The Walker Tours

Pretty sure it’s way too early for Vatican tickets to even be available yet for next May

I have never heard of that tour company

Can you get a refund?
Can you share a link to their site?

This is the official site
https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en.html

A Vatican site would never be called “Walker Tours”

Just did a Google search and every single result for “Walker Tours” is a scam/fraud warning

Ditto to the above. You didn't book with the official website (https://www.museivaticani.va), and tickets for the museums aren't even available for booking yet for May 2026. As I don't know anything about the site you booked with (never heard of them) I'd do your best to have your purchase refunded. I'm guessing they just hope to be able to land tickets when available for the customers they've sold to this far in advance. Could that happen? Maybe but I wouldn't trust sales of tickets before even the Vatican makes them available.

Thanks for the reply. .The site really appeared legit. The website is museivaticanitickets. It uses .com
I attempted to cancel immediately after I noticed the "by Walker" and they have a strict no refund. Also tried to file a dispute on my CC.
If they don't come through with my tickets I'll file another dispute. I acted too fast to buy tickets.
Thanks for input.

Here is the link to site

Well that is certainly misleading.

I am sorry this happened to you- hope you can get a credit card refund.
I wouldn't count on seeing tickets from this site at all- so don't wait too long next year - buy new tickets from the official site once they go on sale or you may get shut out.

Going forward I will suggest you come here to confirm you are booking on official sites- we won't steer you wrong.

Yes, I'll but tickets on the official site. Thank you for your input. Nan L.

I know it's exciting to plan a trip and begin to get activities locked down, but it's generally prudent to suppress the instinct to buy plain-vanilla entry tickets and tours this far in advance. A lot can happen in ten months in the realm of health, family emergencies, etc. Even if you had bought from the official Vatican website, you probably wouldn't be able to get your money back if you needed to cancel or change your schedule. Sightseeing tickets from official sources are usually non-changeable and non-refundable.

Same thing just happened to me. Thought it was odd I could buy tickets today for 9/22, but just thought process had changed. Never even saw (by Walker) under Musei Vaticani header. Damn. Calling my credit card company tomorrow.

Wanted to reply to this as I went to the Vatican today with walker tours tickets. My tickets were emailed to me a few days ago. They worked perfectly. The website does look very official and I was in a hurry and anxious because everyone says tickets are so hard to get in July. I have found these alternate ticket sites to be an issue with all of the Rome attractions. Very frustrating. I believe the “walker tours” is just a scalper site just like we have in the US for concert tickets. We paid double the normal price, just like I have paid double to see a concert I wanted to see when the tickets were sold out. It does say in very fine print that the tickets you receive could be for a different time than you requested. This is because they are going in and buying up the tickets as they can. So yes, you could get stuck with no tickets or tickets for a different time. I’m not trying to say this is a great company, but at least you can rest assured you most likely will get your tickets. The Vatican was amazing and worth the money even though im annoyed with myself for not being more careful.

Hello,
The same mistake happened to me this past Friday, 8/1/2025..I thought I was using the official Vatican site and I purchased 3 tickets for November 2025
I immediately contacted my credit card company and we're in the process of disputing the charges (I have to wait 3 more business days)
Anyone here had any luck disputing charges?
Thank you

Honestly, I wouldn't wait to see if I got the tickets. I'd dispute with my credit card company immediately.
Good luck.

Hi Nan,

Here is a link on TA with bad experiences from Walker Tours

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34059-d28187432-Reviews-The_Walker_Tours_Official_Site-Wilmington_Delaware.html

When you speak to your representative at the bank, it may be helpful for them to see all the bad reviews along with the misleading website despite the small lettering of their name.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ItalyTravel/comments/1iy4ywb/walker_tours_did_i_get_scammed/

(Unfortunately, with a few reviewers, this company is being confused with Walks of Italy tours. I hope it doesn't affect them badly.)

ETA: https://www.google.com/search?q=walker+tours+scam&oq=walker+tours+scam&sourceid=silk&ie=UTF-8

Yikes! More bad reviews. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/thewalkertours.com?stars=1

I filed for a dispute with my card company this past friday...this is horrible

I never heard of this sham site!
It's a wonder how they are allowed to practice such deceit.

