About the tour
A half-day private walking tour starting at the Vatican Museums, where skip-the-line entry gets guests in quickly to meet their official guide. The visit covers the Vatican Museums’ vast art collection – including the Museo Pio Clementino’s classical statuary and rooms frescoed by Raphael – before moving into the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s famous ceiling. The tour then passes directly into St. Peter’s Basilica, taking in the Tomb of St. Peter, Bernini’s Baldachin, and Michelangelo’s Pietà, before concluding in St. Peter’s Square beneath Bernini’s Colonnade. This is a walking tour, though a private car and driver can be added to handle hotel pickup and drop-off. Note that the Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays and national holidays, when this tour is unavailable.
Gallery
Itinerary
Vatican Private Tour – A special half day tour to visit the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Cathedral
This half day private tour of the Vatican begins meeting your official guide at the Vatican Museums where entry will be quick and easy thanks to the skip the line tickets.
Founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century and enlarged by successive pontiffs, the Vatican Museums boast one of the world’s greatest art collections. Exhibits, which are displayed along about 7km of halls and corridors, range from Egyptian mummies and Etruscan bronzes to ancient busts, old masters and modern paintings. Highlights include the spectacular collection of classical statuary in the Museo Pio Clementino, a suite of rooms frescoed by Raphael.
You’ll focus on this vast collection of art before reaching the Sistine Chapel, frescoed by Michelangelo, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and considered by many the most famous and important masterpiece of Western Art.
A direct passage will easily take you inside the magnificent Basilica of Saint Peter, where your guide will share the secrets behind the Burial of Saint Peter, Bernini’s Baldachin and Michelangelo’s Pietà. Leaving the Church, gripped by all this beauty, you’ll be welcomed in Saint Peter’s Square by stunning statues of the Apostles, Saints and Martires dominating the façade of the Basilica and Bernini’s Colonnato.
Optional: this is a walking tour, but if you wish we can provide a private car and driver directly from your hotel to Vatican Museums and back at the end of the tour.
Please note that on Sundays and national holidays the Vatican Museums are closed and this tour is not available.
Details
- DEPARTURE/RETURN LOCATION: Vatican Museums (a different location may be agreed)
- DEPARTURE TIME: customizable
- DURATION: 3 hrs
- DRESS CODE: for the Vatican visit women must have knees and shoulders covered, men must have long pants
- INCLUDED: Private Guide, Entrance fees, Reservation to skip the line Vatican Museums
- NOT INCLUDED: Transportation, Food and Drinks
- LANGUAGES: English – Italian
You can customize your Vatican private tour according to your needs and preferences, our staff would be happy to inform you about different options, alternative routes and sites.
*Please note that on Sundays and national holidays the Vatican Museums are closed and this tour is not available.
