Guaranteed to skip the long lines
Licensed tour guide
access tickets to the Vatican Museums
Skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica
Tours are monolingual in English and Spanish to ensure the highest quality of service

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Gratuities
Please be advised that the tour by Night does not include the visit of St. Peter's Basilica

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Viale Vaticano, 100
Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Meet your tour leader at Viale Vaticano 100, on top of the stairs next to Caffè Vaticano. The guide will show a white logo sign of "Towns of Italy". Please be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

End point

St. Peter's Basilica
Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

What To Expect

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
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
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate

Big bags and liquid bottles will not be allowed inside the museums
Please let us know in advance any special need or impaired mobility
PLEASE NOTE: in order to purchase the Vatican Museums tickets, we kindly need to receive in advance the names of all participants (accordingly to the ID card).
Due to exceptional religious events, St. Peter's Basilica might be closed without any notice
Entry to the Vatican Museums is based on strictly timed tickets. For this reason, late arrivals cannot be guaranteed access
Kindly take note: St. Peter's Basilica will not be accessible for visits on Wednesday. The tour will solely encompass the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 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

Reviews

4.0

60 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 60 reviews

Very worthy!

Rosangela_W, Sep 2023

My husband and I had a great time! We loved our tour guide. She was knowledgeable and friendly! This company is very organized!

Fantastic way to see the Vatican

Ankush_C, Sep 2023

Stefania was an extremely knowledgable, kind and fantastic host, would highly recommend this tour! She was also fantastic in making sure we got through very busy parts with enough time to take photos and while avoiding crowds of people where possible.

The visit was memorable...

Renu_B, Aug 2023

The visit was memorable and wee were fortunate have a fabulous guide . The Vatican museum , Sistine Chaprl and St Peter’s Basilica was outstanding.

Vatican Tour

Joseph_R, Jul 2023

Our guide, Suzanna, was superb! She was incredibly knowledgeable , and receptive to all questions. The guidance was needed with the volume of tourists.

Great Vatican Trip!

Jonathan_G, Jul 2023

Super happy with this trip! Delta cancelled our flight to Rome and rebooked is the next day, so we BARELY made this tour, but man was it great! So much art and history! I couldn’t imagine trying to navigate the Vatican on my own!

Interesting to hear the stories about all the Popes and the artwork.

Susan_W, Jul 2023

Many tour groups meet at the same location, so it is important to know the name of your tour company. I had no problem finding them and once I checked in, I was told the group would be split into two. Our guide introduced herself, unfortunately, I do not recall her name, and did a roll call to ensure all her people were with her. A lot of people for this location, it is very easy to lose someone here, so it is important to know what the flag is like for your tour guide. Our guide had two different colored scarves on her flag, so it was easy to find her. She was very informative about all the locations we visited. It was an extremely hot day, so she always tried to find a shaded area when we were outside, to give her explanations. Because it is wall-to-wall people, the guide stopped often to make sure she had not lost anyone. By the end of the museum tour, we had lost about half of the group, they decided to continue on their own. There are a lot of signs explaining what you see, so one could look on their own, but it is only one-way, so difficult to go back and see something behind. After returning the headsets for the museum, the guide picked up new headsets for us for the Basilica. A guide not entirely necessary for this, but it did allow us quick entry inside and she did have more information about what we saw and the historical importance of pieces of art and items in the Bascilla, which you would not get if you were on your own. A great tour, the only downside is all the people.

Engaging and definitely worth it

Rita_A, Jun 2023

Such a great tour led by our very enthusiastic guide Francesca. This was my 3rd time visiting the Vatican, but the first time I felt I fully understood the magnitude of this special and holy place. Although it was extremely crowded, she managed to keep us together. She was engaging and we thoroughly enjoyed this.

Good tour.

Howard_R, Jun 2023

Very nice tour and great guide. Museums were very busy but she kept things interesting. Recommended.

Great tour

Jade_S, Jun 2023

Great tour, I would recommend going when the weather is cooler as there is not a lot of air circulation

Not recommended

Matthew_L, Jun 2023

I would not recommend the guide this company used. Not very informative and spent too much time rambling about random things and not focusing on the big ticket items we were there to see.

Wonderful experience.

James_L, Jun 2023

We had wonderful experience. The guide was very informative and easy to understand. Kept us on track through the tour.

VERY RUSHED AND HARD TO UNDERSTAND HER

Kimberly_H, Jun 2023

The tour guide walked too fast and very quietly. It was a very rushed tour and hard to decipher what she was saying most of the time.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Dear Miss Kimberly, Thank you for sharing your feedback about your recent tour experience. We appreciate your honest review and apologize for any inconvenience caused. We are sorry to hear that you found the tour guide's pace to be too fast and her voice difficult to decipher. We understand that this could have affected your overall experience and we sincerely apologize for the disappointment it may have caused. We take customer feedback seriously, and we will address this matter with our tour guide to ensure that the pace is appropriate and that their narration is clear and audible for all participants. It is our priority to provide informative and enjoyable tours for our valued customers. We would like to make it up to you and invite you to join us for another tour in the future. Please feel free to contact our customer service team, and we will be more than happy to assist you in finding a suitable tour that meets your expectations. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience you experienced and appreciate your valuable feedback. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future. Kind regards, Florencetown - Towns of Italy Customer Care

Good

Jessie_D, Jun 2023

Guide was fantastic, although some parts of the tour were so full of people that I was not able to enjoy it. Would recommend going in cooler weather. Early in the day or later at night if possible.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Dear Miss Jessie, On behalf of our guide, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for the compliments you shared in your review. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your experience with us. Regarding the negative aspect of your review, we would like to clarify that as a tour operator specializing in small group experiences, we are not responsible for the actions of other independent visitors at the Vatican Museums. We do, however, offer exclusive early morning or late afternoon entry times precisely to allow our guests to explore the museums away from the daily crowds. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back soon so that you can personally experience how a different time slot can make a significant difference in your visit. We appreciate your feedback and value your satisfaction as our customer. Thank you for choosing our tour, and we look forward to the possibility of hosting you again in the future. Best regards, Florencetown - Towns of Italy Customer Care

We loved Milli the guide,...