Replies from Walker Tours to customers are scripted. They hide behind "some EU law" that states they can keep the customer's money no matter the circumstance.

I hope all who are affected get reimbursed. Good luck!

It's unfortunate, for sure, but the GOOD news is that your trip isn't until May so you have plenty of time to purchase tickets through the official website once they become available for spring. Don't worry about not being able to visit the museums at all, OK?

Was anyone successful with the credit card dispute? I also booked with them for the Sagrada Familia in October and was fooled by the “sponsored” ad along with the “official” tickets. I don’t want to wait until the day before to find out that I don’t have a ticket and won’t be able to enjoy the inside of the church. So frustrating to have shady companies that can taint a once in a lifetime experience!!

Hi! I'm sorry this happened to you.
I did dispute charges on the same day of purchasung tickets and my credit card applied the credit towards my bill.
Contact your card asap

The walker tours is a scam website. They use .org domain to make the website look official and charge 20 Euros for 5 Euro ticket. I realized my mistake so requested for cancellation immediately. However, they would not cancel. DON'T USE THEM!!

manish.k.jain, very sorry but they're not going to refund your money. That's clearly stated in their Terms and Conditions. Even tickets from the official Vatican website are non-changeable and non-refundable.

....and charge 20 Euros for 5 Euro ticket

I'm curious what attraction you were purchasing for? The Vatican doesn't have a € 5.00 ticket.

That aside, figure that virtually ALL tickets from 3rd-party websites are going to be priced higher than from the attractions themselves. That's how they pay for their advertising, websites and staff. For instance? An adult entry ticket with to the Vatican Museums from the official website, including audioguide, costs € 33.00. I'm looking at a ticket+ audioguide on the Viator site - offered by City Wonders - for a random date (Aug. 30th) that's selling for $81.99 (approx. € 70.16 per today's currency conversion). It does allow for 24-hr advance cancellation but still, it's a significant markup.

Travelers do sometimes have to buy through 3rd-party sites when tickets are sold out on the official sites or there is a specific tour that the site doesn't offer - true of combo Museums + St Peter's Basilica guided tours that the Vatican itself doesn't offer - but as we've seen here, care has to be taken to research the quality of the business selling the tickets and/or conducting those tours.

It was for Pantheon. I do agree that charges have to be higher for value added services.
However, in this case I feel they are using a url to deceive the unsuspecting consumers and under the guise of terms and conditions on their website. They are charging €20 for €5 entry ticket. They also mislead by stating skip the line, although you have to stand in the same line as others who have purchased online using Pantheon official site. If they were a genuine business who cared about customer service, would not be using such gimmicks.

Well, a nice thing about these forums is that they're a good way to ask about official websites. Good guidebooks are often resources for that information as well. Hope you find some help here for your next adventure!

They are charging €20 for €5 entry ticket

I looked at the website you used, and the ticket they sell for the Pantheon includes an audioguide for €19,95. They don't appear to sell the entry ticket that doesn't include the audioguide. Maybe I'm missing it but I've been all over the site and can't find a general-entry ticket/no guide. The official website sells that entry+ audioguide combo ticket for €15.00 so if yours included that guide, it was a markup of abt. €5,00, which isn't terrible. Did your ticket include an audioguide?

Skip the line: cautionary advice for practically any ticket promising this benefit is that many attractions have security queues that can't be avoided under any circumstance so a wait of some length is necessary. As well, if a structure is full to capacity, some bodies have to leave before more can be admitted. Not sure what happened in your case but could have been one or the other or both.

I bought tickets for Sagrada Familia from them yesterday accidentally. Their website looks just like the official website, and they charge three times the actual price with madeup additional services such as audio guide, which actually comes free, and easy access. The tickets they issued for me look fake too. They also charge me for my infant. Children are free to enter!!! I know it is my fault for being not careful enough, but is there something people can do about it? We shouldn't let them keep scamming people and get away with it. It is just not fair.

Scam links should be removed from the thread.

Even if this is all good intentions having scam links associated with the forum even if the only association is to say "don't use these scam links" will nevertheless promote the links via search optimization bots.

Sorry you were scammed. Hope you get resolution through your credit card.

Happy travels!