The Vatican Museums are among the largest museums in the world and with over five million annual visitors they can get incredibly crowded. This self-guided tour is ideal for those who want to take their time and not be restricted by a guided tour. Save time with fast-track, skip-the-line entrance tickets, browse the galleries at your own pace, and visit the magnificent Sistine Chapel at a time that suits you.

Skip-the-line entrance: avoid the long queues and head straight inside
See magnificent artworks by Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and Bernini
Self-guided tour: spend the entire day exploring the museums
Choice of entrance times to suit your schedule

What's Included

Entrance to the Vatican Museums
Entrance to the Sistine Chapel
Skip the Line entrance tickets

Hotel pickup and drop off
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Ticket Redemption Point

Via Germanico, 8, 00192 Roma RM, Italy

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Please be informed that the Vatican Museums provide wheelchair free of charge in the main lobby. You can easily pick one up upon entering, before starting your own independent visit.
If you are looking for a tour with wheelchair access you can choose our private wheelchair accessible tour so our guide can lead you through an alternate route.
Please note also that - the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica maintains a strict dress code year-round. All visitors must have their shoulders covered and pants/skirts must come to the knee. Please wear comfortable shoes.
Backpacks, tripods and big umbrellas must be left inside the cloakroom upon entering Vatican Museum. To reduce any disruption for your group, we recommend that backpacks are not taken on this tour.
Stroller accessible

Near public transportation
Please arrive 25 minutes before the activity starts at the meeting point VIA GERMANICO 8 (Tours About). late comers will not be guaranteed with the entrance.
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel close without notice on rare occasions; if this happens, no refund will be issued
The ticket can be used only for entrance not for guided tours. No external guide can enter with Tours about vouchers. the Guided tour can be purchased only through Tours About.
Individuals with Disabilities MUST NOTE it on their booking.
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 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

Traveler Tips

it started at close to 10, but the wait in line outside was incredibly long, over an hour, even for prebooked tours.

Booking fast track was easy, voucher received by email straight away.

Skip a line was great but tour guides were a bit disorganized.

Reviews

3.0

738 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 738 reviews

Go first thing in the...

Ariana_C, Mar 2023

Go first thing in the morning We got there at 9 and it was perfect At 11 it started to be very crowded

Skip this company

steve_t, Mar 2023

Make sure you bring cash when checking in. Everyone gets the push to upgrade but they only take cash. Conveniently the have an ATM in the building with a very high service charge. Or just use a different tour company.

It was a very nice day!...

Milica_K, Mar 2023

It was a very nice day! We had some trouble regarding getting there so we were a little bit late but it wasn't a problem. The only thing I can think of as a 'bas' was that they don't pick up the phone. The rest was a fair game.

Don't bother

Jane_L, Mar 2023

When purchased, you don't get your ticket but have to search the streets for an office. ~We were then told what we'd bought we'd still have to queue and they began up-selling to join a tour. The guide was a little aggressive and very hard to understand

The tour guide was not...

Ann_N, Mar 2023

The tour guide was not great, did not bring it to life like other guides we had in Rome. I felt the price we paid for a guided tour was a waste of money for all we learnt. Could have and should have just gone ourselves. It was beautiful

Breathtaking

Michelle_C, Mar 2023

Had a lovely time going through vatican city All paintings on ceilings were breathtaking and surreal

Although guide was very...

Lynne_S, Mar 2023

Although guide was very knowledgeable he was also very quiet so even with the headsets you could barely hear and understand him

What an experience

Sapphire_H, Mar 2023

The fast track was such a good option as the cues can be extremely long, allow 3 hours to see all the museums and exhibits. Then stay until dark to see St Peter’s square in all its glory and pretty lights.

Highly unpleasant

Michelle_B, Mar 2023

I appreciate the number of people allowed into the Vatical museums at the same time is not something Viator can control however the service from Viator at the entrance was reprentative of the way the rest of the visit was managed. From the entrance to the exit we were herded through with little time or comfort to look and see what we had come to see. Overall it was a very unpleasant experience and one my family and I would not repeat under the same conditions.

Terrible, overpriced, won’t recommend

Mirela_G, Mar 2023

I was deeply disappointed and won’t recommend it to anyone! Firstly, we paid 30 euros for person, but the tickets to the museums cost only 17! There was no line at the official ticket office, but we waited one hour so that the organiser would escort us to the museums, because we paid double for “fast track entry” which should be 3 hours, but we had 2 and 30 because of the delay of the escort. So you are “buying” ticket, but they don’t send it to you, they want you to “redeem” it. And when you go to “redeem” it, again they don’t give it to you, but want to wait for an hour, so it’s time to gather a whole group, which they kindly escort and then buy tickets for everyone in the group and eventually give everybody the ticket which again is 17 euro, not 35!

Wonderful!

Kristine_P, Mar 2023

Marco was a fantastic guide! Funny and very knowledgeable. We upgraded our tickets to include St Peter’s Basilica and I’m so glad we did! Great experience!

Vatican tour

Peter_S, Mar 2023

The Sistine Chapel stands out as an amazing experience but the scale of the museum almost led to sensory overload.

Good

Shahzad_S, Mar 2023

A little under whelming experience, was expecting a more awe inspiring experience but Museum was still worth the time. But would not do it again

Great!

Kara_R, Mar 2023

What an amazing experience. I would definitely dedicate you’re entire day to this. There is just too much to see! Our tour was scheduled at 8:30 am. Which was rescheduled to 11:30 due to there not being enough people for our group. They tour guide was very kind getting us there.

Great tour with Marco.

Mark_H, Mar 2023

Marco did a great job leading our tour. Glad I upgraded to guided tour as it is crazy crowded and lots to see. I do wish they made it more clear how to exit to main square after Sistine chapel.

We could have got ticket...

Estefania_R, Mar 2023

We could have got ticket at the door. People working at the shop were not nice, and did not give us enough info.

Only go if you like waiting…

Mike_D, Mar 2023

Not the best-organised service. Whilst we did skip the line, there was a lot of delay, which meant that we only entered the Museum itself at 10.15 instead of the advertised 9.30. Also, the Museum itself was very busy with lots of tour parties, so it was difficult to enjoy the experience.

buy it

Michelle_P, Mar 2023

We went to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel last week. When we arrived we couldn't believe the line but when we found the location to pick up our tickets we were so relieved to know we were actually going to skip the entire line, which was so helpful since we were traveling with our 8-month-old. The staff here was very kind and helpful. They printed our tickets and once we entered they gave each of us our individual tickets. These tickets are definitely worth purchasing.

Vatican tour

julio_m, Mar 2023

Our guide Mark was very knowledgeable gave us a great tour. The thing that I didn't understand was the getting charged an extra 25 each

Bad company

Armine_K, Mar 2023

The worst company , I pay many, but get nothing. They even gave us less ticket, so we had many problems

...

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