Witness some of the world’s greatest art, created as an homage to faith and spirituality, on an amazing tour of the Vatican Museums.
(Photo: Getyourguide.com)
The Vatican is a small city-state, surrounded by the city of Rome, that holds some of the finest examples of architecture and art in the world. Without doubt one of the finest collections of religious art exists in the Vatican Museums and religious buildings, associated with household names like Michelangelo, Raphael and Botticelli, who contributed some of their finest work there. A guided tour is the best way to understand the vast range of creative flourish and meaning on show.
Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Tour
Arguably the most important place open to the paying public in Vatican City is the Sistine Chapel, revered for its frescoes by Michelangelo. This two-and-a-half-hour tour is led by an art historian, who will take you past the queues and directly to the most important, and the most moving, artworks in the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. See Raphael’s frescoes in the Raphael Rooms, Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement,’ and much more in the various galleries. Available Mon to Sat. From €53 per person.
Vatican City: Museums, Sistine Chapel, and Gardens Tour
If you’re happy to do a self-guided tour, then for a few euros more, you can add an hour to your tour and a dip into the Vatican Gardens, a beautiful, manicured green space behind St Peter’s where various palaces and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences can be found. Still gaining skip-the-queue access to the Vatican Museums, this tour also includes a Vatican map and an audio guide in the Gardens, as well as Sistine Chapel access. From €60 per person.
(Photo: Getyourguide.com)
Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel: Tour with Early Access
Perhaps the pick of the bunch, this unique tour allows early access to the UNESCO-listed area a full hour before the doors are opened to the general ticket-carrying public. As such, the tour begins at 8am, exploring the fabulous art collection held in the Vatican museums, before the space gets crammed with other visitors. Naturally, by the time the tour ends two hours later, it will be much busier, but the chance to glimpse the works of Raphael and Michelangelo in relative peace and quiet is hard to pass up. From €75 per person.
Vatican Museums Early Entry Tour with Buffet Breakfast
Not one to be averse to the power of capitalism, the Vatican has a whole range of early access options, in fact. And this one, with the buffet breakfast included, is among the more popular. Start extra early to get a good breakfast in time for the early doors opening of the Vatican Museums. Breakfast items include cooked-to-order eggs, croissants and other pastries, and pancakes. Your guide will then take you through the Vatican Museums on a tour which ends at the Sistine Chapel. From €94 per person.
(Photo: Getyourguide.com)
Vatican City Private Tour
If you would like the queue-jump passes, but would prefer a private tour with a knowledgeable guide who can illuminate some of the aspects of the Vatican more interesting to you and your group, then this is a great solution. Choose to focus on a certain area of the Vatican Museums, or get a broad overview of the artworks within over the course of three hours. Highlights include the Candelabras and Tapestry galleries, and the Sistine Chapel. This is one of the few guided Vatican tours that also includes St. Peter’s Basilica. From €188 per person.