Is a guided tour of the Vatican Museum worth it?

It'd probably depend on how much you already know and how much more you want to know. Plus time and money.

The Vatican Museum's are so big, I really can't imagine doing it on my own. The last time I was there, I used the Museum's guides and was pleased with the tour and the price was very reasonable. There were two downsides to the Museum's tour - there is no actual tour of the Sistine Chapel or the ability to use the short-cut into St. Peter's. I didn't mind not having someone talk about the Sistine Chapel due to my knowledge about it. But - the walk back through the museum to get out was pretty long. That said, I would probably use them again rather than pay the steep prices of other tours.

We found the self-guided tour in Rick's book, augmented by the museum's audioguide, to be useful and rewarding. One of the sections (Etruscan) was being shut down for a couple of hours for some reason just as we reached it, so you can't always follow Rick's tour step by step and word for word. For the guide's fee you will undoubtedly get more indepth insight on particular things, and get less info on other things, depending on the focus of the tour.

While it wasn't for the Vatican Musem, we've hired a guide several times for the Louvre and always found it worthwhile.

I think a great tour guide is almost always worth the money, and I think that equipped with good materials/audioguide, a self-guided tour can often be just fine. I've got a lot of art history background and a high art museum tolerance, but my frustration comes in when I see people stalled in front of mediocre art (and all museums have some!) I want to say "Keep moving! There's much better yet to come!" knowing that by the time they get to it, their art appreciation quota is probably going to be way past used up. This truly is a problem in the Vatican Museum just because of its enormous size. If you do go it alone, go prepared. And don't get bogged down in the Etruscan urns, or you'll be toast before you get to the Sizzling Chapel (what my daughter thought it was called until she was half-grown.)

Kathryn is right about the Sistine Chapel tour - due to the number of people,keeping groups together is difficult and many guides give a lecture before entering the Chapel and then will answer questions inside - if you can find them. Groups of seven or more must use headphones. I would use the RS self-guided tour. For the rest of the museums, a guide can be very helpful, but the backtracking to get to St. Peter's is a long walk.

I used the RS audiotour for St. Peter's and found it very good. Allowed me to go at my own pace and no straining to hear a tour guide. Beautiful, beautiful, astounding church.

For the Vatican, I used a different approach. I identified 5-6 things + Sistine Chapel that I absolutely wanted to see, did a bit of research (online), got to the Vatican Museum, identified where the items were, saw them, and literally zipped out of there as fast as I could. I was there at a recommended time, a Thursday at 2p.m. in early April (not Easter) and it was MOBBED with people. Experienced no lines getting in, getting tickets, etc, but inside...yikes! Imagine a New York City sidewalk at 5:00 p.m. Shoulder to shoulder down numerous hallways, many tour groups. This is not a tolerable condition for viewing artwork.

In case it helps you, my must sees were:

School of Athens (painting Raphael),
Laocoon (sculpture),
Apollo Belvedere (sculpture),
Sala Delle Muse (statues of Apollo and nine muses + the Belvedere Torso),
The Entombment of Christ (painting Caravaggio),
Sistine Chapel,
some Egyptian art, and (believe it or not)
I wanted to see the exhibit of the Pope's vehicles through the years.

I know my tolerance for crowds is not high, so I identified my must-sees, and then exited. I have no doubt that I missed many wonderful pieces of art...but in the crowded conditions I experienced, it was better for me to focus on just a few items and leave with a smile.

We took the Context Tour Arte Vaticana. The Vatican can be overwhelming, but the guide, an art historian, guided us through the massive crowds (yes, massive!, it was May) not only to the "crowd pleasers" but also those that were significant in the development of art. She gave her presentation on the Sistine Chapel before we entered the chapel, then gave us around 15 minutes to view the ceiling. We had no problem meeting the group at the other end. Bring small binoculars to really see what the recent cleaning has uncovered. The tour includes the main sites in the basilica. Very solid information, and we were so glad we took this tour.
A guided tour was not my first choice, ( I could not get tickets for the one day we could visit the Vatican). Yes, the tour was well worth the cost.

My husband and I visited the Vatican on our last full day in Rome several years ago. We found ourselves in a looong, slow-moving line outside. A young woman was moving down the line offering a tour of the Vatican museum with the opportunity to move ahead to the tour group. I forget what the cost was, but it seemed reasonable although my husband didn't want to pay it. I said "Look, the museum may be closing as we get to the door and who knows when we'll get to Italy again." We followed the young lady for what seemed to be a mile before catching up to the tour group. In the courtyard the tour guide gave a brief rundown of what we would be seeing, then proceeded to take us through the many galleries to view select works of art.

We should have planned the day better, but we lucked out by getting into a good tour group on the fly. I know that we would not have gotten into the museum that day if we had stayed where we were in line! Also imperative to have someone knowledgeable---whether an audio tour or a guide in person---to guide you through literally miles of galleries. If you decide to go on your own, it is advisable to buy tickets in advance (online).

We did the Pristine Sistine with Walks of Italy and I absolutely thought it was worth it!

Hi there,
I have done both - I have taken at least four professionally guided tours of the Vatican Museums (maybe more), and I have done it on my own at least as many times with various guide books as well.

Both were satisfying for me. I tend to use a professional guide if I am with friends who are visiting me in Rome. Otherwise, I wander about and take my time.

I think it depends on your budget and your interests. If you are so motivated, you will learn a lot just reading and following along with a book.

Although we always say to plan to return, because you can't do everything in one trip, I would do this visit in the way you consider most ideal for you (whether you prefer more information, organization, or the freedom to skip faster to what interests you), because after you see the crowds on this visit, you may not want to attempt it a second time.

I have always just walked out the short cut from the Sistine Chapel to St Peters with out having to go all the way back through the museum. You just blend in with a tour group.

Aside from that being unethical (those people pay extra for that privilege), the guards are checking tickets before letting people through. The walk back doesn't take long and you get to see rooms you'd miss if on a tour using the door. The security line at the basilica moves quickly and usually doesn't take more than 20 minutes at it's longest.

Donna

Just echoing Donna's post here. It is an ethical issue, and your chance of "blending in" with a tour group in just that: a chance. It's my understanding that the guards have become much more watchful than in the past, and visitors not identified as being with a group are being snagged and denied access to the back stairs.

If you want to be able to use the shortcut, take one of the tours which include BOTH the Vatican Museums and St Peter's. they offer one of those on the Vatican Museum website:

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

After tour is over, you can wander St Peter's at your leisure.

If you are going soon, the Friday evening summer hours at the Vatican were an amazing experience for us 2 weeks ago. We used Rick's book, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the GREATLY reduced number of people who were in the museum seemed to as well. One of the guards told me it was the very best way to see the museum--cooler and uncrowded. The only caveat is that the whole museum is not accessible, specifically the Pinacoteca, but I was fine with the wealth of what was. Seeing the Sistine Chapel without noisy crowds and yelling guards was the best part--or maybe it was the Pinecone courtyard cafe and the classical music quartet playing. Beautiful.