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Skip the Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Tour | Small Group & Private

Badge of ExcellenceRoma, Italy
Skip the Line Small Group Tour Vatican Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica
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From $117.95

Price varies by group size

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Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance.
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Kid-Friendly
Likely To Sell Out
Unique Experiences
  • 3 hours
  • Offered in: English

Overview

See the best of Vatican City on this small-group tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. Skip the long lines at the Vatican and go straight to the remarkable art and architecture, including galleries, the Julius II apartments, the Raphael Rooms, and Sistine Chapel. This intimate Vatican tour is limited to six people for a personal experience and individual service from the guide, and includes all entrance fees.
  • Visit the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica
  • See galleries, courtyards, and papal apartments
  • Take in the Sistine Chapel
  • Interior access to St. Peter's Basilica
  • All entrance fees included
  • Skip the line
  • Small group limited to six people

What's Included

  • Tour in a Safe and Semi Private group of 6 people
  • Enjoy Skip the Line Access
  • Professional, Local, Expert Guide
  • Private Option available!
  • Food and drinks
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Viale Vaticano, 100
    Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy

    in front of Caffé Vaticano, on viale Vaticano 100, just across the street from the Museum entrance. Your guide will be holding a LIvTours sign.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Meet a guide at a central location near the Vatican at the pre-arranged time, then skip the line to get into the Vatican Museums to see the highlights of the vast collection. Exploring the museums with a small group, you are able to maneuver the crowded galleries at a comfortable pace, with plenty of time to ask questions.

Pass through a series of gardens and terraces, where you find early Renaissance architecture and an exquisite modern art piece, then see the collection of Roman and Greek artifacts in the Octagonal Courtyard.

Visit the Muses Room, the Round Room, and the Greek Cross Room, then take in the maps and tapestries in the galleries on your way to the Julius II apartments and the Raphael Rooms, part of the papal apartments.

Enter the Sistine Chapel through a tiny door, with time to take in the brilliant frescoes that the ceiling and walls. From the Sistine Chapel, continue to St. Peter’s Basilica through an interior passageway—this allows you to skip the exterior line—and finish the tour in the enormous Catholic shrine, which contains masterpieces of design, sculpture, and artwork.

Vatican Museums

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • 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
  • Occasionally the basilica may be closed due to last minute private events outside of the tour operators control and often without notice. In these uncommon circumstances the tour will operate as usual and the time spent inside the basilica will be made up elsewhere on the tour
  • Please note that tours selected on Wednesday mornings at 10 am can be periodically effected by the closure of St Peter's Basilica due to last minute decisions by the Vatican. Please be insured the lost time will be compensated with other areas of the museums.
  • Near public transportation
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 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.

Traveler Photos

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Traveler Tips

I highly recommend this tour and would suggest that without a guide you would need a whole day to try to navigate through this massive facility.
We were on the 10 AM tour and I recommend the earlier, the better for the crowds in late September.
It was hard to hear at times due to the immense crowds but I guess that can be expected when you’re touring such an amazing place as the Vatican.

