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Rome: Semi-Private Vatican Museums Tour with Sistine Chapel

Badge of ExcellenceRome, Italy
Before Hours Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Basilica Small Group Tour
  • 3 hours
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

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Overview

Begin your exploration of the Vatican Museums before the general public on this tour. With your small group and tour guide, head straight for the Sistine Chapel to marvel at its art and architecture as one of its first daily visitors. Continue to St. Peter's Basilica, listening to informative commentary on the history of the church and Vatican City as you walk. Entrance fees, guaranteed skip-the-line entry, and use of individual headsets are included.
  • Entrance to the Vatican Museums before general admission
  • Tour the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica with a guide
  • Small group means personalized attention
  • Headsets to hear your guide clearly

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

This exclusive tour allows you to see St. Peter’s chapel during mass.

What's Included

  • Semi-Private Small Group of Maximum 10 People!
  • Skip the Line Direct Access to the Vatican Museums, Pio-Clementino Museum, Gallery of the Candelabra
  • Access to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel
  • Admire Raphael Rooms and its Famous School of Athens
  • Skip-the-line Entry & Visit to the St. Peter's Church
  • A Professional, English-speaking Guide
  • Hotel Pick Up / Drop Off
  • Food & Beverages
  • Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy

    Please arrive 10 minutes early. Your guide will meet you between Hotel Alimandi and Caffé Vaticano, at the top of the big staircase (Viale Vaticano, 100). A representative will be there holding a sign reading “The Tour Guy.” 

End point

  • Saint Peter's Square
    Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

    The tour will end at St. Peter's Basilica (except on Wednesdays when we finish inside the Vatican Museums).

What To Expect

Vatican City

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Vatican Museums

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Sphere within a Sphere

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Sistine Chapel

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • A specific 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.
  • A fair amount of walking is involved, and there will be stairs between different levels. We regret that we are unable to accommodate guests with wheelchairs or any walking impairments that require special assistance on our group tours. We are also unable to accommodate strollers or baby carriages.
  • Please contact The Tour Guy to book a wheelchair accessible tour
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start 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.
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

