Vatican Museum Guides

I did an early morning guided tour through the Vatican Museum and it was wonderful--especially getting to be in the museum prior to opening, because after that it was chaos and even though I could have stayed all day on my own, I quickly left. The tour was 1 1/2 hours and the guide was extremely well-informed and very charming, explaining everything we were seeing and about the buildings as well. I felt I got to see and learn a lot, and would recommend going that route--I did not feel I needed a private guide and never looked into any other types of tours.

I believe the Vatican no longer offers tours entering the Museums before they open to the public. I gather from reports since the opening time was changed to 8 AM that not everyone is willing to get up that early, so an 8 AM entry time may be considerably better than a 9 AM entry. Unfortunately, the Museums are nearly always quite crowded; it's just a matter of degree.

I believe the Vatican no longer offers tours entering the Museums
before they open to the public.

Right. The only tours I know of that truly get in before the the 8:00 opening for the general public anymore are the (very expensive) "Alone in the Sistine Chapel", "Key Master" tour or similar booked through independent operators. Any tour that advertises a 7:30 or 7:15 start time is not getting in before the general public: those are the times the group meets up before entry.

But one benefit to going with with an independent operator is availability of tours (not nearly as expensive as those I've mentioned above) which also include the basilica: certain of them are allowed passage directly from the Sistine into the church that saves standing in the potentially long security line for St Peter's, When the tours wrap up there, you can spend as much or as little time in the basilica as you wish. The Vatican itself currently does not offer a similar tour. Oh, and you don't want to book one of these for a Wed. when the passage is closed.

But keep in mind that on those combo tours you must accompany the guide from the Sistine Chapel into St. Mark's [I of course meant to refer to St. Peter's here] if you want to use the shortcut. If you want to remain in the Vatican Museums to see things your tour has skipped, you'll have to use the regular exit path and later stand in the St. Mark's [St. Peter's again] security line.

We were in Rome last month and took an official Vatican Museum tour because all the regular entry tickets were sold out. The tour was okay, but the guide started out with an extremely long discussion about the Sistine Chapel using a video display (since she wouldn’t be allowed to speak to us inside the Chapel). She also droned on and on about the Raphael works. It almost felt like she was trying to stretch the tour to fill an allotted timeframe. If you really like hearing a guide tell you stuff, rather than reading about it in advance or on the displays, then the tour would be good but otherwise just get entry tickets (or if they’re sold out, buy the tour and ditch the guide). Good luck!

I used a Vatican-supplied guide last summer and the tour was informative, but rushed. I recommend engaging the services of an outside licensed guide.

.....you must accompany the guide from the Sistine Chapel into St.
Mark's if you want to use the shortcut. If you want to remain in the
Vatican Museums to see things your tour has skipped, you'll have to
use the regular exit path and later stand in the St. Mark's security
line.

I think you meant that you must accompany the guide into San Pietro,/ St Peters and not St. Marks? Might have Venice on the brain? :O)

Thanks, Kathy. I'll fix it!

Thank you for all of your advice. Looking forward to our trip!

All, we are visiting Rome Jun 14-18 (we booked a cruise that ends in Rome) also looking for a guided tour to avoid the crowds during Jubilee and heard of “skip the line” tours. You all mentioned independent operators, some expensive and some not. What is the typical price range you can expect to pay for a tour to get in before/after hours? I am seeing anything from $150 to $800. The prices seem to have doubled or quadrupled for these guided tours, so I cannot tell which tours are legitimate or just plain scams. Which ones do you recommend?

"Skip-the-line" is nearly always just marketing-speak. If you buy a ticket to an attraction online, before arriving at the sight, you will skip the ticket line. No one skips the security line. My gut reaction (which is probably not completely fair) is that any company advertising its ordinary tours as "skip-the-line" tours is a company I don't want to do business with.

There may rarely be an extremely expensive, exclusive tour (costing hundreds of euros per person) that does allow access to a sight before it opens to the public. (There may be something like that for the Vatican Museums.) Otherwise, you basically need to choose between being your own tour guide (there's nearly always an audio guide available at modest cost) or paying more for a guided tour. Guided tours usually add value, but skipping a line isn't a value they generally add.

For a more detailed response, please start a new thread and tell us what sights you want to see.

What is the typical price range you can expect to pay for a tour to
get in before/after hours?

Sandy, there are very, very few tours that get in/after the general public, and they are indeed very, very expensive. Here are a couple:

Walks of Italy; "Alone in the Vatican": $1,131.42 - $1,556.30 for 2 adults, random date, before hours/after hours.
https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/vatican-after-hours-tour/

VIP Vatican Key Master's Tour: a random date for 2 adults totaled $1,556.30
https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour/

Crown Tours "Key Masters" tour:
https://www.crowntours.com/vatican/early-morning-tour $1,494 2 adults. random date

Livetours "Key Masters tour":
https://livtours.com/tours/vip-semi-private-vatican-key-master-experience-opening-the-sistine-chapel/?:
1098 € - 1298 € for 2 adults.

Prefer to go AFTER hours when the general public are gone?
"Alone at the Vatican" private after hours tour: starts at $5,443.20
https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy/vatican/vatican-after-hours-vip-private-tour?guests=1

You get the idea. No, they're not scams, and some of these companies offer these tours just a few days a month. Prices can also change per season.

Be aware that most tours advertised as "first entry", "early entry" or similar are not admitted before the 8:00 hour. The start times they show - such as 7:15, 7:45, 7:30 - are advance meeting times for the group, not entry time. Sometimes that meeting spot is few blocks away. They, like everyone else, have to pass through a security check process. There are also tours still being advertised that are outdated and promise, "..early entrance at 7:30 AM, 90 minutes before the general public" or similar. That was only true BEFORE the change from previous 9:00 AM opening for the general public to 8:00 in 2024.

And as said above, "Skip the line" is just a fancy marketing phrase to make you believe you're getting something you can get simply booking timed-entry tickets. The only people who wait in a long line at the Vatican Museums are the people who didn't book tickets or a tour in advance.

If you have more questions about the Vatican it's probably best if you start a new thread so that we're not cluttering up nchamp's itinerary with details that don't apply to their own trip, OK? :O)

Thank you all for your advice. I will start a new thread!