Vatican Gold Room and Capella Nicolini

I don't know what the gold room is, unless you mean the treasury? If so, that's an easy tour to do. A guide book will provide the information.

The other chapel you mention Is the only major work remaining from Fra Angelico's time working in the Vatican… assuming my memory is correct. The difficulty is that it's a very small room, with only one door, and has beautifully restored frescoes that would be vulnerable to people bumping into them. Therefore, letting people into the room presents a significant logistical problem. A couple of times I've been there when the door was open so you could look in, but even that was a logistical challenge – it is just a narrow doorway, so people bunched up trying to look in. When I visited last year, the door was closed, and they wouldn't open it. I think it would be worth it to pay a significant amount to be able to enjoy that room in peace. Whether it would be worth it to you depends on what you think of Fra Angelico.

For my future reference, I would be really grateful to know what vendor could get me in there. If you can post that information or PM me, that would be wonderful.

As an addendum, I thought your problem might be spelling, and i just confirmed that. I was remembering Nicoline not Nicolini. Google Nicoline and you'll find info.

If your interest is simply doing a "complete" tour of the Vatican, I wouldn't spend a huge amount of money to visit this chapel. If you have a real love of Fra Angelico, as I do, then it would be worth it.

This discussion intrigued me, so I did a little digging. If you Google "Vatican Nicoline Chapel" and "Vatican Gold Room", you will find some good information with a few photos. There is a Viatour tour listed which includes these, at the price of about $436, although I really couldn't tell if that was per person, or a private small group tour, like for a couple or family. I understand that Viatour is really a middleman tour booking agency, and does not conduct its own tours. It appears that at least Walks of Italy offers this or a very similar tour, at a substantial price but less than $436. This might be what Viatour is offering. You would have to read through the details of some of the more expensive of their Vatican offerings. Remember that Walks of Italy offers an RS discount (10 percent I think) plus senior and child discounts, and allows stacking these discounts. Reviews of these tours make them sound very satisfying, including small groups, excellent guides, private access to normally closed ares, and "worth it" to those commenting. If you are really interested, I would call Walks of Italy (or other quality tour companies) to see what they have available when you will be in Rome. In my experience, the people in the Walks of Italy US office are very knowledgeable and helpful. Please let us know if you find out more.

Www.viator.com/Vatican is the site I found and the above poster mentioned. It's $435 per person for a 3 hour Vatican tour with a group of 15 people. It includes Vatican gold room, whatever that is, the Capella Nicoline, and after hours access to Sistine Chapel and parts of Vatican Museum to provide an exclusive tour (no crowds). So, you would be on a guided tour with up to 15 people after most tourists are gone. There are no discounts except for children under age 3.

Looking at that description, you're mostly paying for after-hours access to the Sistine Chapel and the museums, with some time in those extra two rooms. (FYI, the Nicoline chapel is equivalent in size to a large walk-in closet, so you're not going to be spending a lot of time in there; 15 people, plus a guide, would pretty much fill it.)

Only you can decide if the after-hours access is worth the cost.

Actually, the price is not that far out of line if there are only a few of you on the tour. The Vatican charges 500 euros to open up these rooms so if there are just a few of you on the tour the fee is reasonable. If the tour company is splitting the 500 euros between 10 people or more than they are overcharging you.

Donna

Found it: go to italysbestrome.com, then to Italy Tours, then to Vatican, then to Private Tour of special rooms, or something close to that. It describes a very enticing after-hours tour. However, it does not list prices or terms and you have to send an e-mail to request more information. The company is evidentally "Italy's Best" Tours.

So the mystery "gold room" is the room where the gold Etruscan jewelry is displayed. That warding strikes me as a little creative writing.