Official Vatican tours vs tour operators

We used Angel Tours. Thought they did a great job. Trouble with this question we have no comparison with other tours since we only used them.

Hi fritzy,

While I have not taken any of the tours with the companies I will list below, most if not all get very, very good reviews -- some more than others -- due to popularity and word of mouth.

Some posters here may have used one or two of the tour guide companies for their sightseeing for different reasons - pricing, availability of their choices, itinerary. (Most of the itineraries are the same if you take each company and pick a specific destination and compare side by side.)

What I like to suggest is watching The Roman Guy videos -- Sean is one of the leads and narrates most of the videos. I find them to be very entertaining, down to Earth, helpful, easy to understand, and geared more toward the newer traveler to Rome (and Florence)

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRomanGuyTours

Check out their other videos specific to Roman neighborhoods, tips and suggestions how to navigate around Roma, suggestions on where to stay and where to eat in Rome.

Since some of the videos may be some years old, of course it is always best to check with the official websites and stores and restaurants they recommend for policies, times, dates of openings, pricing.

For your comparison convenience --

The Roman Guy -- https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy/rome
Walks of Italy -- https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/
Dark Rome (aka City Wonders as their parent company) -- https://darkrome.com/rome-tours
Angel Tours -- https://angeltours.eu/destination/rome/
Through Eternity Tours -- https://www.througheternity.com/en/rome-tours/

Another suggestion is -- you can book an official Vatican Museums tour -- either direct on their website or buy one at one of the stores surrounding St. Peter's Piazza.

I would advise this: If you can, book a very early tour or maybe a later evening tour. I know some peeps are catching on to the "skip the crowds" and go very early tours (eventually those will be a madhouse too.)

Times, days, dates will dictate how the crowding is. Most likely, Saturdays will be the busiest.

Enjoy!

On our first trip to Rome, the Vatican was the top of our list, must see place. We splurged and did a semi private tour. https://citywonders.com/vatican-tours/vatican-semi-private-tours

One of the best tours we've ever been on! Well worth the price, skipping the huge line alone was great, we had less than 12 people in our group, so we could hear our guide, lots of personalized service. We used Rick Steves audio tours for all other attractions on that trip to save some money (Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, etc..). Yes the audio tours are great, but having a tour guide in the Vatican museums and Sistine chapel was really priceless. I guess it's what's important to you and your trip.