Saint Peter’s/Vatican

Last time we went (2022), we hired a private guide, but after showing us inside St. Peter’s, the tour was done. We didn’t climb the dome, and it wasn’t included.

The key, though, is having a guide who will take you to St. Peter’s after the Vatican Museums. Only guided visitors can take the shortcut to St. Peter’s through the “secret” back door of the Sistine Chapel. Guards at that door verify who does or doesn’t have a guide, and deny entry to the latter. Without passing through the shortcut, you’ll have a very long way, distance-wise and time-wise, to get from the Museums to the Basilica.

If you’ve got a double tour, make sure they use that doorway passage. And will they be climbing the dome with you? I doubt they sitting at the bottom, waiting for you to go up and then back down to them.

The Vatican Museums offer well-priced tours of the museums on their website, but those tours do not include St. Peter's (whichnis free to enter but virtually always has a very long security line), so their clients do not get to use the door connecting the Sistine Chapel (part of the Vatican Museums) to the Basilica. There are commercial tours that combine the Museums with St. Peter's.

Tickets for the Vatican Museums sell out very early. Tickets for the Vatican Museums' tours are usually available a bit closer to the date of visit but still must be purchased very early.