To guide or not to guide

I prefer live guides simply because you can ask questions and get answers.

A good guidebook, like RS, can be very helpful. It allows you to move along at your own pace, skip some sections that may not be of interest to you, hang back to let big guided tours move along, listen in to a guide at an artwork of extra interest. Of course, the more you want then maybe a really good guide is what you need. In that case, look for private guides or small groups. I know, I didn't answer your question but I hope it helps you ask yourself questions.

Now, can I suggest something that has worked very well for me over the past few years. During many months of the year, the Vatican Museum has had a special Friday night opportunity. You enter at 7pm, have an option of a very good 'happy hour' that includes (besides 1 glass of wine) a buffet dinner. There is a live concert by local ensembles that have always been enjoyable. You have access to the museum until 11pm. Here's the bonus: if you are in the Sistine Chapel at 11, the guards quietly and calmly invite you to exit. Surprise! You still have a few more corridors to go through on your way out. I hang near the guards and walk at their speed, which is pretty slow. I've noticed it takes me at least an additional 30 minutes before I've exiting the exhibits. Reservations made online. The evening hours mean the windows are open, the air is cooler, the crowds are smaller.

The first time we were part of an RS tour and, because of an early start, we were able to enjoy the Sistine Chapel with relatively few people. However, my only memory of the rest was not the art work but trying not to get crushed or lose the tour. On our second visit, (2019) because we had a limited window, we engaged Sonia Tavoletta for a 3:30 p.m. guided tour and it was some of the best tour money we’ve ever spent. We were at the tail end of the crowds, we were able to hear and chat with out any audio devices and it was a completely different experience.

Enjoyed both guided tours of the vast Vatican Museum over the years. Can’t think of a better investment. Fumbling with your RS Guidebook looking for artwork that has been moved is challenging. His guidebook chapters for small to midsized galleries are outstanding. But the Vatican, Uffizi, Louvre, etc?? Spend the money and enjoy yourself while asking questions and engaging with guide.

I don't do a lot of guided tours, but this one I did and I found it very helpful getting in and around the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters.

I think you need to take in account the incredibly crowded conditions in the Vatican [pre-covid.] Without the earphones audio device, we wound have never heard our guide. It was impossible to actually keep the group together. [Think rush hour on a New York subway.] Expect to be shoulder to shoulder throughout the tour. If I did it again, I would do the more expensive tours that are before/after regular hours.
Safe travels!

Pat is absolutely correct.

There was a time, in days gone by, when a guidebook and a bit of pluck would get you through the Vatican Museum all the better for knowledge and spectacle. Meandering at a reasonable pace, it was possible to learn about the exhibits, tapestries, paintings, maps, and of course, the Sistine Chapel.

No longer.

Unless the crowds are absent ( a consummation devoutly to be wished) you will arrive and have to confront a wall of humanity bound and determined to check off their bucket list objets d' art to brag about back home. Even with a guided tour that started verrrrrry early in the morning, we were soon shoulder to shoulder with the madding crowd.

These days, a guided tour is my preferred way to see the Museum and the Basilica. We really enjoyed the Tour Guy's tour.

kursed30, the issue is that "the Vatican", or what tourists can access, anyway - involves multiple parts. There are pieces, like the gardens, that you can't access without a paid tour, and others, like St Peter's, that you can do on your own with no cost. There are also the Vatican Museums, which can be explored on your own or with a tour, and then there's the subterranean Necropolis (where St Peter was allegedly buried) which requires an advance reservation/ticket through a completely different booking system than the other parts.

There is NO SINGLE TOUR which provides access to ALL of the parts.

So you need to be specific about what parts of the Vatican you want to see? What most of us with Rome in the rear-view mirror usually recommend is an early-entrance tour which covers the highlights of the museums and ends up in the basilica via a back passage shortcut reserved for tours. They get you into the Sistine first thing in the morning, - before the worst of the crowds - guide you to some of the other parts, and then wrap up in the basilica. After the tour ends, you can stay in the basilica as long as you wish to or until closure. A tour also eliminates a long outdoor walk to/from church entrance to/from the museums and potentially long wait in the St Peter's security line to get in.

There are any number of good resources which provide tours for Museums + basilica early-entrance visits so if that appeals, let us know and we'll provide links. The snag right now is seeing which of those businesses survived the pandemic, and which of the others are just starting to get their ticketing up and running. Even the Vatican Museums's own site is not really functioning for me right now!

I've traveled on tours and done much on my own as well.

Places like Rome, Venice and Florence are easy to do on your own. However, before you go on your trip, you need to prepare yourself for what you plan to see. Read Basicila, a book about the building of St. Peter's. Also, read a book outlining Roman history. Further, a good guide book will provide historical detail or art interpretation.

Still, if you do hire a guide in Rome, do it for the Coliseum and Forum. For Florence, read about Michalengelo and the Medici family.

I will confess that it's been a long while since I was at the Vatican and we could do it ourselves. However, consider one of the early hour tours that include the Sistine Chapel for seeing it without the hordes. It is massive and most likely benefits from more than one visit, so, do both a tour and at your own pace. But it may all depend on when you are going and what the covid rules for visiting will be. You may get a timed entry which saves on line ups, but you may be limited on length of time in, so defeats the ability to go at your own pace....if a saunterer like me.

