I'll be in Rome in mid-March, and I'm considering Walk of Italy's early entrance, limited-crowd tour of the Vatican, which would include the museums and the Sistine Chapel.
$100USD for a 4-hour tour seems like a reasonable value for money. Showing up for a 7:15 start time seems like an extraordinary effort. Can anyone speak to the value of that effort? Or are the regular-hours tours just fine?
The regular hours of the Vatican tour is similar to being in the middle of a large herd of cows-
shoulder- shoulder for the entire route, hot,noisy, and not at all enjoyable, from my experience. Think of a concert stadium as everyone is exiting at the same time, but it just doesn't end. The crowds never thin out. I would never see the Vatican in such a mode again!
Safe travels!
If you want to spend time with the Sistine chapel, then it’s absolutely worth it. We had about a half-hour in the chapel first thing with plenty of other people there but nothing like the crowds later when we cut through a couple hours later to get to St. Peter’s. The rest of the tour is nice and hits the highlights, but you won’t see everything. If that’s important, then this might not be for you. But this is a huge museum and you’d have to be a pretty serious art lover to want to see what you miss with this tour. You will get time in St. Peter’s at the end to see the rest or spend more time with something after the tour or to go up to the roof on your own, and you avoid the line to get into St. Peter’s.
Summary- unless seeing the parts of the Vatican Museum not included in the tour are more important than avoiding crowds in the Sistine and saving time to get into St. Peter’s, then this tour is so worth it. Get up even a little earlier and check out the square in the early am when it’s quiet and lovely. Sleep in the next day.
similar to being in the middle of a large herd of cows - shoulder- shoulder for the entire route
Y'all just made that really easy! I'll set three alarms to make the early tour.
Not going to book it for the first morning, so I can have a slower, 'recovery' morning after the journey. Maybe a day when I plan on a later night out, so my disco nap will be well-earned.
We showed up at 7:15 and thought it was one of the most memorable things we ever did. It’s a zoo when everyone else arrives. It was a private experience at 7:15. Well worth the effort and money. I took the advice from someone on this forum and glad I did.
I agree with what the others have said. I didn't take an early-access tour, but I was at the Vatican in mid-March of this year, and there were major pockets of massive crowds (most definitely including the Sistine Chapel).
However, the Vatican has announced there will be ticketing changes in January. I don't think we know what the access process will be like yet. In addition, there was one relatively recent report (from this fall) by someone who took the Pristine Sistine tour and reported it wasn't as advertised. It sounded as if the tour somehow didn't get to the Sistine Chapel until after the floodgates opened and the masses of folks (like me) with regular tickets showed up. I have no idea whether that was a one-time screw up or an indication of a repeated problem.
I've been in that large herd of cows. Glad to know there is another option! Sarah Murdoch did a video during covid where she was not in the herd. In fact, no one was around. I am sure you can find that on youtube. I was envious.
Backing up acraven's post here:
The museums will indeed have new hours starting Jan 1, and doors will now be open to the public at 8:00 instead of 9:00. We've seen that some of the independent tour companies have disclaimers on their websites stating that, "...the Vatican Museums will discontinue early access for all tour providers."
Walks of Italy's "Pristine Sistine" has not changed the normal meeting time - 7:15 - so I don't see them being able to make it into the museums much earlier than the mob. According to a poster who took that tour back in October, it also didn't go directly to the Sistine before exploring other parts of the museums so it was really crowded by the time they got to it.
The only Museum tour I'm seeing the Vatican itself offering after Jan 1 (so far, anyway) is their standard tour that runs during assorted regular hours. There's another for the gardens and Sistine that looks to be available in March but their own "Prime" early access tour isn't listed. Whether it will be later on remains to be seen. Short story long, the tour situation looks a bit fuzzy right now for 2024!
Whatever the case, a tour can be beneficial as far as guiding you to some of the highlights (you won't see ALL of the museums) and explaining what you're looking at.
A word of caution. Walks of Italy has absolutely no problem with selling tours that it doesn’t actually have tickets for. We have seen this multiple times with the Colosseum Underground tours. People with confirmed reservations have the tour cancelled 24-48 hours prior to the scheduled time. I wonder if this will carry over to the Vatican Museums with the change in ticketing procedures?
I found the Vatican Museums extremely disappointing on several levels. The crowds and the constant direction to keep moving combined with loud announcements to be silent in the Sistine Chapel were not pleasant. It may have an amazing collection, but there was no enjoying it. Beyond that, I found that this money making machine seemed so contrary to the teachings of Christ that I was disturbed by that as well. Several of my tour mates expressed similar responses.
I did really enjoy the Borghese Gallery and can highly recommend it. This facility has timed entry controlled access and there is no sense of crowds. The Capitaline Museum was also a positive experience.
Keep in mind that Walks of Italy will not be the only ones selling early access tickets. When I was there last year (regular admission) there were literally hundreds of people assembled in various tour groups heading to the exact same location at the same time - The Sistine Chapel. So the early access is earlier than the general public but not from other tour groups.
The RomeWise YouTube channel recently posted a comparison of three Vatican tours here. This is a great channel for all things Rome. Perhaps this info will be helpful to you.
