Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
* This tour requires at least one of the following per booking: Adult, Senior
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!
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Meet your guide at our comfortable offices near the Museums' entrance
Skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica
Headsets to hear the guide
Small group
Expert English-speaking tour guide
Early entrance guaranteed
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Gratuites
Departure Point
Via Santamaura, 14B, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
The tour meets directly at our office, the exact address is Via Santamaura 14/B. Please remember that Rome’s streets can be confusing, so we recommend allowing extra time in case you get lost.
Return Details
Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Tour ends inside the Basilica of St. Peter's.
Via Santamaura, 14B, 00192 Roma RM, Italy The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums' entrance.
Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy 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. 90 minutes
VA, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City 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. 10 minutes
VA, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City 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. 10 minutes
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Italy 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. 30 minutes
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy 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. 45 minutes
St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, Italy 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.
Vatican City, Vatican City, Italy 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.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
While the Vatican Museums are equipped with elevators for wheelchair access, they are not conveniently located on the group tour route and only give access to specific sections of the Museums. As a result, we cannot accommodate wheelchairs on this tour.
A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements.
Please plan on being at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the start time.
We recommend that you bring your own headphones as the ones provided by the Vatican have a single earpiece only, and you may prefer to use both earbuds to hear the guide better.
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
dianamK2455FI
23 Nov 2024
Alicia Moreno excelente guía y muy conocedora, relata todo con mucho detalle y gran pasión por la historia, nos encantó!
Lorrie_F
23 Nov 2024
Yanira was fantastic! Animated, friendly, and very knowledgeable. Definitely recommend and will book with this company again.
Kristine_E
23 Nov 2024
Michele was the absolute best!!! Highly Recommend the early morning tour to beat the crowds. Must see.
We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
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