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Skip-the-line Early Vatican Tour with Sistine Chapel & St. Peters

Roma, Italy
Special Offer

From USD 70.14

USD 110.13 Save USD 39.99

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Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance.
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  • 3 hours (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

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Overview

Begin your exploration of the Vatican Museums before the general public on this tour. With your small group and tour guide, head straight for the Sistine Chapel to marvel at its art and architecture as one of its first daily visitors. Continue to St. Peter's Basilica, listening to informative commentary on the history of the church and Vatican City as you walk. Entrance fees, guaranteed skip-the-line entry, and use of individual headsets are included.
  • Entrance to the Vatican Museums before general admission
  • Tour the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica with a guide
  • Small group means personalized attention
  • Headsets to hear your guide clearly

Why Travellers Choose This Tour

This exclusive tour allows you to see St. Peter’s chapel during mass.

What's Included

  • Skip the Line Early Access to the Vatican Museums
  • Pio-Clementino Museum, Gallery of the Candelabra, Tapestries, and Maps
  • Admire Raphael Rooms and its Famous School of Athens
  • Earlier Entry to the Sistine Chapel
  • A Professional, English-speaking Guide
  • Group Size of Maximum 14!
  • Hotel Pick Up / Drop Off
  • Food & Beverages
  • Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Viale Vaticano, 100
    Viale Vaticano, 100, 00192 Roma RM, Italy

    Please arrive 10 minutes early. Your guide will meet you between Hotel Alimandi and Caffé Vaticano, at the top of the big staircase (Viale Vaticano, 100). A representative will be there holding a sign reading “The Tour Guy.” 

End point

  • Saint Peter's Square
    Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

    The tour will end at St. Peter's Basilica (except on Wednesdays when we finish inside the Vatican Museums).

What To Expect

Vatican Museums

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • A specific 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 fair amount of walking is involved, and there will be stairs between different levels. If you have any doubts about your mobility, we strongly recommend considering a private tour.
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • Please contact The Tour Guy to book a wheelchair accessible tour
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travellers

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 travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

See more

Traveller Tips

Worth paying to get inside before it is "open" to the public.
Worth it to go early morning before the crowds and heat.
Be forewarned- there are a lot of stairs- a lot.

Reviews

4.5
711 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travellers.
Showing 1-10 of 711 reviews
Excellent Experience
Nicholas_P, June 2023
Excellent tour, handled well by our guide in the chaos of the crush of visitors. She was informative, flexible, and funny.
Great Tour
Susan_E, June 2023
Excellent tour. Gio was very knowledgeable and went through all the history of the Vatican. It was informative and interesting. I would recommend this tour.
Disorganized by the company. Guide was fine
Jeff_F, June 2023
Very stressful in the AM, as no one answered messages, and we were having a difficult time getting to the locale, due to construction. Why list contact info, if you don't plan on answering? The guide was fine, and spoke good English. She was helpful and answered questions.
Excellent experience
Laurel_M, May 2023
Our guide was amazing! She was very knowledgeable. We were standing in the wrong area to meet up and the company reached out to us via text and found us easily.
A great day in the Crowd
Rick_G, May 2023
If you are going to Vatican you must get in a tour to somewhat understand the place and somewhat gain entry in a quicker way. 25000 visitors a day you will be in a line somewhere and it is crowded most everywhere so just be prepared. Although crowded the tour was fantastic Paula has been a guide since 2004 and her experience and knowledge was so beneficial Someday when a new Pope is elected I will understand and will have walked the same steps as he will. For a Catholic like me it has great meaning To finish the tour with experiencing St Patrick’s was incredible. Had no idea of it’s enormous size Highly recommend this tour just be prepared for a huge crowd around you all day
Vatican City
Caroline_P, May 2023
AMAZING TOUR! Totally worth skipping the long lines and Ella was a great tour guide. Very informative and kind! Book this tour!
Couldn't hear the guide because of the earbud
Adrienne_L, May 2023
The headphone audio quality was so bad that I couldn't hear the guide clearly for most of the tour. So I'm not sure how the tour was. It was probably fine.
Response from Host, May 2023
Thank you for the feedback! Not very often we get complaints about the headsets. In the future, guides usually care extra ones should there be a malfunction. Do not be afraid to ask the guide!
Very engaging and thorough.
Tabatha_J, May 2023
Great guide! Very helpful information while we walked around. Fun and interesting! I wouldn’t have wanted to wait in the line- it was super long and skipping the line and staying with a group was perfect.
It’s a must!
Mary_M, May 2023
Excellent tour guide! Extremely knowledgeable. Scheduling an “early access” tour is key. The crowds that lined up afterward were incredibly long. Save waiting time for other attractions.
Great tour & wonderful guide!
Dale_B, May 2023
Tour guide was great! He spoke English fluently, always made sure he didn’t walk too fast or slow for the group & was very knowledgeable pointing out lots of things to see. I would definitely recommend Tour Guy group!
Not as advertised
Richard_S, May 2023
Expert tour guide. But group was promised as 14 maximum. It was double that. Hard to stay with group in crowded conditions. No color ID given.
Unfortunately not as described.
Gretchen_T, May 2023
On the positive side-Our guide was great. Very knowledgeable and fun. Unfortunately - Found the tour description to be deceptive. We were primarily interested in just seeing the Sistine Chapel before the crowds. (As we had previously visited the museum extensively) The tour description states the tour will head straight to the Sistine Chapel- prior to the general public. Instead, we had a nearly 3 hour tour that ended in the Sistine Chapel- We certainly did not head straight to the Capel. I can’t imagine this was an early experience entry as it was so full inside you were allowed 5 min and no where to move. To be clear -the Sistine Chapel is the last stop on the tour. And it is by no means an early before the public experience. For $110 per person we expected to get what we were described.
Worth every penny!
Kirsten_F, May 2023
Worth every penny! Our guide (Sara) was fun, knowledgeable, and pointed out interesting history we never would have known from a guide book. Don’t miss this one!
Wonderful tour
Gary_P, May 2023
This is the only way to visit Vatican City. Our guide was very good. She pointed out things which we would never notice on our own. She maneuvered us through large crowds of people to spots of interest. Her enthusiasm was contagious and she made everyone in the group feel welcome. I highly recommend this tour.
Our guide was friendly...
Jon_M, May 2023
Our guide was friendly and informative she made our tour an enjoyable experience, would highly recommend.
Great tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel.
Greg_M, May 2023
The guide was very informative about the Vatican and Sistine chapel. The buildings and art was awe inspiring. A lot of walking in crowds.
Inspiring and rich tour of the Vatican!
John_A, May 2023
Sara is very passionate and informed about the history of the Vatican and its art. She provided us with an amazing tour with a smile and calm that guided us through a sacred and rich place. We learned a lot, were awed by the history, and inspired by it all.
Outstanding Tour
Laura_R, Apr 2023
We saw so much. We went on Wednesday when St Peter’s wasn’t open which provided an opportunity to see other rooms not on the tour other days. We went to St. Peter’s on our own the next day. Worked out well and saw so much extra. Tour guide was fabulous. It seemed very busy but the guide maneuvered the crowds with precision so we felt like we had our own space.
Skip the long lines and book this!!
Karlah_A, Apr 2023
One of the best decisions we made! Skipped the long lines and learned so much. Our tour guide was very friendly and super knowledgeable! It was fantastic.
Vatican Ciry
Amy_B, Apr 2023
Great experience and we had the best guide! We learned a lot about the history of the church and city.
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