Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Viale Vaticano, 00165 Vatican City Italy
In this Exclusive Early Access to the Vatican you will enter the museums an hour prior to the general public, so you can enjoy much lighter crowds, and be granted immediate entry to the Sistine Chapel!
The Vatican Museums is on everyone’s Rome itinerary so you can imagine it gets quite full, quite quickly.
The best way to get the most of this popular site is to enter early and to see it either in our Semi-Private Group of ONLY 6 people MAX, or in your very own Private Group.
Enjoy a thorough explanation of the incredible masterpiece that is the Sistine Chapel and learn all about it from your professional expert guide before you actually enter the chapel. As it is a holy place, it is strictly forbidden to speak inside. That is why we guarantee you will learn all about it before you enter. Then, once inside, you will have time to take it all in and admire the breathtaking beauty of this world famous site in contemplative silence.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
With the luxury of our truly small group size of 6 people max, or in the personalized intimacy of your very own private group, you will be guaranteed to get the very most out of your Vatican experience. This way you can easily navigate through the countless masterpieces with an expert guide, ask all the questions you wish, and have the guarantee of a personalized experience. We trust this makes ALL the difference!
Walk through the heavily decorated Gallery of the Candelabras and enjoy the trompe l’oeil in the Gallery of the Tapestries. After you learn about the impressive Gallery of the Maps, continue to the exquisite Raphael Rooms. With your professional expert tour guide, you will be sure to see all the highlights as well as hidden gems! You will not only learn the fantastic history of the powerful Popes but will also delight in the bits of gossip and other little-known stories about life in Vatican City.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy
Your comprehensive Vatican tour concludes with VIP entrance directly into St. Peter’s Basilica without standing in the long lines. Walking through the Basilica, you will learn all about the secrets of the magnificent and ornate decorations, sculptures, altars and chapels. Visit Michelangelo’s Pieta and walk down the main nave to admire the dome he designed that sits on top of the largest Catholic church in the world.
NOTE: The passage between the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Basilica is currently closed due to covid-19 physical distancing measures. This means that in order to enter the Church your tour will need to go around the Vatican State walls. we will do our best to include a tour of the Basilica, but this may not always be possible due to the distance between the sites and the security line. In the event, this would not be possible, our guides will ensure a complete orientation of the Basilica so that you will collect the information prior to your visit.
Duration: 45 minutes
See Availability.
Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
07:30 AM
3 hours 30 minutes(approx.)
Returns to original departure point
Occasionally the basilica may be closed due to last minute private events outside of the tour operators control and often without notice. In these uncommon circumstances the tour will operate as usual and the time spent inside the basilica will be made up elsewhere on the tour.
2022 NEWS: Thanks to a very special and profound partnership with the Vatican Museums for 2022, we are proud to offer clients a very unique and exclusive 8AM first entry into the Museums’ doors, guaranteed to be reserved only to a handful of other collaborating tour operators. This special entry and tour are designed to guarantee you access and viewing of the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel 30 minutes before other operators and one hour before the general public. We are proud to be able to serve such impressive and extraordinary experience and share it with our clients.
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Vatican management maintains the right to delay the opening of the Sistine Chapel for religious reasons, in this case the guide will modify the itinerary and extend your visit of the museums to ensure you make the most of your time before access to the Sistine Chapel is permitted.
Most travelers can participate
Please note St Peter's Basilica is closed on most Wednesday's. If you book during a day in which the Basilica is closed, your tour of the Vatican Museums will be extended to compensate the closure
This tour operates within current local COVID-19 protocol. We are not responsible for any persons who do not adhere to regulations, and in said circumstances will result in loss of the tour without refund.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Posted By : David_C
Carlotta was anti mated and an excellent tour guide. She was very helpful as I was on a cane. She was very explicit explaining all of the highlights and even walked us over to the gift shop which was a good ways aw
At. I highly recommend her.
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Posted On : 2023-03-25
Posted By : Guide296433
Our Vatican and Sistine chapel tour with Sara were amazing! She answered my many questions without pause and gave us insight to the politics behind the art commisions. The artwork speaks for itself, but she pointed out the tiny details that would have gone unnoticed without her expertise. She made the experience mind blowing- the way that the artists actually INVENTED things that we take for granted.
Her English was fluent and she made a walking tour accessible to my spouse who has trouble walking for extended periods of time.
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Posted On : 2023-03-25
Posted By : Ronan_O
Luisa our tour guide was very friendly, engaging and knowledgeable. Excellent morning spent in the Vatican.
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Posted On : 2023-03-25
Posted By : Michelle_H
Sylvia Palermo was enthusiastic, friendly, and very knowledgeable. Her insights and energy made for an educational and thoroughly enjoyable experience for us and our children. We highly recommend Sylvia as a tour guide to help bring history to life!
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Posted On : 2023-03-25
Posted By : anne n
Lovely tour guide. Kept a good pace. Visit impacted by a young boy in the group which compelled the guide to keep him “entertained”. In future consider keeping young kids separate from adult/teen groups.
Also would have preferred deeper commentary on a few things rather than surface explanations of many things.
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Posted On : 2023-03-25
Posted By : Georgiana_B
Our guide, Maximo was truly knowledgeable and entertaining. He even shared a wonderful restaurant recommendation for us!
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Posted On : 2023-03-24
Posted By : Melinda_H
It was a beautiful experience with a FANTASTIC guide! Definitely recommend going early before the crowds!
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Posted On : 2023-03-24
Posted By : leapK8333ES
What a fantastic tour! Our guide Luisa was excellent, she did a great job so a big thank you to her. We've learned so much and we really felt like VIP, it's amazing being able to enter the Vatican museums before the crowds. Well worth the time!
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Posted On : 2023-03-23
Posted By : KittenLori
With so many things to do and see and so little time to fit it all in I am SO happy that we chose LivTours to explore the Vatican with.
Our guide Laura was fantastic. She had us moving along perfectly, making sure we saw everything and without the crowds of people, so we could really enjoy our experience.
We loved listening to the stories as she told them, she made it interesting to learn. Her knowledge of all the art, workmanship and Vatican City really helped us understand what it was like, way .. way back, before our time.
Laura also shared some local tips and was all around pleasant with a bit of humor. I definitely enjoyed having a few laughs with her, and we were all grateful that we woke up EARLY and booked this tour.
By the way, the meeting spot where you check in is in a lovely area across from the Vatican entrance, where you can grab a cup of coffee or a light breakfast treat.
I THANK Livtours for providing a great service for people to explore Rome!
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Posted On : 2023-03-23
Posted By : Nikki S
Our tour of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica was one of the highlights of our 10-day Italy trip! Our guide Sara was phenomenal! She was energetic and knowledgeable and shared so many great insights. We visited the Vatican years ago without a tour and this was SUCH a better experience. Our two kids (ages 9 and 12) also loved it. Having a small group (just six of us) was really great, allowing us to ask questions. The length of the tour was good for our group too. We highly recommend Sara and LivItaly!
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Posted On : 2023-03-22
