Recently Viewed
Vatican Tour: Sistine Chapel & Museum Highlights
4.6
174 Ratings
Roma
Experience the breathtaking Sistine Chapel and the key attractions of the Vatican Museums on this guided tour with your small group. An expert guide will accompany the group as you explore the Vatican Museum’s galleries, Pinecone Courtyard, and ultimately, Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the must-see Sistine Chapel.
Experience the breathtaking Sistine Chapel and the key attractions of the Vatican Museums on this guided tour with your small group. An expert guide will accompany the group as you explore the Vatican Museum’s galleries, Pinecone Courtyard, and ultimately, Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the must-see Sistine Chapel.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Vatican Museums - Bypass the typically lengthy queues and delve straight into the galleries showcasing some of the world’s most renowned artworks. An expert, English-speaking guide will provide enlightening insights and context (along with fascinating stories) as you explore the Belvedere Courtyard featuring ‘Apollo Belvedere’ and ‘Laocoön and…
- Vatican Museums - Bypass the typically lengthy queues and delve straight into the galleries showcasing some of the world’s most renowned artworks. An expert, English-speaking guide will provide enlightening insights and context (along with fascinating stories) as you explore the Belvedere Courtyard featuring ‘Apollo Belvedere’ and ‘Laocoön and Sons’, the Pinecone Courtyard, the Gallery of the Candelabra, the Gallery of the Maps, and the Gallery of the Tapestries. Visiting after the daytime crowds have dispersed, you’ll enjoy the additional space and tranquility to fully appreciate the stunning art within the Museums.
- Sphere within a Sphere - In the serene Pinecone Courtyard, you’ll encounter a remarkable bronze globe. Created for the Vatican by the renowned Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro, replicas of this piece can be found worldwide, including in Dublin, Tel Aviv, and New York City.
- Pigna Courtyard - Guided tour & Photo Stop
- Cortile del Belvedere - Guided tour & Photo Stop
- Gallery of Maps - Guided tour & Photo Stop
- Sistine Chapel - Proceed to the Sistine Chapel. Before entering, your guide will share the stories behind the creation of these iconic frescoes and their meanings. Once inside, you’ll be able to admire the room’s full grandeur, noticing the subtle details and quirks that often go unnoticed.
Please note that the Sistine Chapel (and the door providing access to St. Peter’s Basilica) will be closed from April 28 to mid-May for the Papal Conclave. The Vatican Museums will remain open, allowing you to explore its many highlights with your expert guide, who will lead you on an alternative itinerary during this significant period at the Vatican.
What's Included
- Skip the Line Access tickets to the Vatican Museums
- Local English-speaking guide
- Small groups of 18 people or fewer
- Headsets
- Skip the Line Access tickets to the Vatican Museums
- Local English-speaking guide
- Small groups of 18 people or fewer
- Headsets
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
- Gratuities
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
Additional Information
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- All guests (including children) must bring ID on the day of their tour.
- Due to the religious nature of the Vatican, all individuals regardless of gender must cover their shoulders and knees. Walks cannot be held…
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- All guests (including children) must bring ID on the day of their tour.
- Due to the religious nature of the Vatican, all individuals regardless of gender must cover their shoulders and knees. Walks cannot be held responsible for those denied entry.
- Areas visited during this tour are subject to closure. Your guide may need to modify the itinerary on the day of the tour.
- Walks Tours is an Accredited Tour Operator with an official ticketing agreement with the Vatican Museums.
Location
Antico Caffè Candia
Via Candia
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a green Walks sign. This tour meets at Antico Café Candia, Via Candia, 153, 00192 Roma RM.
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
4.6
(174 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Joann_o
Sep 27, 2025
Vatican tour - This is our first time to Italy and of course you have to see the Vatican just cause. Our tour guide was great and very informative. We learned a lot about the artwork and history of the Vatican and the church, of course; each of the buildings are there for a different purpose, and the Sistine chapel is truly worth seeing; the artwork and detail is really unbelievable and hard to believe a human could actually paint with such precision and detail. If you’ve never been, it’s worth going at least once and this was a great tour. Definitely wear comfortable shoes. It’s a lot of walking as it’s a huge place. Thankfully, we did the after hours tour and it was still crowded. I could not imagine going earlier in the day.
