Please sign in to post.

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel guided tours

We are going to be in Rome from May 6 to May 15. Tried to book a guided tour using the Vatican Website but the first week is all sold out and the second week, from May 13 to 15 is showing unbookable. Have looked into guided tour with www.operaromanapellegrinaggi.org and City Wonders, and wondering if any member have used either company and their feed back.

Many thanks
kind regards

Posted by
1204 posts

Not Bookable typically means that tickets are not yet on sale. For the 13th - 15th, start looking tonight [3/13] around midnight your time - check several times a day for the next few days. Some regular tickets are still available for your first week - as are tickets for tours in languages other than English.

Posted by
1191 posts

We have used City Wonders before and they were decent. Walks of Italy is another good one. If you want a private guide, look no further than Sonia Tavoletta - she is a highly sought-after private guide and very reasonable and knowledgeable. You can email her at [email protected].

Posted by
17562 posts

We used City Wonders for their “early entrance” tour and we were indeed among the first people inside the Sistine Chapel. It was so nice to be there without the crowds—- we had a good 15 minutes with only 20-30 people in there before others started arriving.

Posted by
28247 posts

I don't know when Lola took the City Wonders tour. Prior to this year, there were tours entering the Vatican Museums an hour or so before they opened to the public. They were the best path to an enjoyable visit. As of this year, such early access (before the public opening) is no longer possible.

A tour may be very worthwhile for the commentary provided by the guide and the guide's ability to navigate through the usually-mobbed museums, but you will not have an hour inside the museums before the hordes descend.

I haven't taken any guided tour of the Vatican Museums, but I would look first at what the Vatican itself offers, because its tours are quite a bit cheaper than the commercial offerings. I confess that I don't believe I've ever read a review of one of the Vatican-operated tours on this forum (as opposed to quite a few positive comments about commercial tours, especially Walks of Italy's "Pristine Sistine"). That puzzles me.

Posted by
42 posts

@acraven I am seeing some Vatican Museum/Sistine early morning tours advertised (7:15/7:30 meeting time) with a couple tour operators. Is there something you have read/seen that would suggest these tours cannot go in before the regular opening time?

Posted by
28247 posts

Yes. Everything I've seen indicates the tours cannot actually enter the Museums until the opening time. It seems the tours use the time before 8 AM for introductory comments about what their clients will be seeing.

Posted by
16619 posts

kmh1, please see these previous threads:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/question-regarding-walks-pristine-sistine-tour
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/vatican-early-morning-tours-2024

So no, that 7:15 tour noted does not get into the museums any earlier than the general public at 8:00, although they may gather near the entrance well in advance. If it's this tour you're looking at, please read the itinerary and reviews.

https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/

It doesn't hit the Sistine Chapel until well into the tour. - just before it heads to the basilica - and i'm seeing reports that it's very busy at that point. That doesn't mean it's not a good tour but I wouldn't book it with the expectation of getting in before other tours/the public nor a peaceful visit to the Sistine. In fact, I haven't seen any tours which enter before the public (there's lots of outdated info out there) outside of the very expensive "Key Master" or "Alone in the Vatican" tours. If anyone else knows something different, would love to know about it so please share?

PS: "Skip the line" means nothing more than avoiding a ticket line. With pre-purchased, timed-entry tickets or a tour, everyone skips that line. No one skips a security-check line at any attraction which has one.

Posted by
42 posts

Many thanks to you both, @Kathy and @acraven. Any thoughts on a tour starting at 4p? That may be the best I can hope for anyhow, since many of the early tours are booked for my dates.

Posted by
6 posts

@kmh1 What did you end up doing? We had a last minute opportunity to travel in early July, and I don't see anything available for our dates.