Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum and Basilica Small Group Tour

based on 67 reviews

Duration:3 hours (approx.)
Location: Rome, Italy

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Breeze into the Sistine Chapel and discover the best of the Vatican City in a 3 hour tour of the Museum & St.Peter’s Basilica. Skip all the lines and be guided through the largest collection of art in the Western Hemisphere. Your professional English speaking guide will walk you through the Sistine Chapel, Gallery of Papal Carriages, Gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Maps, Pinacoteca. The last part of the tour brings you into St. Peter’s Basilica, which is so grand it could be one of the wonders of the world. Be prepared to be amazed by the grandeur and splendor of man's creation.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

WHAT TO EXPECT

1. Vatican Museums
Start your tour at the renowned Vatican Museums. Aside from being the home of the Pope, Vatican city is also home to the Vatican Museums, the world’s largest collection of art with 9 miles of art that could wrap around the Vatican walls 4 ½ times! It contains 54 museums, 1400 rooms, chapels, and galleries. Aside from the renowned Sistine Chapel, the museums also display the only work of Leonardo Da Vinci in Rome, St. Jerome, the Raphael Rooms, and the Pinoteca, which contains collections of the Popes, all dating back to the middle ages and are set in chronological order.
2. Sistine Chapel
Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is possibly the most well known masterpiece in modern day, with over 5 million visitors per year. It was a project the artist took on reluctantly because his focus was sculptures, and he would complain about the physical toll it took on his body. It is said that the design of the chapel from Pope Sixtus IV, is modeled after Solomon’s temple from the Old Testament, measuring at just larger than a professional basketball court! There are many more frescoes to admire here from other artists, including: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and Sandro Botticelli.
3. St. Peter's Basilica
You will head through a secret entry into our last stop on the tour, St. Peter's Basilica: the largest basilica in the world, with markings inside the church to ensure every other basilica would fit inside. The curious visitor is treated to Michelangelo’s Pieta at the front, 150 mosaics, and Bernini’s baldacchino, which stands at 96 feet tall and 100,000 pounds of bronze! Surprisingly, there is only one actual painting in the basilica, and it can be spotted hanging above the Pieta. Many popes are buried in the church or are on display, but most of the popes are buried underneath the basilica including St. Peter, the first pope.

ADDITIONAL INFO

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• The itinerary is not wheelchair accessible unless the person in the chair can stand up, climb and descend a few stairs.
• The tour itinerary is 2.3 km long on hard marble. Hence wear comfortable sneakers or shoes with orthopedic inner soles.
• Please bring a bottle of water per person.
• If it is raining carry umbrellas that are compact and can be folded and not ones that have sharp pokey end. The long one give by your hotels will have to be checked into the cloakroom of the museum and involves a 1 km walk to get it back again.
• Carry medium size back packs as large ones will be checked into the cloak room and involves a long walk to get them back.
• The following items along with the bags will have to be checked into the cloak room: glass bottles of any kind, swiss knives, wine openers, large tripods and large bags.
• Photography is permitted in most rooms but without flash. It is prohibited to photograph inside the Sistine Chapel.
• The tour ends in front on the Basilica. You can spend more time inside the Basilica but you cannot go back to the Sistine Chapel nor the Museum.
• You can also chose to climb the dome on your own, for a separate fee.
• On Wednesdays the Basilica is closed until noon due to the Papal Audience.
• On extraordinary cases the Basilica can be closed without notice. This is out of our hands, but will give you an extended tour of the museum and description of the Basilica. Refund will not be offered due to the closure of the church.
• 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
• A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
• Bring Umbrellas that can fold and are not long have a pokey end
• Not recommended for clients who cannot climb and decent stairs

CANCELLATION POLICY

Posted By : Chad_C
My partner and I have been to Rome over a half dozen times, and we’ve done Vatican tours probably five times, so we do have some experience here. Admittedly, I was trying to book a “kid-friendly” version of the tour as we had our 8 year olds in tow this trip, and it was their first time to the Vatican, but none were available for our dates.

