First timer, solo traveler, Book a tour for Vatican City or tour on my own?

I have toured many times on my own over the years, and I did one small group tour with Through Eternity (started st 7:30 am, inside the Sistine Chapel by 8:30, your concluded in St. Peter's Basilica). This was about four or five hours.

I would recommend a small group tour, which you can book directly with the Vatican Museums (but it will not get you into the Sistine Chapel early), or with a group like Through Eternity or Walks of Rome. Viator is a consolidator, you book with them but your tour could be done by one of a number of companies.

I have toured myself many times with no problems.
But last time i took a pvt tour with a guide from vatican museum.
It was about $50 and she explained many of the paintings but i did not feel it was worth it for me.

You have to gauge your own level of interest -- the best tours I have ever been on are by Context, where the guide has at least an M.F.A. and hopefully specific expertise in the periods and artists that you'll be looking at. On their Renaissance Rome tour I was actually the only person in the group that didn't have an M.F.A. -- my background is in religious studies -- and it was truly a walking graduate seminar as they advertise. This is better than having a daybag full of books and pamphlets on your own, no matter how sharp your memory or powers of observation and association.
If you just want a quick overview of the area with some highlighted pieces, then try whatever Viator will re-sell you, or just join the standard guided walk the pinacoteca offers.
I should mention, though, that the delightfully elitist Through Eternity guide that I used to know did a very good imitation of a frosty standard multilingual leader pointing her little flag at one painting after another and saying "Very Important Painting" and then moving on to the next. As another commenter says, you don't get much out of that kind of activity, so you should either go for an academic guide or do your own casual walk-through, in my (not so) humble opinion.

Worth a mention here as your post is specifically about Vatican City:
Only parts of the tiny, walled 'city' are open to tourists, and I think there are few tours (if any) which cover all of those in one shot. For instance, the Vatican itself breaks them out into separate tours of varying price depending on size of group and areas those access:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

And I believe tours to the scavi area of the tomb of St Peter still must be reserved in writing or directly (in person) at the Excavations Office. These fill quickly in advance:

http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en.html

I used the audio guides on Rick Steves' App during my visit to Vatican City and thought they worked great! I used one for St. Peter's Basilica and one for the Sistine Chapel. I agree with what was posted above, it depends on your interest in these sites. If you want the personalization of a tour and to be able to ask questions, then I would book a tour.

We did a Walks of Italy tour of the Vatican earlier this month and it was fantastic. Probably the best tour we have ever done.

I second what Ron said..we also did the Walks of Italy Pristine Sistine tour and loved it.

I booked a group tour through viators.com, We had a young man as our guide who is from Oregon and is studying art in Rome. He was great and our 1/2 day tour was the museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters. Well worth it to have all of the art explained and to guide us through.
Viators is a consolidator and looks like they have a bunch of tours of the Vatican, museum, chapel etc. here is a link [Viators

Another vote for any and all tours by Walks of Italy. All have been terrific.

Thank you all. I've booked with viator in the past and had no complaints. While I plan to tour other museums with my audio guides I decided with all that Vatican City offers a guided tour would be better. I also thought I'd try a new company and picked a forum favorite, Walks of Italy. This forum is helping me greatly with my planning. Thank you.

avirosemail, I reviewed Context and was impressed. This time the company couldn't accommodate my needs but I'll keep them in mind for other travels.

We used the free Rick Steve's walking tours and they were good enough for us. Hit the highlights and we didn't get bored. One for the vatican and one for st peter's.

my 2 cents- it is crowded and overwhelming- if you want an explanation and being able to get into certain areas and getting advice- book a tour. I have booked through viator and other sites in the past and have never been disappointed.