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Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
4.9
144 Ratings
Roma
Experience the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica on an exclusive private tour. Avoid the crowds and customize your visit for a stress-free and family-friendly experience.
Experience the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica on an exclusive private tour. Avoid the crowds and customize your visit for a stress-free and family-friendly experience.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Borgo - Meet the tour guide at the office situated in Borgo Pio, one of the Vatican’s oldest neighborhoods. This area is brimming with delightful local shops and vendors.
- Vatican Museums - After meeting the guide, proceed directly to the Vatican Museum via a special group entrance, skipping the long lines that are present throughout the year….
- Borgo - Meet the tour guide at the office situated in Borgo Pio, one of the Vatican’s oldest neighborhoods. This area is brimming with delightful local shops and vendors.
- Vatican Museums - After meeting the guide, proceed directly to the Vatican Museum via a special group entrance, skipping the long lines that are present throughout the year.
This is a 2.5 to 3-hour exploration of one of the world’s most incredible museums. Discover Greek and Roman sculptures, tapestries, and fascinating stories about the artists and their eras.
- Stanze di Raffaello - This museum section, featuring four rooms (“stanze” in Italian), showcases frescos by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The renowned “School of Athens” is displayed here, along with portraits of history’s greatest thinkers like Aristotle, Plato, and Raphael himself.
- Sistine Chapel - Enter the stunning Sistine Chapel to admire the work of the celebrated artist Michelangelo. Be prepared to be amazed as you gaze at the frescoed ceilings, including the Last Judgement, which have endured through the ages.
- St. Peter’s Basilica - After exploring the museum areas, learn about the unique functioning of the world’s smallest state.
Finally, a special door connecting the museums to the Basilica will lead you inside St. Peter’s Church! Unlike other tourists who queue for the regular entrance, you will gain access without the hassle of passing through security again.
- St. Peter’s Square - Farewell! Have any questions about Rome or the Vatican? Feel free to ask them here. The guide will offer tips for your stay in the eternal city as the tour concludes.
What's Included
- Admission to the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica
- Highly reviewed tour guide on Tripadvisor
- Guaranteed skip-the-line access to the Vatican Museum & St. Peter’s Basilica
- Admission to the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica
- Highly reviewed tour guide on Tripadvisor
- Guaranteed skip-the-line access to the Vatican Museum & St. Peter’s Basilica
What's Not Included
- Private transportation
- Gratuities
- Private transportation
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Experiencing the Vatican through private access is always a distinctive occurrence. Even our experienced guides, with numerous visits under their belts, value the chance to marvel at the art in such a context. It may come as a surprise to know that the Vatican manages more than 6 million tourists annually, making solo visitation rapidly become a…
Experiencing the Vatican through private access is always a distinctive occurrence. Even our experienced guides, with numerous visits under their belts, value the chance to marvel at the art in such a context. It may come as a surprise to know that the Vatican manages more than 6 million tourists annually, making solo visitation rapidly become a daunting and uncomfortable task.
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We suggest booking this intimate tour with us to tailor your visit for you and your family. We guarantee this child-friendly environment will please every individual of your group (our guides have a knack for captivating young minds!) How could we forget to mention Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? This stunning work requires no preamble.
No queuing = no hassle! (and let’s not forget the avoidance of sun and excessive summer heat!)
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We provide two sessions for this intimate tour experience (morning or afternoon). Elect your preference!
Location
Via Plauto, 17
Via Plauto
The meeting point is located in Borgo Pio, very close to St. Peter's square. The exact address is Via Plauto 17/A.
Please check your booking and confirm your chosen time. Be sure to arrive at the office earlier than the start time (9 AM)
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(144 Ratings)
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Jim_b
Mar 15, 2026
A date at the Vatican. - Amazing tour! It was simple, well coordinated and allowed for us to see things we never knew about!!!!
Review provided by Viator
Johnss2925ux
Nov 3, 2025
Very interesting tour given by Giovanni - We did a 3 hour beat the line tour led by Giovanni in a group of 16 on a very busy Saturday in October. I felt that the extra cost worth it for significant reduction in queueing time. Giovanni was a great tour guide, keeping us engaged through via his commentary via the headsets that are handed out as you enter the museum. He picked out several key items and talked them in detail, placing them in historical and religious context of their period. Loved his commentary on Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo, brought the whole work to life, useful guide through otherise overwhelming detail. Would recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabethy569
Sep 18, 2025
A real highlight of our Rome trip - This tour was one of the major highlights of my trip to Rome. Our tour guide Santi was really knowledgeable about the history of all the art and directed us to the most interesting things to see in the Vatican Museum. We would have been really overwhelmed otherwise and missed some important (and some lesser-known) sights.
