Maximize time spent in Rome with this Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica tour, complete with skip-the-line access. Choose between several start times and learn about the Vatican Museum’s history and art from an English-speaking guide. Wander through the Gallery of Maps and the Sistine Chapel before continuing on to see the opulent St. Peter’s Basilica.

Skip the line at the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica
Convenient choice between multiple start times
Learn about the history and art of the Vatican from a local guide
Admire Michelangelo’s masterpieces in the Sistine Chapel

What's Included

Skip-the-line Tickets and guided Tour to the Vatican Museums
Including Visit to the Raphael Rooms and Borgia Apartments and into Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel
Change to Marvel at The Last Judgement
Skip-the-line Entry & Visit to the St. Peter's Church
Passionate English-Speaking Guide
Maximum Group Size of 20!

Hotel Pick Up / Drop Off
Food & Beverages
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Please arrive 10 minute early. Your friendly guide will meet you at the top of the big staircase between Hotel Alimandi and Caffé Vaticano, (Viale Vaticano, 100). A representative will be there holding a sign with "The Tour Guy" written on it.

End point

St. Peter's Basilica
Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Tour normally ends at St. Peter's Basilica, with the exception of Wednesday morning tours that start before 11am. St. Peter's Basilica is unavailable on Wednesday morning, therefore the tour will in this case end 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 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
The Vatican generally quiets down again in the late afternoon, but there is a chance the museums may still be crowded while you are inside
You are advised to be ready at the meeting point up to 15 minutes ahead of the start time to ensure a prompt start. After leaving the meeting point, your guide will bring you inside the Vatican Museums. Since we have a strict entrance time, in case of delays and late arrivals, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to add you to the group. Depending on the size of your group, headphones may be used for some tours. In that case, headphones will be provided. However you may use your own earbuds if you wish

Service animals allowed
Please contact The Tour Guy to book a wheelchair accessible tour
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
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.
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

Reviews

4.5

436 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 436 reviews

Vatican tour

Brenda_B, Apr 2024

Our guide was wonderful and answered all our questions. She was very knowledgeable. Thank you for a wonderful tour.

Great efficient way to tour the Vatican

Gayle_I, Apr 2024

Yamouna was an excellent tour guide and really brought some fun details to the art work we saw. She brought the experience alive for my kids.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Yamuna is an amazing tour guide! It's wonderful to hear that she made the art work come alive for your kids by sharing fun details and bringing enthusiasm to the experience. Guides who can engage children and make learning enjoyable are truly special. Thank you for sharing your positive feedback about your experience with Yamuna. If you have any further insights to share or need assistance with anything else, feel free to let me know!

Well paced, informative tour

Lynette_B, Apr 2024

Stunning! Our tour guide spoke to us as we walked through allowing history to come to life. Even though the crowds were huge the commentary helped us to focus on the artwork and forget about those around us. Best tour yet,

Response from Host, Apr 2024

It sounds like your tour guide truly made the experience come alive by providing insightful commentary as you walked through the crowded areas. It's wonderful to hear that despite the crowds, you were able to focus on the artwork and fully immerse yourself in the experience. Thank you for sharing your positive feedback, and I'm thrilled to hear that it was your best tour yet! If you have any more experiences to share or need further assistance, feel free to let me know.

Skip the line is a must

dinkydor, Mar 2024

Great day few issues with hearing Raffa our guide, bit once resolved tour was great, Raffa very knowledgeable explained everything in detail.

Disorganized guide left me at security

Virginia_M, Mar 2024

I've booked dozens of tours around the world and this was the most unorganized company and the staff were not helpful. They dropped the paper tickets & Vatican maps in puddles of water twice before gettingin line. She did not take a headcout, provide tour stickers to the small group of 17, identify a stick with colored fabric before going through the stressful security or provide a heads up that tall umbrellas would need to be checked and thus delay our meet up after security. We called & texted the tour company and they didn't answer the calls and it took 1hr+ to respond to texts for a 2hr tour. We spent 50% of the tour trying to find the guide. It was shocking we found her. She didn't even recognize us and didn't realize she left us. This was a very expensive tour and a huge waste of money. I strongly suggest you avoid, "The Tour Guy". I submitted the issue to Viator, but they refused a refund because the guide left me and it's my fault for losing the disorganized tour guide in one of the busiest places to tour in the world.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with the tour. It sounds like there were several issues that impacted your tour negatively. It's understandable that you would expect better service, especially considering the cost of the tour and the importance of visiting such iconic attractions. It's unfortunate that you encountered difficulties with reaching the company via Viator Message platform and that there were challenges with locating the guide during the tour. Losing valuable time and experiencing stress due to these issues is certainly not what anyone hopes for when booking a tour. I appreciate you sharing your feedback and I will bring your concerns to our team to improve our services for future customers. If there's anything else I can assist you with or if you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know.

