Vatican Tour: Explore Art and History

Experience exclusive access to the Vatican Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica on a VIP tour. Discover the history, mystery, and masterpieces of the Capital of Catholicism.

Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Vatican Museums - As the resting place of St. Peter, Rome’s Vatican is revered as a sacred city, akin to a second Jerusalem. Beyond its spiritual significance, the Vatican Museums house an array of masterpieces: the breathtaking gallery of statues, the intriguing gallery of maps, the gallery of tapestries, and the Raphael Rooms. Visitors to the…
What's Included
  • Guided tour of the Vatican Museums
  • Skip-the-line admission to the Vatican Museums
  • Access to the Sistine Chapel
  • Professional, licensed English-speaking tour guide
  • Headsets to hear the guide clearly (for groups of 5+ participants)
  • ONLY IF ROME HIGHLIGHTS OPTION PURCHASED AT CHECKOUT: Guided visit of the Roman Fora & Palatine Hill
  • ONLY IF ROME…
What's Not Included
  • Access to St Peter’s Basilica
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Eager to discover the mysteries of the Vatican? Embark on an unforgettable 3-hour guided tour through breathtaking halls, iconic art, and tales that have shaped history. Bypass the queues and delve into the Vatican Museums with your knowledgeable guide—exploring the Pinecone Courtyard, magnificent sculptures, and the stunning Galleries of Candelabra,…

Location
Viale Vaticano, 100
Viale Vaticano
Meet at Viale Vaticano 100, by the stairs next to Caffè Vaticano (look for the “Towns of Italy” sign). Be there 15 min early. ONLY IF you booked the ROME HIGHLIGHTS OPTION: second tour at 3:00 PM, Via Quattro Novembre 139. Be there 15 min early. Reach each MP at your own pace.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.2
(179 Ratings)
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Fearless43749337048
Sep 27, 2025
Amazing your! - This was our first tour and absolutely loved it! Paola was an amazing tour guide and would definitely recommend! Next visit to Rome, book them!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dodieo2018
Sep 14, 2025
Busts and Butts and Everything in Between - Our guide was truly excellent, keeping us together and being sure we saw both the serious and humorous side of the art and architecture, the history of the Popes, and how this all fits into the history of Europe and religion.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Emmanuelpb5615jj
Sep 6, 2025
Francesco is the man, great tour guide!!! - Francesco was our guide, and he was excellent—very knowledgeable and clearly passionate about art and history. He shared lots of interesting facts about various pieces and continuously tied them back to Roman history, which made the experience even richer. The tour itself was fast-paced, but at times it felt like it dragged a bit due to the sheer number of visitors. The museum staff also rush you along, which makes it difficult to fully appreciate the art at a slower pace. It would have been nice to have a little more time to explore on our own. That said, if you love world art and enjoy learning about history, this tour is definitely for you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linda_k
Sep 5, 2025
First day of Rome - Met tour guide and had a wonderful and informative tour of the Vatican. She was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the visit. We enjoyed this entire time. The Vatican is amazing and the tour was the beginning of our visit. So glad to learn from her. As we continued our visit to Rome we were able to see how it applied to churches throughout Rome.
Review provided by Viator
Vanessasm2417at
Sep 5, 2025
Roberta is amazing!!! - Roberta was incredible! She was the most informative and brilliant tour guide I’ve ever had. The knowledge she has is outstanding and she made it fun and so enjoyable!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
C165pxamyc
Sep 5, 2025
Great tour! - Marco was wonderful, so informative and patient with our group! We learned a lot and were so glad to have done the tour - the Vatican museum was overwhelming and it helped to have the most important/interesting things pointed out!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Karinavd8132jg
Sep 2, 2025
Amazing tour - This tour was amazing and informative and started on time. Roberta our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge ! Need to know that the tour to the museum is fast in the sense that we walk through a lot of rooms with out seeing the art so keep that in mind but it was great either way and you could snap quick videos or pics .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ejcid97
Aug 29, 2025
Phenomenal - Roberta was phenomenal. She was a wealth of knowledge and truly understood the art. She took us to the most important pieces and made us feel completely at home and comfortable. We will definitely be back to see more. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Scott
Sep 17, 2025
Very knowledgeable with quick access. - Elizabeth knew all the shortcuts and was very knowledgeable about all the items in the Vatican museum and the Sisteen Chapel. We had a personal tour just my wife and I and we thought we would have a personal tour of St Peter’s as well. Our tour was called Private Tour of Vatican Museums and St Peter. Elizabeth took us thru the museum and was very knowledgeable about all the contents. She explained the Sisteen Chapel well but we were sent in on our own. Elizabeth then told us how to get in the St. Peter’s Basilica but she sent us in on our own with very little understanding of what we were seeing. We saw other guides in the Sisteen Chapel and St Peter’s. I’m not sure if they were allowed to give commentary. The private tour, Museum, Sisteen Chapel and St Peter’s were amazing. I just wish and frankly thought we booked a private tour of the Chapel and St Peter’s. This is definitely not something to miss when in Rome.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hardsix9to1
Sep 23, 2025
Almost got scammed. Read this to see what happened. - We are a family of six. I booked this tour through my travel agent many months in advance. I got our paper voucher with reference # for the tour for July 26, 2025. We arrived 45 minutes in advance. We found the Tours of Italy flag bearer in the meeting spot and showed him our voucher. He looks at his tablet and tells us that we are not in his system. I get worried now and tell him that my voucher shows this was reserved and for him to immediately check with his headquarters. He snaps a photo of our voucher and then he gets on the phone. Not even 30 seconds passes when a guy comes over in an unknown tour uniform (I'll call him Raj) and tries to sell us on buying a new tour with him. He tried to tell me that my travel agent will refund me the money so not to worry. I said no and called my travel agent (and woke her up at 1:00am) to tell her to help me with this situation. Raj tells me to quickly go and buy the tour because it is starting soon. I asked the Tours of Italy guy if they found my reservation yet and he says no. He then speaks Italian with Raj and it's like those two knew each other? I didn't understand what they were saying. I continued to wait for Tours of Italy guy to look for our reservation. The travel agent was unable to help and the Tours of Italy guy didn't come back to me and the tour was starting to leave! I went over to him and told him to write down his name and message on my reservation (I had a paper copy) that I didn't join this tour as proof I can provide to my travel agent that I didn't get what I paid for. I told him I need this as proof and I'm going to take his picture while doing it. Raj looks over and points at the paper and tells him to sign it. Tours of Italy guy shakes his head and all of a sudden says, we found your reservation. Here are your tickets to get inside and hands us 6 paper tickets! Unbelievable! He had these 6 "extra" tickets the whole time? I think this was a coordinated scam. They both worked together and tried to get me to buy new tours for my family of 6. I have no proof but all events described above leads me to believe this was the case. The tour ended being good but the above experience made me give this a terrible review.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $83
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).