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Reviews

4.5
795 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 795 reviews
Wonderful guide and tour!
Paul, Apr 2024
Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, friendly, courteous and professional. We enjoyed our guide and the tour immensely!!! Would recommend 10/10 to everyone!!!
Response from Host, Apr 2024
It's fantastic to hear that your guide left such a positive impression on you! A knowledgeable, personable, and professional guide can truly enhance the enjoyment of a tour. Thanks for sharing your experience, and it's wonderful to know that you would highly recommend it to others!
Great tour and guide!
Rosemarie_H, Apr 2024
Sara was amazing and informative. The tour was the perfect amount if time. Would recommend the tour for others.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
It's great to hear that you had a wonderful experience with Sara as your guide and that the tour duration was just right for you. Thank you for recommending the tour to others!
Excellent tour. Very helpful guide.
Shiju_A, Apr 2024
Excellent tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable. She adjusted the pace of the tour so our kids can also keep up. 5 stars.
Wow! Must see with audio.
Jeanette_J, Apr 2024
Incredible, definitely go early to skip lines. Was still busy but able to take photos without too many people in them. Must do activity. Massive building and art work. Words can't describe properly the magnificent.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
It sounds like you had an incredible experience visiting a magnificent place! Going early to skip the lines was definitely a smart move, allowing you to enjoy the experience with fewer crowds and capture some great photos. Indeed, the grandeur of such massive buildings and artworks can be difficult to put into words. Thanks for sharing your experience—it's clear that it left a lasting impression on you!
Must do!
Samantha_F, Apr 2024
Great tour with our guide Ele, she was extremely knowledgeable and helped us navigate the Vatican Museum and basilica effortlessly. Having an early morning guided tour is a must, saved us so much time by avoiding long waits. 10/10 would recommend.
Exceeded expectations
Edna_D, Mar 2024
Everything was explained very well. I was disappointed with (not our guide) the activity and talking in the Sistine chapel. Other than that the tour exceeded my expectations.
Amazing Vatican Tour— Everything you need
Savannah_S, Mar 2024
Our guide was energetic, accommodating, and a trained archaeologist as well as an art lover. She was careful to help older members of the group who had trouble with stairs, and when she heard my son was enamored of the Swiss Guard, she introduced him to one! She obviously knew her way around. It was a LONG tour but she really did it right.
SKIP THE LINE IS WORTH IT I PROMISE
jennifer_b, Dec 2023
Skip the line is worth every single dime. The line to get into the Vatican Museum was down the road and around the corner, we walked right in with our tour guide. The line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica was another two hour long line, we walked right in with our tour guide. That alone is worth the price. Our tour guide was great, friendly, but sometimes hard to understand. I do not remember his name or if he ever even told us but would most definitely book the tour again if we return.
Response from Host, Dec 2023
Thank you for your review! We're thrilled to hear that our skip-the-line tour provided such a seamless experience at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. We're delighted you found the convenience alone worthwhile. We'll take your feedback about the guide's clarity into account to ensure clearer communication in the future. We'd love to welcome you back on another tour if you return!
Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel
Leva_M, Dec 2023
In addition to having great knowledge, our guide showed us such courtesy. He went far beyond our expectations.
Superb Experience!
Rozalyn_T, Dec 2023
The morning light made for an incredible viewing of the beautiful art and sculptures. Our guide was excellent!!! She was patient, very knowledgeable and kind. Highly reccomend!
A must-do in Rome !
Douglas_L, Dec 2023
The Vatican and St Peter's basilica are truly something to see. That said, it can be very overwhelming, so getting in early - before the HUGE crowds - and having someone to guide you and focus your attention is definitely the way to go. This was a highlight during our Roman holiday...Highly recommend !
Best tour & tour guide I ever had
ttrranch, Nov 2023
We had the best experience. Kate made the tour so exciting and fun and educational. . I would recommend this tour to anybody.
Wow!!
Nehali_S, Nov 2023
From the art to the architecture, this is the highlight of my trip to Rome. My brain doesn’t fully comprehend just how marvelous and stunning everything is. On top of that, my tour experience was incredible. I was lucky enough to get Igor as my tour guide and he did not disappoint. His level of knowledge about the history, spirituality, and technical skill behind each piece of art and the architecture, paired with his humor, made him the perfect guide. We were about 17 people on the tour, but he made me person feel as if they were on a private tour with the way he presented the information and engaged with the group. 11 out of 10 recommend!
Great experience!
Linda_B, Oct 2023
Our tour guide was great! Very knowledgeable and informative! Worth every bit of the investment! Recommend going as early in the day as you can.
Wonderful Guide
Mitchell_C, Oct 2023
Great tour. Our guide (she is an archaeologist) was incredible. She was funny and excellent giving information us about Vatican and Rome. Would not hesitate doing this again.
Great tour -Giovanni P.
Anonymous, Oct 2023
What amazing sites! Our guide, Giovanni P. was great. We enjoyed his jokes, good sense of humour and you can see that he has a clear passion and knowledge of the history and the area. Thank you Giovanni P. (from your friends the Canadians)
Save Your Money
James_O, Oct 2023
The tour misrepresented what was to occur. There really was no “Skip The Line”, there was no “early entry” to the Sistine Chapel. It was money wasted and I think Viator/Trip Advisor should be ashamed of this activity.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Hi James and thank you for your feedback! We are sorry that you had experienced delays with the security line. Unfortunately, no one can just skip the security screening at any of the monuments or museums. We understand that the Vatican has been allowing more than normal amount of people in at the earlier time, this we do not have control over. I do hope that your time in Rome went better and had a wonderful time!
Sara was fantastic!
Will_S, Oct 2023
Sara was a fantastic guide! She was easy to understand and brought a lot of knowledge about the subjects at the Vatican. She kept the group together and educated at the same time. We had issues on some other guided tours (not through Viator) that the guides spoke way too long and became boring. Not Sara! I would highly recommend any tour she gives.
Good tour
Jennifer_A, Oct 2023
Our tour for the Sistine chapel was not as organized as our colosseum tour. The Sistine chapel was with the Roman guy tour group. We were told the meeting place and no other instructions. When we arrived early to the location after looking around in a very crowded location we could not find the Roman Guy. When I called the contact number I received a recording for the tour guy. There was a large group for the tour guy at the location. The colosseum tour thru a different group on visitor was very clear about where to meet and said what the flag would look like at the meeting location. Our tour was at 8:15 we did not get into the Vatican until 9:15. I think some people were late for the tour and that held us up as well. You are not allowed to speak in the chapel so the guide shows you photos of the chapel and gives history for about 20 or 30 minutes before you go in. You then walk quickly through so many amazing parts of the vatican. The guide will stop to talk about specific works that relate to the chapel. You get little leeway to look at other things on the way to the chapel. Eventually you get to the chapel and get 15 minutes with at least a hundred other people. There are specific places to stand and there are places to sit if other people get up. Other people are talking and taking photos even though we were instructed not to. The guide met us at the end of the chapel and leads you out. You then are brought to St. Peter’s to look around. There are so many amazing things to see at the Vatican and we enjoyed getting to see them. Our guide was professional and knowledgeable. The audio equipment did not work well in the Vatican. It was very staticky and I had difficulty understanding the guide. The audio equipment worked great at the colosseum tour.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thank you for your feedback Jennifer! I understand about the crowds, I see it every day here. Unfortunately, we have no control in how many people are able to enter the Vatican. As for visibility at the meeting point, I will bring this problem to our Ground Staff manager. I thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel Good Guide
Debra_D, Oct 2023
Good guide with in-depth info. Very crowded. Long wait to see Sistine chapel. We did skip the line to some extent.
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up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

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