Discover the priceless treasures in the Vatican’s art collection—and visit Vatican City's most important landmarks—on this introductory tour. Upon arrival, skip the long lines and head right inside the Vatican Museums. See Michelangelo’s world-famous Sistine Chapel, venture to the Tapestries Gallery and other museum highlights, and then transfer to neighboring St. Peter’s Basilica. Headsets are included so you can hear your guide’s commentary clearly as you explore.

Enjoy an introduction to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica
Save time when you skip the long lines and head right inside
Discover Michelangelo’s iconic Sistine Chapel

What's Included

Skip the line entry to Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
Skip the line entry to St. Peter's Basilica
Professional licensed guide
Official Vatican headsets
Sistine Chapel illustrated factsheet
Free Wi-Fi and charging station at the meeting point

Hotel pick up and drop off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Brastours
Via Santamaura, 28, 00192 Roma RM, Italy
Brastours Office. 15 minutes prior the departure time. No refunds will be issued to customers who are late and miss the tour.

End point

Mondo Cattolico
Piazza Pio XII, 12 00193, 00193 Roma RM, Vatican City

What To Expect

Vatican City (Pass By)

Vatican Museums

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Museo Pio Clementino

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Sphere within a Sphere

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Gallery of the Maps

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Square

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate

Should St. Peter’s Basilica be closed or not accessible within the scheduled time, the tour will include Raphael's Rooms or the explanation of the Basilica from the outside.
The Raphael's Rooms are not included in the tour and are visited only when St. Peter’s Basilica remains closed to the public or if the Vatican makes the internal itinerary mandatory.
It is forbidden to bring metal objects, big bags and animals (assistance dogs allowed).
It is not permitted to wear shorts, miniskirts and have uncovered shoulders.
No refunds will be issued to customers who are late and miss the tour.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 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

4.5

417 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 417 reviews

I enjoyed the tour more than I had expected too

Amy_G, Apr 2024

I can’t imagine trying to navigate the museum without a tour guide and the skip the line access. I enjoyed the tour more than I had expected too. Our guide was very knowledgeable. The 4 stars and not 5 rating is only because our guide laughed when someone asked what she thought was a stupid question, and that’s unacceptable.

Loved this tour

Diane_S, Nov 2023

Absolutely a fantastic tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and easy to understand. She keep us so interested in everything we should and see.

The tour guide was very...

Elayne_W, Nov 2023

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Enjoyed the tour. By skipping the long lines is the way to go!

Beautiful but not enough time and overly crowded

Sharon_F, Oct 2023

Sound system not good. Too many people talking and crowded into Sistine Chapel. Not enough time to truly view the paintings

Loved it!

Val_C, Oct 2023

Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. We had lots of time to admire everything and take photos.

Definitely not worth the tour, way too crowded and overrated.

EduardoSB_B, Sep 2023

I felt like it was a very confused tour, the Vatican was packed, it was like a sea of people flowing around you all the time, the group and the guide were getting lost from each other all the time, at least half the tour was spent trying to find lost people in our group, at the Sistine Chapel you felt like you were being herded in like cattle and told to stay in small space, you were allow to move around and look at the frescos, you had just a few minutes and then you were herded out again.

Excellent

Vipul_M, Aug 2023

Overall it was great tour! Our tour guide Danielle was the best. It made a huge difference. She explained everything thoroughly and was on schedule!!

Amazing Places with an Amazing Guide

Patricia_H, Aug 2023

The tour was great and our guide was fantastic!! She was very helpful and offered us really interesting information. She even gave us maps to the paintings in the Sistine Chapel which was really helpful once we got in there--I got a lot more out of it because of that! St. Peter's Basilica was also incredible and she did a great job of pointing out some highlights and providing us interesting facts. These buildings are amazing and this tour was a great way of experiencing them!

Very difficult to understand

maggie_c, Aug 2023

Was and English tour but the guide spoke very poor English and was extremely difficult to understand. We asked her to speak slowly but she didnt. She spent over 30 mins focusing on talking about each individual piece Michealangelo painted which was very boring and drawn out.

