Early Vatican Museums Tour: The Best of the Sistine Chapel

We did a small private 7:45 am Pristine Sistine tour of the Vatican and it was excellent. Our guide (think her name was Roxy) was informative and had a very welcoming way about her. She managed the mixing of our family of four and another family not know to us very well. The Vatican was very crowded even that early in the morning but it was also Good Friday and the Jubilee. The guide has a mic and we all had earpieces which was incredibly helpful with the crowds. There is so much to see and the guards in the museum really kept people moving so this tour doesn’t do a deep dive but we all felt like we learned a ton and were blown away by the art. Based on our experience, I highly recommend this company. Also, you meet outside of a cafe that has good cappuccino and pastries so we got there early and had a bite to eat before the tour.

While in Italy, I booked three tours with Walks. Overall, the tours were nice, but there was something about each experience that will make me think twice about using them again. I did extensive research before booking this tour. I was happy to skip the lengthy lines for solo visitors to the Vatican museums, to be directed to the highlights, and to have a direct entrance to St. Peter's Basilica without having to walk all the way around as I was traveling with my mother and wanted to limit the amount of walking each day. When the tour began, I learned our guide had a degree in art history. Perfect. My problem was the failure to communicate, until we arrived, that Saint Peter's Basilica was "closed" on Saturdays. The tour listing indicated it was closed on Wednesdays. The guide then advised we could still walk over and tour it on our own that afternoon, which we did. Having to find our way without a guide took away from time we had planned for other activities. Additionally, we observed countless guided tours being conducted. So, not only did we not receive what we paid for, we felt we were lied to as if Walks made the decision not to provide that part of the experience and then came up with an excuse. It was very disappointing. We were not the only participants who felt misled. Communicating this information ahead of time might have led us to cancel and book a different tour, but we should have had that option.

The guide was great. He blended history, art, religion and threw in some fantastic humor as well. There was one deviation because it was a Saturday and because it was a holy year there were special Masses that morning which meant we did not gain back entry into St. Peter’s Basilica. But he informed us in advance before we set out and he added extra time in other wings of the Museums to make up for that. He also explained how to obtain access after the tour concluded. The last part did not impact us as we had already signed on as pilgrims for the passage through the Holy Doors in advance where the rites concluded in the Basilica anyway. Truly magnificent experiences.