Carry light as you don’t want to be carrying a lot of stuff and you do need to go through security
Interestingly enough, this is a Jubilee year and we were concerned it would be excessively crowded but every tour guide has told us that people are staying away because they were worried about the crowds this year. So if you’re thinking about making a last-minute trip do it ….it’s just not that crowded
Review provided by Viator
Laura_s
Sep 6, 2025
Very impressive guide - Our guide was brilliant. He distilled the Vatican Museums into a manageable, yet powerful presentation and then focused on people's questions and interests. He had the knowledge to answer every question in depth. Very impressive.
Review provided by Viator
W8365czjosemanuelf
Aug 27, 2025
Unforgettable experience - A fantastic experience with Susanna as a guide. Always attentive to the members of the group, he provided us much knowledge of the place to be able to access without problems. On the other hand, his passion for the work he does is rating, his explanations have been very illustrative without being tedious, something very grateful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marita_v
Apr 14, 2025
Roberta rocks the Vatican! - Roberta was great! She was very knowledgeable. Also, we wanted to mail our postcards from the Vatican and, even though there wasn’t really time allocated for that, she made that work for us, I REALLY appreciated her for that.
Review provided by Viator
R628ivjoel
Mar 28, 2025
Good tour - The tour guide was very knowledgeable and nice. Gave great explanations of the various art and period they were created.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z6067jbroberte
Mar 4, 2025
Wonderful tour. Fabulous tour guide. - Our tour guide Alessia was simply wonderful! She guided my wife and I through the Vatican Museums, full of information and insights into everything we saw. And she was an absolutely delightful individual, so professional, but more importantly, so very friendly. She made my wife and I feel so at ease as we toured these beautiful museums. We could not have asked for a better experience. She helped to provide us with a wonderful memory of our trip to Rome.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rhianelen
Nov 2, 2024
Excellent. - This was an excellent tour and our guide Claudia was superb. We'd booked because our trip to Rome was a last-minute one and the Vatican was otherwise sold out and so although we worried about how expensive it was, the money was absolutely worth it.
Claudia proved her worth right from the outset by dealing with two issues firmly and efficiently and then proceeded to engage the whole group really effectively. Everybody on the tour was an adult aside from my 9-year old niece and so Claudia immediately made her feel special by inviting her to lead the group. This ensured that my niece was captivated for the entire duration and everything Claudia told us was interesting and engaging.
She also ran the tour very well indeed, ensuring that everybody had time to see what they wanted, reassuring everybody that despite the crowds they wouldn't be left behind and also being very clear about where she intended to pause and for how long. She also realised that none of us on the tour had managed to see St Peter's basilica because of the queues so she led us to it via a back entrance, ensuring that we skipped the 3-hour wait.
Overall, superb.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marianne_d
Oct 26, 2024
Go on the tour! - We had a lovely experience at the Vatican with this tour. The museum was breathtaking, and Apollo is back on display! The Sistine Chapel was beautiful. I would not have enjoyed it as much without the tour to help fill in the details and better understand just how amazing the collection in the museum was!
Review provided by Viator
Linda-hartford
May 25, 2025
Crowded but worth it for a great experience - We chose last tour of day to minimize crowds. Unfortunately the museums were closed unexpectedly that morning due to Vatican visitor to the new Pope . So crowds were significant which impacted our tour. Our guide, Marta, was knowledgeable, flexible, friendly, she engaged the children in our group also with her questions & information. Much as 3 hour tour was long, it provided a wealth of information. Very enjoyable & well worth the cost. I would definitely recommend it to others.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
709beths
Oct 24, 2024
Tour guide was great, but tour was very rushed (and crowded!) - First things first - don't believe any tour that says "without the crowds." There are ALWAYS crowds, this one was no exception.
Second - use the bathroom before you get to the meeting spot/tour, as the cafe was not open. And the line for the bathroom inside the museum was very long, and the few people that "had to go" took about 20 minutes to get back to our group, keeping us all waiting to start the tour.
We did get to skip the line for our tour, which was nice. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the museums. We spent a lot of time outside viewing posters of what we would see inside, with our guide explaining them. But it did help explain some of the history behind the art we were about to experience.
We ended at the Sistine Chapel, where I had heard they pack you in - they do. But it was still an amazing sight to see.
Overall, we felt very rushed through the museums. To be fair, it looked like all of the other tours (and there were so many tours!) were doing the same. It might be worth it to get there earlier and stand on line for tickets, so you can go at your own pace. But if you just want a very topline view of all the art and gaudiness, this is good for you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