Great tour

CATHERINE_P, Jul 2023

Great experience and very interesting sites!!!! Arianna our guide was very nice and informative. She was also very attentive and patient with some of the older participants. The tour is 3 hours so be prepared to walk (dress comfortably) with shoulders and knees covered. It’s hard to put into words the magnificent and magnitude of all of these sites, considering the intricacies of the building and the era in which they were built (no computer, no modern equipment). Just literally AWESOME (I was awestruck).

Great tour of the Vatican

Ines_s, Jul 2023

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided lots of interesting information. The inclusions was everything you wanted to see

Needs some help maybe??

Marjorie_H, Jul 2023

Missed the tour by 15 minutes due to my husband being sick. The tour guide takes all tickets with them so we had no way to get in and catch up. Ran 10 minutes late on previous tour and the guide kindly texted us and made arrangements for us to meet up with no issue. We looked out for her at the end of the tour. A little help goes a long way especially when dealing with stressful situations. There was one lady in the office that did go out in the heat to try and help. Which we appreciated. But the tour guide was not able to be reached. Just think there could be a better system.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Dear Customer, We don't know which other tour you're talking about and which agency you did it with, but for the tour that concerns us, we can tell you that the reservations for the Vatican Museums have a precise timetable that must be respected. For this reason we ask all our customers to arrive 15 minutes before the departure time. We understand your problem, but you arrived 15 minutes after the departure and the whole group should have been waiting for you. We can try to help you if we know in advance, but then once the group is inside, there's nothing we can do. It is also a matter of respect for other customers. Thank you

Nice experience

Asnaldo_W, Jul 2023

Tour guide Daniel was great. Didn’t dwell too long in one area, didn’t spend hours giving two much information, was considerate enough to pull the group out of the sun when needed, information was clear, straightforward and easy to understand, kept our attention. The Vatican was nice, and so we’re the staff

Great guide

Angela_M, Jul 2023

Adriano was fantastic - very clear to understand and he was very knowledgeable and able to answer questions. Comprehensive tour and I would recommend to anyone looking for a tour of the Vatican.

Vatican Tour with Daniella

Sherrie_S, Jul 2023

Daniella was a great tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and incredibly passionate about the subject. For those who had been here before, they felt that they learned more and had a more complete understanding of all the artifacts. Even the little kids seemed to be entertained. Daniella was very good in keeping track of the group which was very impressive since we had 30 people attending. We would recommend doing it again and this is largely thanks to Daniella.

Very special place with...

Robert_A, Jul 2023

Very special place with many memorable sites and our guide had excellent information and skills to explain and point out the important items

4-day trip to Rome including Vatican

Claire_H, Jun 2023

Small group tour with ‘English’ guide- who knew her stuff but very strong Italian accent- made it difficult to l understand at times. Very quick through the Vatican corridors and too much factual stuff; would have liked it to be more about the people and their daily routines etc. The Sistine Chapel was far too busy and noisy to appreciate it fully. It just felt like a money-making organisation.Too busy in June!! Amazing art work by Michelangelo though- has to be seen to be believed. The mosaic shop is worth a look.

Great tour but lots of crowds

Felice_S, Jun 2023

Great tour with Adriano. He was very knowledgeable. Only issue was the crowds ( mon afternoon) we had to contend with (not his fault) especially in the museum. So we had to go quickly and couldn’t really stop to look at many items in detail.

Great experience

Allison_S, Jun 2023

Louisa was very kind and very informative. She was patient with our group. It was very busy, hot and humid, but she managed to keep smiling and not lose any of us.

Not to miss - Arianna is fabulous - do NOT go in the summer or during a Jubilee year!

Melissa_S, Jun 2023

This was an amazing tour, but if you have a choice, go in April or May or October. Plan on wall-to-wall people, it is more humanity than I have ever seen in one place. It is unbelievably hot and you only get to spend about five minutes in the shed Sistine chapel. Our tour guide was absolutely wonderful and I learned so much and it was a breathtaking not to miss experience.

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