We booked this one based on other reviews, and candidly wished that we’d picked a different operator. We arrived 20 minutes earlier and went to the meeting point specified on the booking, and after 10 minutes after the meeting time I texted and called the operator to say we’d been there 30 minutes already, with no guide in sight. He told us not to worry, the guide was on his way and would find us. Another 15 minutes later I texted again and was told the guide had been looking for us and has a red iPad - ok, we found him. Great, let’s go- now 8:45 for our 8am tour booking.

One of the members of the group was inside already needing the bathroom, by the time we got in and collected everyone it was 9am and the guide handed out the ticket to enter.. then collected them back again, which seemed odd to us, but ok whatever.

We had issues with the audio system with one of our kids, so the guide had to take her back for a new one - by the time we got started it was well over an hour after we’re booked to start the tour.

Our guide had a rather bad cough, which was repeatedly broadcast directly into everyone’s ear throughout the tour. Once we finally kicked off the tour, we spent far too much time hearing about the 13th century paintings and widow’s peaks used to signify the wealthy in the paintings, and lingered in this area for what felt like ages - then onto the tapestry room for another lengthy sit-down, followed by skipping several rooms with Caravaggio’s and Bernini angels, to go sit in a room and hear about the Sistine chapel (which we were an hour away from at that point), and knowing that we were still at the beginning of the tour with VERY bored children and other tour members, and missing out on one of the best art collections in the world, we opted to bail out on the tour - another guest saying “lucky you” before we departed off on our own.

The guide did offer to meet back up with us at the end of the Sistine chapel portion so we could continue the tour into St Peter’s from inside the museum (a guide is required to do so), but we were not able to find them at the appointed time, so the tour on the whole was big disappointment and waste of money.

I understand our guide may have just had an off day, but he was not “reading the room” of the group and certainly didn’t take into account the fact there were younger children in the group and didn’t tailor the tour for them in any way.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-07-02 12:24:56

Posted By : 344hazelk
Guide was amazing and highlighted important features given that there was so much to see. The whole experience was quite overwhelming with so much history , wealth and art to see.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-07-01 14:54:47

Posted By : Khristina_T
The tour guy was late at the meeting point (tour starts at 1, meet at 12:50) and was not prepared for the number of people in the tour. He had to buy a ticket on the spot and tour didn’t start until 1:40.
The explanation in the Museum was wonderful and we learned a lot.

The tour at the Basilica was quick and didn’t go over much details aside
From the ceilings and the altar podium. We didn’t go through each corner or area of the basilica. The tour also said crypt included but we didn’t see it or was given an explanation where to find it.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-29 04:05:27

Posted By : Robert_J
Really smart and knowledgeable guide. It was a smooth 3 hours tour. Time was fast and convered a lot of interesting art
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-28 13:08:28

Posted By : Janice B
The small group is the only way to do this tour! Our tour guide was so knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend this tour
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-27 10:13:31

Posted By : Julee_H
We actually had a small group and were able to have a great experience. Our tour guide was informative with actual history and fun facts. Never felt rushed and would recommend.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-25 03:16:30

Posted By : Marcella_K
The guide was very knowledgeable. He pointed out lots of details and bits of history that made the experience more meaningful.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-16 17:13:06

Posted By : F603ULcarmenc
We were very happy with Europe Odyssey Tours during the latter part of May. The tours and transportation worked out very well. The drivers were courteous and very professional, and were good at communication via text/phone . Our guides on private tours were great. Valentina was excellent, as was Rahul on our Roman tours. We also had a tour at the Pantheon, which was across from our hotel.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-06-14 12:53:16

Posted By : Xunyi_W
Great tour of the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel, and St. Peter’s basilica with a small group of 6 people. We really enjoyed Rahul as the tour guide.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-25 08:48:59

Posted By : 6lakshmib
We had a tour of Vatican. Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. Our tour guide Alessandro was excellent - very knowledgeable about Vatican and Rome history being an archaeologist by training. He also had an excellent command of English and conducted the tour with a good sense of humor. It is crowded and he knew how to pre-educate us before going to important points, point out the intracicies of the various structures and was very efficient with time. Highly recommend this tour!
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-05-21 09:57:54