In a word, YES!! I visited Rome in January purposefully— to avoid crowds at the Vatican. I booked a ticket well in advance, directly on the vatican website and took their first available time slot of the day. SO glad i did—I arrived a half hour before they opened and had a coffee and pastry at the cafe across street—it wasn’t the best in town, but fine enough. Then, as they prepared to open, I walked right up to the appropriate entry gate and entered without delay. (organized tours were gathered in other lines, all queued up in controlled areas with stanchions.—already a madhouse.) That was the first “crowd” hurtle done! Next, since I was early, no lines for picking up the audio guide (also pre-purchased with ticket). Second crowd hurtle down. For the galleries—it’s “essentially” a one-choice route, a linear path, so do your homework and don’t pause early in journey—keep moving to what really interests you. Doubling back is possible, but much like a salmon swimming upstream. There are many floor plans available—so familiarize yourself with the route and art in galleries to figure out what to focus on. Way too much to absorb in first trip. It’s a long path, so note the restrooms along the way. Sistine Chapel is always crowded, guides will encourage you to keep moving. so a tip—move to the end of chapel, or second chamber, where you can spend a bit more time. Take a seat on the benches along the perimeter and enjoy with more time and calm. Toward the end of the museum path, food court was large, but crowded, with many choices. I chose the pizza cafe and was just fine. Plan ahead and have a wonderful time in this amazing museum!!
Two other thoughts on this: we took the "normal" tour from the Vatican Museum and our guide's Italian accent was so thick it was hard to understand much of what he said. Maybe a more expensive tour would be a bit pickier on English expertise?
Also, and this as a shock, but when you do the typical tour and go through the Vatican Museums for 2 hours, which is full of incredible art and artifacts, the Sistine Chapel isn't as impressive as you'd expert. You're kind overloaded with art at that point. And yes, the crowds and Loud announcements for Silence were also quite distracting.
So someday I hope to go back and tour the Sistine chapel with at least a smaller crowd and priority focus. It sounds worth it to me.
The RomeWise YouTube channel recently posted a comparison of three
Vatican tours
Except that she talks about early tours getting in before the current 9:00 public entry time. As of Jan 1, public entry will be at 8:00 so her info is outdated. It's unclear if there will be any as-yet-to-be-available tours that get you inside WELL before that hour. Just as an example, this tour advertises "early entrance 1 hour before the crowds" but a dummy booking for a random date in January shows a meeting time of 8:00 at the tour office, approx. a block away from the museum entrance. By the time the tour gets to the entrance, the general public has already had a jump on it.
Walks of Italy is showing the "VIP Key Master's Tour" she also recommends as only being available on the 15th of this month and nothing after that, unless their calendar has not been updated. I haven't seen any other company that offers that tour unless I'm overlooking something.
I guess my point is that some things will be changing soon at some of the most-visited attractions, like hours and tickets fees at the Vatican Museums and possibly the availability of early-access tours. Online ticketing for the Colosseum will be changing this winter; Coopculture will no longer be the official website for that. So, some caution is advised when signing up for a tour that may be advertising benefits they maybe can't deliver, OK? :O(
Oh, and that cafe across the street from the museum's entrance? Bree, you evidently were one of very few who found it "fine enough"! :O)
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d1089060-Reviews-Caffe_Vaticano-Rome_Lazio.html
If you don't want to get up early, may I suggest the afternoon/evening tour of some of the museum and the Sistine Chapel? I don't remember the cost, but it wasn't any more than the early morning tour. We arrived about 3 pm, the tour began about 3:30, continued until after closing hours, then we had 30 uninterrupted minutes in the Chapel with only one other group, so about 50-60 in total. The museum tour was not crowded at all. After the tour, there is a wine and cheese/munchies reception that was generous to make it our dinner. Leaving is a bit weird in that because everything is completely shut down, security guards walk out individuals. We left about an hour after we started the refreshment hours. The only downside to the experience was that because everything was locked up tight, there were no taxis waiting in the piazza. We walked home; no big deal. You can buy tickets on the Vatican website.
Thanks for the insights, everybody. Even the currently-unanswerable questions leave me more informed than I had been.
I've gone ahead and booked a tour, perhaps just as a placeholder. It's fully refundable up to 24 hours before the scheduled start. I'll reexamine the landscape when I'm home in February and the dust will (maybe) have settled a bit on the schedule changes.
Scudder: Are you willing to share who you booked your Vatican Tour with?
kdh- Of course. I booked with Walks of Italy
I guess I am in the minority but I had a very poor experience with Walks of Italy Pristine tour. You can read about it here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/disappointing-experience-with-walks-of-italy-s-sistine-pristine
Maybe I just had bad luck.
Scudder, seeing how the dust settles in a couple of months is a perfectly reasonable strategy, especially since you are able to cancel your reservation if desired. :O)
Shoot, I guess even if it turns out not to be truly entry-before-the-masses, you'd still have the benefit of experienced shepherding to some highlights, direct access from museums to basilica (unless it's a Wednesday) and knowledgeable commentary.
I just booked a 0830 tour for 29 April 2024 for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel on the official Vatican Museums site. Cost is 40 Euro. The early booking tour is not available.
I'm seeing 8AM start times on the Vatican website through April 2024. I'm curious about the difference between seeing the Museums and the Gardens. Each is offered along with the Sistine Chapel, but not together. Any suggestions on pros/cons or differences? My husband and I will certainly appreciate the art and historical and religious significance of the museums, but I'm wondering if the gardens are just as amazing. Thoughts?
Out of the box suggestion: We booked the early tour. With the ticket you receive an itinerary with 2 "walks' . We took the walk that gets you to the Sistine Chapel. We practically ran there. We go there and there was us and the 2 guards. No one else. Wonderful, fabulous except the 2 guards loudly talking. But no crowds actually no people except the 4 of us, for a short time anyway.