Reviews

5.0
1,814 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 1,814 reviews
A fantastic experience.
Philip_Z, Sep 2023
Beauty of the Sistine Chapel. The size of St. Peters Basilica. The knowledge of our guide Francesca. We appreciated her recommendation for lunch afterwards. I would recommend touring with a small group.
Amazing !!!
Lisa_P, Sep 2023
Totally enjoyed my trip to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. The rich history and beautiful art within the walls is sight to see. Our tour guide, Silvia, was tremendous in communicating the amazing history. Everyone in our group was happy with our trip and guide, and I would definitely use/recommend LivTours again.
A moving experience
Fifa_E, Sep 2023
From the architecture, painted ceilings, marble statues, hallways, and grounds There is nothing as breathtaking as what you see and experience on this tour of the Vatican. Ps, if your Catholic stay for one of the mass celebrations … a spiritual re-awakening.
Amazing from start to finish!
julie_s, Sep 2023
Julia was an amazing tour guide! She was knowledgeable, efficient, professional, caring and the Vatican come alive! Highly recommend!
Tremendous experience
Michael_M, Sep 2023
Giuliano was an amazing guide! So knowledgeable of the history and design. He made our small group tour very personable!! Well worth everything.
Wonderful experience
Bobby_M, Sep 2023
Our guide, Valentina, was exceptional. One of the best we have encountered. All of the sites were wonderful and the small group approach made it much easier to gain access. There is so much to see that it can be overwhelming. Valentina helped manage the experience and augmented with examples that complemented your. A wonderful experience!
Would recommend to anyone who wants experience getting see Vatican without hassle , well spent time and money
tppletneva, Sep 2023
Very nice and knowledgeable guide Fabrizio. We enjoyed listening his explanations about history of Vatican.
Art, Culture and religious significance rolled into one experience!
John_G, Sep 2023
The Vatican was amazing! Although we were unable to enter the Bascillica because of technical difficulties- we saw and did EVERYTHING possible. Although our guide “lost” part of our group towards the end of our tour- it worked out and she eventually caught up to us and made up for the inconvenience by extending a “substantial refund” for our inconvenience - excellent service recovery on Viators part!
Beautiful without the wait and great guide
Barbara_J, Sep 2023
I would give more stars if possible. Monica Bianchi went above and beyond to make our tour perfect. She was extremely knowledgeable but not boring. She was a great leader and customized it until the very end. Not to mention she helped us with how to get a ticket on the subway/metro. I could go on and on. Thank you Monica for such a perfect experience. Oh we did the group tour up to six which was much nicer than other tours we’ve been on with a larger group.
Wonderful trip.
Pamela_F, Sep 2023
Our guide was great, very knowledgeable. He knew how to skip through and hit all the high points without us feeling like we missed anything. We had a fabulous day.
Efficient and informative
Sarah_H, Sep 2023
Decided to go w the full guided tour. Small group and skip the line was a must to easily get through the crowds. Our guide was efficient and funny. Great experience all around.
Great value
Josh_B, Sep 2023
Dario led a stellar tour. We all really enjoyed it. Lots of great insights and a very smooth experience.
Grate Tour company
Les_T, Sep 2023
Fantastic job! Our tour guides name was David with Liv tours. His depth of knowledge and his explanation of everything was absolutely amazing! He has been doing these tours for 20 years, and it really shows. Very well worth it.
Good guide but not visit
Darla_W, Sep 2023
Our tour guide was very good. The museums and chapel were too hot and it was too crowded to enjoy. They ran us out of the chapel so we didn’t get to really see it. The Basilica was beautiful.
Excellent - do it!
Michael_K, Sep 2023
This tour was simply excellent - our guide Leah was fantastic - knowledgeable, passionate and enthusiastic…she treated us as her family (and called us that also!!). She was bubbly, engaging and genuinely excited about what she does. The tour was first class and excellent value for money - highly recommended 👍👍👍
Great time at the Batican
Karen_M, Sep 2023
Our tour guide was amazing. Such great insights. Very engaging.. so knowledgeable. We would use them again!
Avoid the masses and the chaos-small group/semi-private is the way to go!
Maria_W, Sep 2023
My 1st time in Rome. I have never seen such enormous masses of people. Imagine the crowds in New York's Times Square on NYE or Madrid on Three King's Parade. It was an insane amount of people and it was just soooo smart to book a small group/semi-private tour instead of the other tour companies with 25-35 people. It's so easy to get misplaced with so many people trying to push past you. Dario was a great guide. He kept our group of 6 protected from the masses, and he was knowledgeable and engaging.
Breathtaking Tour - Thank You Alessandro!
Karen_G, Sep 2023
Our guide, Alessandro, is extremely knowlegeable and engaging. He brought the lives of Michelangelo, Rafael and other artists to life. We learned so much about the history of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. We marvelled at the detail, beauty and amazing art, sculptures and mosaics we saw. When I looked up and saw the Sistine Chapel ceiling, I was moved to tears. This was an amazing tour; I highly recommend Alessandro as a guide!
Alessandro was our guide....
Christy_S, Sep 2023
Alessandro was our guide. He was very knowledgeable. Easy to understand. Highly recommend. We had an extremely hot day for our tour, but we still had a wonderful time.
Well trained tour guide
Kara_O, Sep 2023
Giovanni was very good. My husband and I were with three other people so it was a small group. I found the tour extremely informative.
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Skip the Line Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Tour | Small Group & Private
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