Roseann_H, May 2023

We loved Milli the guide, however, this tour was extremely crowded by all the other groups. The ad made us think we would get to enjoy the Vatican without a ton of crowds. We were a group of 14 and was told would be group of 12. The other 15 to 20 -- ,if not more, private tour groups made it jam packed. Not a enjoyable experience. Maybe you should mention that in your advertisement. Not make the customer believe it's a private tour of a dozen people. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Response from Host, May 2023

Dear Mrs. Roseann, Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding your recent visit to the Vatican Museums. We appreciate the compliments you have given to our tour guide, and we are pleased to hear that you had a positive experience with them. We understand your concern regarding the large crowds at the Vatican Museums during your visit. However, we would like to clarify that this issue is beyond our control as a tour operator. The tour you participated in is advertised as a small group experience, not a private tour. It is important to note that it is unrealistic to expect the entire Vatican Museums to be empty and exclusively available for a single group of people. The popularity of the Vatican Museums attracts a significant number of visitors from around the world. We apologize if there was any confusion or misinterpretation regarding the expectations for your tour. We strive to provide accurate information about the tour experience and the conditions at the Vatican Museums. We recommend carefully reviewing the tour details and descriptions to ensure a clear understanding of what to expect. Thank you once again for your feedback, and we hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future. Best regards, Florencetown - Towns of Italy Customer Care

Terrible tour company and tour guide

Karla_C, May 2023

Firstly, I knew it would be beyond crowded, so that was unavoidable. This tour company and tour guide were awful. We were not met at the address where we were instructed to meet. Luckily, there were tour guides from other companies that told us to go across the street and look for our tour. Communication with everyone in the group was little to none, we were all being pushed one way and the other by other groups and tour guides while waiting for our tour guide to get it together. The tour company doesn't supply their own audio equipment. We had to make a series of stops on our way into the Vatican, one being a wait to get audio equipment. The audio was very muffled and the tour guide's accent was so bad that very few people could understand anything she said. She was rude to some women in our group when they asked to use the restroom. There were 2 hearing impaired, almost completely deaf people in our group and she made no attempt to accommodate them at all. The tour guide was not friendly at all. About half of the group dropped out before the end of the tour. I would have benefitted more from renting an audio device on my own and doing a self guided tour. The only benefit to this tour was not having to stand in line on my own to get tickets.

Response from Host, May 2023

Dear Mrs. Karla, Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your recent tour experience. We understand your concerns regarding the quality of the tour, but we would like to clarify that many of the issues raised are beyond our control as a tour operator, as you yourself mentioned at the beginning of your review. The Vatican Museums are one of the world's most popular attractions, and it is natural to expect a high volume of visitors. To address this, we offer tours with entry at various time slots, including exclusive early morning or late evening access, to provide the opportunity to explore the museums with fewer crowds. While we strive to provide clear instructions on meeting points, we understand that the presence of a large number of people in the vicinity can be disorienting for some customers. We apologize for any confusion you experienced in finding the meeting point. The meeting point details are clearly indicated on the voucher, and we recommend double-checking the information provided to ensure a smooth start to the tour. Please understand that certain stops, including the audio equipment collection point, are mandatory for security reasons. Entering Vatican City is equivalent to entering another sovereign state, and security checks can take time. We do not have direct control over the quality of the audio equipment, as they are not owned by us. We apologize if the provided equipment affected the overall experience and gave the impression of insufficient linguistic skills on the part of the guide. Restroom breaks are a standard part of our tours, and they are communicated in advance by the guide. We apologize if there were any tensions regarding the use of the facilities, as our intention is to provide a comfortable experience for all participants. Regarding the reservation on the day you took the tour, there is no record of any guests with hearing difficulties. If there were indeed individuals with such needs on the tour, it means that at the time of booking, customers did not provide us with that information, preventing us from addressing it appropriately. We appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve our services. We value your patronage and hope that you will give us another opportunity to provide you with a more satisfying tour experience in the future. Best regards, Florencetown - Towns of Italy Customer Care Team

Must do in Rome

Harmon_S, Apr 2023

It was a great experience, a must do in Rome. The guide was incredibly knowledgable and I would highly recommend this tour

Rushed and not complete tour

Pontus_J, Apr 2023

Tour was supposed to include the St Peter basilica but it was closed due to good Friday. This was not specified in the booking. Guide was knowledgeable on the first part of tour incl paintings, but was very rushed and shallow for rest of tour.

Would recommend to anyone...

Chumki_S, Apr 2023

Would recommend to anyone looking to have a good experience and know the details of the place without the stress.

Vatican during Easter week.. very crowded!

Elena_D, Apr 2023

The tour was great and Alesia made it come alive.. the only downside (through no fault of the organizer or guide) was the sheer number of people.. nothing anyone can do about that, but it does detract from seeing everything at a more leisurely pace.

Early morning Vatican tour

Jason_K, Mar 2023

Assunta was an amazing guide, bringing to life the world beyond the Vatican walls, and visiting before the main opening times allowed me to experience the Vatican without being rushed and get some amazing pictures