Vatican Museum Guided Tours

I have taken the Walks of Italy tour 3 times (we lived there and I would go with guests) and loved it. There are only 12 people in the group, which is fantastic, plus you get to go to the Sistine Chapel before the masses of people arrive.

I do recommend a private guide for the Colosseo/Forum/Palatino. They run about €165 to 180 for 3 hours. Is that feasible for you?

Dark Rome is another company that runs early entry tours of the Vatican Museums, in addition to Walks of Italy and the Vatican itself.

To me, when it comes to the Vatican Museums, even more important than guided tour vs. self tour is early entry or late entry vs. regular entry. I was there in 1994, and the crowds ruined the experience; I can only imagine it now. If I go back, I'd do whatever it takes to get an early or late entry, so I could actually appreciate the Sistine Chapel instead of wanting to flee at the first opportunity (it really was that bad).

we did 3 Walks of Italy tours on our trip. All excellent. You don’t say when you are going. Last year they had a Black Friday sale that saved me a lot.

We did the Pristine Sistine early entry tour with Walks of Italy and were bored most of the time. We were really disappointed. It was nice getting early entry before the general crowd arrived. Our tour guide just did not keep our interest; it was like listening to a textbook most of the time. I overheard another Walks of Italy guide as we passed by and she was asking interesting questions of her group & giving some interesting details. I guess it just depends on which guide you get and what your expectations are.

I thought the tour given by Co-Op Culture for the Colosseum was just right, and very thankful the tickets were reasonably priced!

Enjoy your trip, whatever you decide. :)

We took the official Vatican tour and were happy with it. The only reason we took a guided tour is because at the end of the tour we could directly enter St. Peter’s. Having a guide in a super crowded place like the Vatican has limited value, IMHO.

Thank you all so much for your responses.
(We'll be in Rome August 5-10, fyi.)

we have taken the official guided tour in English at 2pm three times and they were great each time. Before you go, learn about the different rooms so you can be engaged and ask good questions. The museums are overwhelming to say the least, especially the smallest and most congested room- the Sistine chapel. After our tours, we were allowed to walk back and go into the museum and then out the door that connected us to the Basilica. This saved us a good 15 minute walk and probably 30 minutes in the security lines. The official tours are a fraction of the price of the private tours, so it was an easy choice for us. If you are going in August, you should definitely make reservations very soon...you might not be able to get the date/time you want if you wait.