Walks of Italy is a shady operator, in my opinion. I got a half “complete” tour at an expensive price on April 29th. I’ve been told other tour companies were forthright with customers that Sistine Chapel was closed to tours. That gave them time to cancel. I was told multiple times by Walks that “the tour is still on” — leaving out the important part that Sistine Chapel was out. I got an apology and a phone number to call when we showed up for the guided tour. I called right away. My complaint and request for a price adjustment was brushed off and told to “read the fine print.” Not a great first day for us in Rome. I’ll avoid Walks from now on.
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
34873 posts
There is so much more to see beside the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums - acres and acres of art.
I'm sure if you are on holiday it is hard to stay up with the news and the procedure when a Pope dies.
There has been a lot of discussion here in the Italy Forum about what is happening and what will happen, including to tours.
It is not Walks of Italy's fault that the Pope got sick and died, not their fault that the procedure is to close the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave.
Did Walks of Italy give a good tour of the 90 percent of the Vatican Museums that was still available?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17066 posts
As near as I've been able to tell from those I've checked, virtually all companies that offer Vatican tours that include the Sistine are keeping them 'on'. Some of them include disclaimers about the chapel being closed so they'll follow alternate itineraries. As Nigel said above, not their fault, and the closure on the 28th until conclusion of Conclave had been widely communicated as far back as April 23rd - including on the RS forums - so shouldn't have come as a surprise.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/expect-disruption-to-sistine-chapel-and-st-peter-s-basilica
If a tour included the chapel and basilica, it's not possible to access the church through the interior passage as that access is from the Sistine so no surprise there either; most companies also include disclaimers regarding unscheduled access closures of that one too.
Sorry for your disappointment but the circumstances were unexpected, and the disruption lengthy enough that I'm sure tour companies simply can't afford to shutter their tours altogether. As already said, it's one of the largest museums in the world (9 miles of collections) so there's a lot to see even if one part - albeit the one at the top of most visitor's list - is closed. For instance, hope you got to see the Raphael Rooms?
Posted by
OP
72 posts
My mistake was assuming there was a chance of the tour getting a glimpse inside the Sistine. When I told the rep Sistine was closed as of April 28th, she told me the tour was on. She didn’t disclose the key info. Good customer service would go like this: Your complete tour definitely won’t include the Sistine. You may cancel if you like. Viator did that.