Rome: Complete Early Morning Vatican Tour | Small Group

based on 1271 reviews

Duration:3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Location: Rome, Italy

From $107.9

Book in 2 easy steps:

1. Select A Date

2. Enter Total No Of Travellers

CHILD (Age : 0 to 6)

YOUTH (Age : 7 to 17)

ADULT (Age : 18 to 99)

Free Cancellation

Upto 24 hours in Advance.

Mobile or paper ticket accepted

Top Selling Tours & Activities

Excellent Quality

Viator Plus

Half-day Tours

Private and Luxury

Small Group

Art Tours

Walking Tours

Architecture Tours

Historical Tours

PRODUCT DETAILS
TRAVELER REVIEWS
TRAVELER PHOTOS

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!

WHAT'S INCLUDED

WHAT TO EXPECT

1.
The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums' entrance.
2. Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums feature many works of art that belonged to the different Popes and are full of artistic beauty. Here is a glimpse of some of the most beautiful things to see in the Vatican Museums. Rooms and Galleries of the Vatican Museums, as the Greek Cross Room, the Gallery of Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries, Raphael Rooms and much more! From a relatively small collection of statues brought in by Julius II, it grew into a gigantic museum to a point that nobody even knows how many items are kept in the vaults and galleries of the Vatican.
3.
The Gallery of Maps is a stupendous hallway where geography and history are perfectly intertwined. Created at the end of the 16th century, the entire room is dedicated to customized maps, which display the whole of Italy. On one side of the 393-foot long gallery are two representations of the country: one from the Imperial Roman Era and the other from the 1500s. Each map shows political happenings, religious roles, and major battles. The ceiling is no less remarkable, with frescoed scenes displaying episodes and miraculous events of apostles, saints, and martyrs, which are linked to the geographical maps below.
4.
The world-renowned tapestries adorning the walls of this breathtaking gallery used to hang in the Sistine Chapel until they were moved to their present-day location. The most esteemed pieces of the collection are the carpets based on Raphael’s drawings, depicting crucial scenes from the life of Jesus. Out of these 9 tapestries, we recommend paying some special attention to The Resurrection of Christ, which is woven in many layers, creating a surprising optical illusion as you walk by. It took the weavers 4 years to finalize the masterpiece and they cleverly used materials of different densities in order to obtain the eye-deceiving effect.
5. Sistine Chapel
Once inside the Vatican Museums, it’s straight to the main event – the Sistine Chapel. Gaze upon Michelangelo’s stupefying ceiling, Creation of Adam and the Last Judgment in awe, sharing the space with your group and a few others. Take your time – and savor each moment – because this is an experience you’ll never want to forget, as you nearly reach out and touch one of humankind’s most astounding creative achievements.
6. St. Peter's Basilica
If you thought the size of the Vatican Museums was overwhelmingly spectacular, St. Peter’s Basilica takes the “wow factor” to another level. The sheer capacity of the interiors is enough to leave any visitor searching for words to describe its vastness. At 613 feet long, 85 feet wide and 147 feet high, it took an incredible 120 years to build, starting from 1506. Admire Michelangelo’s unparalleled Pietà masterpiece and stroll towards the center right nave to observe Bernini’s 30-foot high bronze Baldachin, which sits directly atop the site of St. Peter’s tomb.
7. St. Peter's Square
A visit to Vatican City would not be complete without standing in awe of the beauty in St. Peter’s Square, also known as Piazza San Pietro. This massive square framing St. Peter’s Basilica is the location where the pope holds Wednesday General Audiences and special masses on religious holidays. Besides being an extremely sacred place for the Catholic Church, the square itself features a breathtaking architectural design. During the late 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini erected a series of huge Doric colonnades extending out like arms from the basilica. If you stand in the right spot, the rows that consist of four columns, appear to converge as one. This optical illusion shows the incredible architectural precision of the time! To make the most of your trip to Vatican City, we recommend you join a tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica to learn the grand history behind this marvelous city from an expert guide.
8. Vatican City
Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It's home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Its Vatican Museums house ancient Roman sculptures such as the famed “Laocoön and His Sons” as well as Renaissance frescoes in the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling.

ADDITIONAL INFO

CANCELLATION POLICY

Posted By : Gyriagos F
I have to say Carlotta was brilliant!!
All the right information and explanation of the Vatican she was a true star. She also gave us just the right amount of time to grab a coffee and see the sistine Chapel. You have a true gem there
Well done Carlotta thank you very much
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-06 11:06:34

Posted By : deffenboo
Loved this tour. Our guide Tonia (Ciao Tonia!) was amazing. She was friendly, funny and super knowledgeable about the Vatican and more importantly about all of the art inside. Would 100% recommend this tour to skip the line and get a personal tour of the Vatican museums and St. Peter’s.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-06 09:50:43

Posted By : blynnw2022
Silvio was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable about the art and the church politics. Understandably, the Vatican is a crowded tour (not much can be done about that) but it is an important journey to undertake. About 3 hours, bring a small bottle of water as you will be thirsty.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-06 03:48:59

Posted By : T5728
Our guide Silvio was outstanding with information provided and guiding our group through crowded spaces. The Vatican museums are so extensive that having someone to curate the tour to see highlights in various areas was essential. The audio equipment allowed us to hear explanations in a noisy environment. We were so impressed with this experience that we consider it the highlight of our trip.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-05 14:53:10

Posted By : Brian_C
Elaine was my favorite tour guide in all of our tours in Italy. Very fun and very informative. Highly recommended
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-05 07:49:14

Posted By : Sarah_O
Our guide, Elaine, made the tour. She seemed to know every inch of the museum and was engaging throughout.

Most other tours seemed to have large groups of 30-60 people. Our group consisted of 11 people which meant we didn’t have to stop and regroup after each room.

This tour was extremely well organised which is a must when the attraction is so busy.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-02 12:03:44

Posted By : Jeffery W
Elaine was a great tour guide! She was very knowledgeable and made the tour lots of fun! This tour was definitely worth it.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-02 10:22:04

Posted By : stevecO6655YL
Elaine gave a great tour using her unique knowledge. The tour as it suggests allow you to skip the main queues. Elaine pointed out lots of information you would not get elsewhere and helped the tour party navigate around all the important places . St Peters Basilica is at the end of the tour so you are able to go in again if you wish.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-02 06:31:12

Posted By : 316llewellynw
We loved our tour guide, Michele. He was knowledgeable and personable, he made it such a wonderful experience! It was so worth going for the early morning tour, by the time we left the crowd had at least doubled. Would highly recommend!
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-04-30 16:18:15

Posted By : Barbymac1
Elaine was a wonderful, witty, and knowledgeable tour guide of the Vatican museum, Basilica and Sistine Chapel. I really appreciated that she regrouped with us often as it was quite crowded.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-04-29 16:46:11