Great for people who would like to visit museums and arts.

Katherine_N, Mar 2024

The tour guide was very knowledgeable. We did enjoy the tour but felt like majority of our time was spent outside at the garden looking at the small pictures. We then have to rush to cover everything.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

It sounds like you had a mixed experience with the tour. While you appreciated the guide's knowledge, you felt that the time spent outside in the garden looking at small pictures took up too much time, leaving you feeling rushed to cover everything else. It's important for tour organizers to strike a balance between different aspects of the tour to ensure that participants can fully enjoy all the highlights without feeling rushed. Your feedback is valuable and can help improve future tours. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Great overview of the main highlights of the Vatican

BARA_A, Feb 2024

The Vatican and the museums can't be competed in a day or a few hours, there is just too much to cover. This is a good overview of the main parts and some great explanations. Thank you for a good trip. Just bear in mind if it is busy it will be like herding cattle.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thank you for sharing your experience! The Vatican and its museums indeed contain an immense amount of history and art, making it challenging to fully explore in just a day or a few hours. I'm glad to hear that you found the tour to provide a good overview of the main parts and appreciated the explanations provided. It's important to acknowledge that popular tourist attractions like the Vatican can become crowded, especially during peak times, which can affect the overall experience. Your analogy of "herding cattle" highlights the reality of dealing with crowds in such places. If you have any further questions or need assistance with future travel plans, feel free to reach out. Safe travels!

Awesome artworks all...

David_D, Dec 2023

Awesome artworks all around, but so many to fully appreciate them all. Sistine chapel wonderful. St Peter’s Basilica is awe inspiring.

Too busy to the point we...

Richard_C, Dec 2023

Too busy to the point we got separated from your group and missed out on who know what! So we left disappointed- overwhelmed with what we saw. But would have been nice to get what we paid for!

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Hi Richard! I am sorry you got separated from your group. Guides do stop occasionally to verify they have all the group and once they see they are missing, they do start calling out on headset in hope that you are still in range. I will have our Rome team investigate with your guide. I do hope that your remaining time in Rome was enjoyable.

Great tour without feeling rushed

Ramona_R, Nov 2023

Great tour! Our tour guide was professional, courteous, and friendly. She made sure to point out the important details of what we were looking at. She didn’t rush and made sure the group stuck together. We enjoyed ourselves very much.

Busy but worth the crowd

Kara_C, Nov 2023

Very busy! However, our guide was patient and made sure to get the high lights of the museum and Sistine chapel.

Crowded, but worth it

Bari_M, Nov 2023

A great tour by Giovanni P! He helped us navigate a very busy day, and kept us together, still allowing us to see all the sites. Very knowledgeable and passionate about history, with some fun stories! Thanks Giovanni!

Breathtaking visit to the Vatican

Guy_W, Nov 2023

What a wonderful tour. Our tour guide Sabrina was fantastic! A tour of a lifetime, everything about it was great.

Wonderful

Mary_H, Oct 2023

Our tour guide Sabrina was wonderful, extremely knowledgeable, and funny. She kept the entire experience exciting and personal.

Do a Skip the Lines tour for any of the Museums

Susan_W, Oct 2023

Our tour guide was wonderful - I can't imagine going into the Museum w/out a guide. Highly recommend.

Amazing Artworks & History

Vicki_G, Oct 2023

Our guide was very good and gave us a lot of information, but it is a tiring tour. Even though we weren't there during high season, I still felt overwhelmed by so many people. Anyone with mobility issues may want to skip this experience as there was a great deal of walking and lots of stairs. Again, not our guide's fault. She did a great job

Great experience

Kelly_B, Oct 2023

This tour was excellent. The guy did a very nice job of explaining all of the treasures of the Vatican and St Peters.

Great!

Dana_S, Oct 2023

Our trip to Vatican City was amazing! Highly recommend!! We went to the dome as well, it was fabulous!!

Wow. What a tour guide and your!

Jenny_K, Oct 2023

John our tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable, passionate and professional. He has a gift for imparting this information and I’d highly recommend him and this tour

Busy but Informative

Shannon_B, Oct 2023

We were very grateful to have a guide with skip th line access for our tickets. She was very knowledgeable and answered questions from the group as they came up. It is wildly busy within the Vatican, we knew this ahead of time but it does make it difficult to navigate as a large group (approx. 20). We felt like a guide was needed to help fully understand everything we were seeing with a good flow but unfortunately even with a few hours of tour time it is just impossible to see everything and view every hall of art.

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