suggestions for Tour guides for the vatican

Below is a list of recommended guides and tour companies taken from Rick's Rome guidebook, which you may find useful:

Local guides are good but pricey. Tour companies are cheaper, but quality and organization are unreliable. If you do hire a private Italian guide--and it’s tough on your budget, consider inviting others from your hotel to join you and split the cost (around €180 for a three-hour tour); this ends up costing about the same per person as going on a scheduled tour from one of the walking-tour companies listed below--and you’ll likely get a better guide.

Local Guides
I’ve worked with and enjoyed each of these licensed independent local guides. They’re native Italians, speak excellent English, and enjoy tailoring tours to your interests. Their prices (roughly €60/hour) flex with the day, season, and demand. Arrange your date and price by email. Carla Zaia ([email protected]); Cristina Giannicchi (mobile 338-111-4573, www.crisromanguide.com, [email protected]); Sara Magister ([email protected]); Giovanna Terzulli ([email protected]); Alessandra Mazzoccoli (www.romeandabout.com, [email protected]); and Massimiliano Canneto (a Catholic guide with forte on the Vatican but does all of Rome, [email protected]).
Francesca Caruso, who works almost full time with my tours when in Rome, has contributed generously to this book (www.francescacaruso.com, [email protected]). Popular with my readers, Francesca understandably books up quickly; if she’s busy, she’ll recommend one of her colleagues. At her website you can listen to the many interviews I’ve enjoyed with Francesca on my public radio program.

These companies are each well-established, creative, and competitive with their various tours explained on their websites. Each offers a 10 percent discount with online bookings for Rick Steves travelers:
Enjoy Rome (tel. 06-445-1843, www.enjoyrome.com, [email protected]).
Rome Walks (mobile 347-795-5175, www.romewalks.com, [email protected], Annie).
Europe Odyssey (tel. 06-8854-2416, mobile 328-912-3720, www.europeodyssey.com, Rahul).
Through Eternity (for discount look for “Group Tours Rome” and enter "RICKSTEVES,” tel. 06-700-9336, mobile 347-336-5298, www.througheternity.com, [email protected], Rob).
Walks of Italy (for discount enter "10ricksteves," US tel. 888/683-8670, Italian mobile 334-974-4274, tel. 06-9558-3331, www.walksofitaly.com, Jason Spiehler).
The Roman Guy (enter “ricksteves” for discount, www.theromanguy.com, Sean Finelli).
Context Rome’s walking tours are more intellectual than most, designed for travelers with longer-than-average attention spans. They are more expensive than others (no discounts) and are led by “docents” rather than guides (tel. 06-9672-7371, US tel. 800-691-6036, www.contexttravel.com).
Sketching Rome Tours, offered by American expat Kelly Medford, draw on your creative side with fun, three-hour sketching tours geared to (aspiring) artists of any skill level ($125, www.sketchingrometours.com).

To sightsee on your own, download Rick's (free) Audio Europe app for access to tours that illuminate some of Rome's top sights and neighborhoods.

You can book an official tour directly with the vatican at their official website. These tours are very good and very reasonably priced.

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

There are several to choose from so be sure to read their descriptions to see which is best for you.

Donna

Walks of Italy's Pristine Sistine tour is excellent. Small group (maximum 12 people), you enter before the crowds and are in the Sistine Chapel with only a few dozen people instead of 1200. I have taken the tour twice and recommended it to many friends. You won't be disappointed! Details here.

I would check out Presto tours. We used them for the Vatican a few years ago and they were excellent. A very informative tour with a small group of 6-8 people.

Do you want a guide for the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, or the church itself? Or all three? Guides are not allowed to talk or provide commentary in the Sistine Chapel itself, as one is supposed to maintain silence ( we were there today and this was not observed). I don't know how it works within St. Peter's as today is Wednesday and we could not go in due to the papal audience. But a guide may be useful for the Vatican Museums if you want to learn as much as you can.

I suggest you look at the small group tours instead of a private guide. You can book one that gives you early entry into the Sistine Chapel before the crowds arrive. Laurel suggested Pristine Sistine with Walks of Italy, so that is one to start with. We used Dark Rome/City Wonders, just today. They have various combinations of Sistine Chapel (early entry, no guided tour), and either St. Peter's or the Vatican Museum, or all three ( about four hours ---too much for us!)

We had the Sistine Chapel practically to ourselves--I counted 24 people in there with us. And the museum rooms were practically empty, except for the Rafael Rooms which had tour groups listening to their guides.

Just did the early entry tour into the Sistine Chapel and Vatican with The Roman Guy, Rafaela was the guide, highly recommend.