Certainly, using a guide is a personal preference. Having worked as a guide in Rome for years, I'm sort of biased. A great guide can make all the difference in your touring experience. It's like going to amazing theater!

As I was working to improve my "guiding skills" I met many incredible guides. We'd meet for lunch - between tours - and I'd hear their tour descriptions and their stores. with their permission, I'd audit their tours to get some pointers not just on WHAT they said, but also WHEN and WHERE they said.

For example, on one tour, the guide described the events leading up to the assassination of Julius Ceasar. He descriptively talked about his last day... and just as he had the group enthralled, he turned and said..."It happened right here - just below your feet."

On another tour, in the Forum, a guide talked about the outpouring after Caesar's death, how impactful it was to the Roman people, and then it explained that we were standing exactly where Caesar was cremated. He continued, explaining why Romans still place flowers here.

In the Vatican, another guide stopped us inside the Pinacoteca building and showed us a rather plain, non-impressive painting. He went on to explain that this painting was by Giovanni Santi. Of course, no one in the group knew him. He went on to explain that this painting was by Raphael's father. And how he dies when Raphael was 12, which led to Raphael taking over his studio - and led to tutelage from other painters. And with that setup, he led into the next room with the incredible, last painting of Raphael, The Transfiguration. It was startling to see the differences and his presentation made quite an impact on the group.

In London, an experienced guide led us to THE BEST location to stand for the Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace. He also knew EXACTLY where to stand for the Horse Guards Parade. Yes, he was one of the best, a Blue Badge Tourist Guide. There are innumerable stories of great guides I've experienced all over Europe.

Thus, great guides "read" their clients and try and tailor their tours to their audience. It's not just about reciting facts - it's about telling a story, and building drama! It's more of a presentation than a tour for those folks. They know where to be and when. They know the best routes, and even where the bathrooms are!!!

For many reasons, I am not a fan of group tours. These tours have a published itinerary/agenda and often the guides are less experienced. But more to the point, their itinerary forces them to hit all the "published" sites. So they can't linger or go into depth because someone in the group will say, "Hey, how come we didn't see XXXX."

And yes, I've been on some tours with terrible guides, which has been disappointing. And you DO remember those companies - for a different reason. A guided tour is only as good as the guide doing the tour - and it's not just about their knowledge of the subject matter (love Context but sometimes their tours can be a little dry). Think back to a great teacher you had in school, who could paint a picture with 1000 words, and they would make an incredible guide!

I have to agree that a guide is personal preference, however, the Vatican museums have SO much to see and absorb that I found a guide worthwhile. I also did the Vatican Necropolis with a guide (http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html) and it was an amazing experience.

I'll always take a guide over doing it on my own anytime. For me, just looking at the art leaves me with a blank stare, I just don't see the beauty in it, but when our guide started telling stories behind the art, it all came alive for me. As for a private guide vs a group tour with 8-12 people; I'll take the group tour. That's a personal choice, but I just don't want to spend one on one interaction for several hours with a stranger. With a group tour I can disappear into my own mind whenever I want.

Great points above! Yep, a guide can make or break the experience, depending on how good they are at making the details come to life. And yes, the museums are VAST!!! They involve many separate collections (museums) under one roof, stretched over miles - yes, miles - of corridors and rooms. I doubt that anyone on their own or with an experienced guide has been able to successfully cover them ALL in a single visit. LOL, if they DID try and do them all, I would think they'd experience serious mental and visual overload somewhere along the way! 😳

If unfamiliar with the individual parts, here's the list:

https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/collezioni/musei.html

So one pretty much has to be selective if they only have time for a one-day visit to the museum(s) + additional parts of the Vatican. The list I linked doesn't include the basilica, the gardens (by guided tour only), Necropolis of Via Triumphalis (by guided tour only), or the Scavi (excavation deep under the basilica; by guided tour only). It also doesn't include the Apostolic Palace and the Gardens of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, some 15 miles outside of Rome (I believe by tour only).

Wow! I think you for all the replies! After hearing that when most tours end you are free to go back and explore on your own time sealed it. I was worried that when the tour ends you leave the grounds. Knowing I can stay and continue on my own works out great. I am sure I will have a lot more questions in the weeks leading up to us going. This will be our first trip to Europe ever and we are taking my 74 year old mom who has barely left this state! lol

I'm excited for you. Our first trip to Europe was a Mediterranean Cruise followed by a week in Rome. Loved every minute of it.

Here's who we used for tours of the Vatican and then another tour of the Forum and Colosseum. https://www.througheternity.com/

Our preference is generally, no guide. That way we can move at our pace and see what we find Interesting rather than what the guide wants to show us. It really is just a personal preference.

After hearing that when most tours end you are free to go back and
explore on your own time sealed it. I was worried that when the tour
ends you leave the grounds.

Just to be clear, if you take one of the museums+basilica combo tours, those always (as far as I've ever seen, anyway) end up in the basilica. Once inside the church, you can stay there as long as you wish to when the tour ends but you cannot return to the museums: it's a one-way deal.

St Peter's Square - in front of the basilica - can be freely explored at any time except when there's a service being held there.

If you want to take a tour of the museums + spend more time in them on your own, you'd want a tour which also ends INSIDE the museums and not the basilica. Just to be safe, I'd make sure your guide knows your intentions in advance.

To add to my previous post, you also cannot leave the museums to, say, go have lunch elsewhere and come back. Once outside of the museums, you'd need a new ticket to return.