We skipped all the lines and sped through entry. And he seemed to know everyone in the museum, so we even got to take shortcuts through certain areas. It felt like a real VIP experience! I highly recommend this tour and Santi as your guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kathleen
Sep 3, 2025
Vatican Virtuoso - Santi was a wonderful guide who took us through the Vatican Museum ( a tremendous collection of art from Roman times through the Renaissance and even Modern Masters included). We visited the Sistine Chapel (be aware there is no photography here) and finished our tour at St. Peter’s Basilica-awe-inspiring at any time but particularly so during Jubilee year where you can walk down the main aisle to the altar and pass through the Sacred Door. Though not part of our tour, we were able to stay for the noon Mass (special thanks to Santi for accommodating us). How special to attend Mass and Holy Communion just 10 rows away from the main altar at St. Peter’s. A wonderful experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
B7472rprichardd
Jul 25, 2025
- Excellent tour. The guide Carl was absolutely amazing the best I have ever been along with. Very knowledgeable and kind made the whole experience amazing,
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bing676
Jun 9, 2025
Best Way to Visit the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel! TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! - My uncle & I did the Exclusive After Hours Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel GuidedTour with the Tour Guy and Marzia was our guide. We were a group of 20 guests and 1 guide, plus a museum security guard who accompanied us throughout the tour.
A day before that, we had done a daytime guided tour of St.Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel with another company and the Vatican Museums, ESPECIALLY THE SISTINE CHAPEL, were SERIOUSLY OVERCROWDED!!!! We had experienced the Vatican Museums during their normal operating hours and I can honestly recommend you to take the after hours tour! Unless you enjoy jostling with tens of thousands of people in all the corridors, hallways, passageways and staircases in the entire place!
Marzia was a FANTASTIC guide!!! The tour started at 6.30pm, Marzia lead us through the Vatican Museums which were TOTALLY EMPTY of people other than ourselves! We could walk through the passageways with ease without having to push through the hordes of people and spend time to look at the frescoes and paintings without getting shoved aside by rude and inconsiderate people who just wanted to take great photos for their Instagram accounts without knowing the story or history behind the paintings that they are seeing! Marzia explained the significance of the important paintings and sculptures in the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries, the Octagonal Courtyard, the Octagonal Chamber of Legends & Heroes, the Egyptian Museum and lastly, the Sistine Chapel. We spent around 40 minutes INSIDE THE SISTINE CHAPEL AND HAD IT TO OURSELVES!!!! A day earlier, when we entered the Sistine Chapel during the daytime tour, there were around 10,000 people in there and we were squashed like sardines in a can, even worse than that! We had to struggle and physically push our way through the crowd of people who refused to budge, just to get to the exit on the other side of the hall!
If you are planning to visit the Sistine Chapel for the first time, please do yourself a favor and book the Exclusive After Hours Tour for yourself and your loved ones! This tour is quite pricey but TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!Highly Recommended!!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christopherv1356
May 21, 2025
Superb morning at The Vatican Museums - The Vatican Museums and St Peter’s do not require any of my superlatives to do them justice- they are truly amazing and saturated with beauty, history and culture A special word of praise to our tour guide, Giovanni who, besides handling a quite large (20 odd) group very expertly and with great good humour through the crowds was an absolute mine of relevant information with the depth and breadth of knowledge worthy of a Professor of History or Art His genuine interest and love for the buildings and contents and their history shone through and helped towards a truly memorable experience - Grazie Giovanni per Una mattinata davvero straordinaria ed interessantissima.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
X3229tkjackw
May 18, 2025
Tour around Saint Peters Basilica in Vatican City - The most incredible visit to the The Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City where we had a tour with Carl. What an amazing guy Carl is. His passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of everything inside and out of the basilica made the whole thing fantastic giving so much detail in the all of the intricacies! If you can specifically request Carl on your visit i genuinely don’t think there’s a better guy to show you around! Thanks again Jack and G the English couple 🙌🏼
Review provided by Tripadvisor
L9770wlphillips
May 16, 2025
AMAZING GUIDE - Alessia was a wonderful knowledgeable friendly guide
She really went out of her way to explain the history behind so many parts of the tour
Highly recommended
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andonias2020
Jun 24, 2025
Guide Shak fast like shark! Pure business - We had a guide by the name of Shak, the experience was not as expected since we paid for a 3 hour tour paying 200 euros for two people but she finished the tour in 1 hour and a half.
Everything very fast and bad, we did not have time to see or take pictures or anything. It was all pure business.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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