p
Jun 2, 2024
Wonderful place to visit maybe choose Tour guides with care or small group or self group - The meeting point and arrival to the tour seemed chaotic we didn’t really know what was happening and it was so busy crossing roads and trying to keep up and then inside it was so busy going through scanners etc we were worried we would loose our guide. So we got in so the introduction to the tour it was not a relaxed feeling . The tour guide had amazing knowledge & added fun and drama to the event but at times we lost the signal on the headsets as way ahead or out of range. The group wasn’t so big I thought but as it was busy it just didn’t feel personal or great fun. An amazing place to see but not sure would book this tour again .
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_w
May 29, 2024
Not great - The guide was very friendly and helpful. The information given during the tour was very general and we didn't learn anything about the art. We expected more details about the art work or key pieces selected as we walked through.
Review provided by Viator
Royan811
May 27, 2024
Terrible service - Never book tour with them, zero customer service, didn’t care about you at all after getting money, we ended to go by ourselves, never responded to us, terrible service and experience with them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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1 Adult
July 2024
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