Disappointing experience with Walks of Italy's Sistine Pristine

We went directly to the Sistine Chapel and the tour probably didn’t have 100 oeople ahead of it, but the chapel fills very fast

I have been on that tour 3 times but not since 2015. We met at 7:30, as I recall, and were in the chapel by 8:30 at the latest. Not empty but not packed. The guides even took us back through the chapel later just to show us how bad it gets! We were in the Basilica before 11 AM as I recall,

Sorry you had such a poor experience.

The thing is, this company is not the only one that has "early access". Other tour operators that are accredited by the vatican can access the same entrance.

I went to the Vatican museums during non-peak hours last year and it was still super busy. I wish they would limit the crowds more

I'm sorry as well to hear that your tour was a disappointment, James!

I hadn't looked at the description of the "Pristine" tour for awhile, and see that while it promises "early entrance" it doesn't seem to follow the visitation order that I seem to remember that it used to. Anyone who has done this in the past, didn't it go almost directly to the Sistine, move on to other parts after that, and then return to the chapel to use the "tour group" passage into the basilica? Laurel, it sounds as if that was your experience?

The current description has the group doing all those other parts first and getting to the Sistine after that.

"Passing through empty galleries with your expert guide, you'll take in some of the world’s most incredible works of art, stopping at the Belvedere Courtyard, the Gallery of the Maps, the four Raphael Rooms, and more on your way to the Sistine Chapel..... You'll enter the Sistine Chapel just as the doors open to groups and ahead of the daytime crowds. By this time, your guide will have given you the full history of this space and pointers on what to look out for. Take your time and enjoy some of the most iconic images on earth. After 15 to 20 minutes of quiet contemplation, you'll embark on a guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica."

https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkIjW_ZLugQMVyfXICh3lVgNEEAAYASAAEgKPxvD_BwE

Given this description (and prior personal experience with the museums) I've no idea how a tour could cover that amount of commentated ground and arrive at the chapel before a chunk of general public. As it continues into the basilica without returning to the museums, the chapel is clearly towards at the back end of the advertised 4 hours. To your point, James, doors open to the general public at 9:00, and a fair amount of that general-entry crowd - not to mention other tour groups - make a beeline to the chapel so by 10:30 it would be very busy indeed. Have you contacted the company with your feedback?

I'm sorry you had a disappointing experience. We have not taken that tour, but have been pleased with the other WOI tours we've taken.

We did a skip the line tour of the Accedemia in Florence as part of the Best of Florence Walking Tour. We were let in before the general public and spent about 30 uncrowded minutes. After that it got pretty busy. This was in December a few years ago.

Unfortunately, Europe, especially in the high season, has become over touristed. It's gotten especially bad anywhere cruise ship passengers have access. Luckily, we have seen the major sites of Italy. We now concentrate on the out of the way places during the off season.

Thanks all.

Kathy, yes I sent an email to Walks basically asking them if this was normal for this tour or if I somehow got put on a regular tour. I haven't heard back yet.

I will say my tour experience in Rome hasn't been great compared to my other trips. I took a Colosseum/Forum tour with the Tour Guy that was also a bit underwhelming. I've much preferred doing the self guided tours/walks with Rick's book and audio tours but I went with tour operators for the Sistine chapel early access and buying colosseum tickets was quite the challenge.

Oh well, I won't let a couple of underwhelming tours ruin what was otherwise a great first visit to Rome.

That’s disappointing. As an option for others the Prime Experience booked through the Vatican website did a really good job. For 66 euro we were the first group in the room before 9 am. The guide talked us through the ceiling and we had 20 minutes in there. One more group joined us about 15 min in.

And we got breakfast afterwards. The tour starts at 7:30am in the museums

The negative is we “rushed” through the parts before the Sistine. Spent a good time in the Maps but not much time elsewhere looking at a couple of highlights per room.

However we walked through again afterwards.

If you want uncrowded and semi alone time in the chapel then this is a good tour to take.

Talking about the Colosseum we did the official English language underground tour. We found this underwhelming considering it was the hot ticket in Rome. The group was large and the mic kept cutting out. The underground was interesting to walk around and the access along the side of the arena was worth it. However it’s only really the underground and arena floor tour with nothing outside of these two pieces. I would have loved a tour of the rest of the Colosseum and the forum.

Oh well, I won't let a couple of underwhelming tours ruin what was
otherwise a great first visit to Rome.

There ya go! You're a trooper, James, and you get high marks for not letting a few disappointments ruin your good time! Do let us know if Walks Of Italy responds to your questions regarding what went wobbly on your tour?

didn't it go almost directly to the Sistine, move on to other parts after that, and then return to the chapel to use the "tour group" passage into the basilica? Laurel, it sounds as if that was your experience?

Kathy, yes, this was our experience.

We just left Rome and did the Pristine Sistine with Walks last Friday. The itinerary followed the description of the tour on-line (Sistine at end of the tour through the Vatican Museum) so there were lots of parts we want to go back to see, but we were in the Sistine by 9:05 and stayed for 20 minutes or so. I even had a chance to sit on one of the benches along the side to look up. Chapel was getting pretty busy when we left for St Peter’s.

carr 321's post just above is spam designed to relieve you of money

Following up to see if you heard back from Walks of Italy regarding your complaint, James. Did they respond and, if so, how did they explain not reaching the chapel until 10:30?

Hey Kathy,

So I sent an email to Walks the same day of the tour the 10th (well that night) with my complaints and received the auto response assigning me a case number and saying someone would reply within 24 hours.

24 hours went by, no response. I sent a follow-up email on the 13th. To this day no response, so I have pretty much written this off and will probably just write a negative review.

I think you may have just experienced traveling post-pandemic. All of Europe is extremely crowded I was shocked at the walls of people in Florence, even booking a tour I was running into sold out multiple times. I took this tour in 2015 and we walked halls with only our tour group and the Chapel was not crowded at all. Now once the place opened it was shoulder to shoulder, I can only imagine how much more you experienced this during your tour.