private tour of the Vatican

I can answer at least with respect to the Vatican Museums/Sistine. The best thing to do is buy your tickets online at least 24 hours in advance so that you can skip the line. Get there before they open so that you can be among the first from the "skipping the line line" when they open. Rent an audio guide (7 Euro), head directly for the Sistine Chapel (far end of the museums, there are signs that will guide you there), enjoy it a bit before it becomes a complete mob scene, then make your way back through the museum with audio guide in hand. The benefit of the audio guide is you can see what you want at the pace that you want. If you are on a guided tour then you are somewhat more at their mercy. Some people experience a greater sense of security with a guided tour. So it's really up to you. But the foregoing is what I would tend to prefer. http://mv.vatican.va/

Depending on what time of year you are going, you may not need to pre-book in order to avoid the lines. Check out the Ron in Rome website to see what he has to say. We walked right in at noon. With three kids, we just followed the Rick Steves Rome book's guided tour and provided a little information. This met our needs just fine. However, my parents took a tour with Through Eternity and loved it. There were only 4 people on their tour and they were led by an art history major who gave them all sorts of information. They spent 5 hours on the tour and said they could have done more. So I guess whether you do a tour depends on how much you want to know/see/do.

If you go in the afternoon there is usually little to no lines. If you go in the mornings you will encounter long lines, sometime more than an hour or two depending on the time of year. You can purchase entry tickets to the vatican museums that allow you to bypass the lines. Also booking a tour will allow you to bypass the lines. You can do this directly through the vatican and save a lot of money. A "private tour", just you and your family will cost you hundreds of euros. A group tour will cost 31 euros each. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and give great information. Another way to see the museums is to rent an audio guide or use a good guide book. Both are less expensive than hiring a guide. Just an FYI, the Vatican is comprised of many things including St. Peter's square, St. Peter's basilica, the dome, the museums the gardens and the scavi tour which are open to the public and other areas which are not open to the public. You cannot take a tour of "the Vatican", you can only visit or tour the public areas. Donna

We used Walks of Italy (www.walksofitaly.com) and our guide was great. Yes, we skipped all th lines this way, too. We've also done this tour on our own a few years prior and I have to say that I found it so much more interesting with a guide who filled in all the little details.