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Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St Peters - Skip the line 3-hour tours

Posted by (Florida, United States) on

There are two 3-hour tours that are similar in price.

One tour starts at 9:00 and visits Pio Clementine, Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of Geographical Maps, Gallery of Tapestries, Raphael Rooms, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, & St Peters Basilica. "Once the guided tour is over you are free to remain inside the Vatican complex and continue your individual explorations, should you so desire."

The other tour starts at 10:45 and visits Gallery of Candelabras, Deli Arazzi, delle cart Geografiche, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, & St Peters Basilica. Group limited to 25 people.

Has anyone taken these tours and can anyone share which might be the better tour?

Are the tours worth it, or should we just get the skip the line tickets and tour it ourselves?

Posted by
7209 posts

It depends on how much you want to understand what you're seeing. Honestly if you're not an art enthusiast and you just want to walk through the museums and end up at the Sistine Chapel then a tour is probably not for you. With or without a tour guide you'll still be herded through the same path as the thousands of other people inside with you.

Posted by
17600 posts

We liked the "skip the crowds" tour we booked through Dark Rome.

https://darkrome.com/vatican-tours/sistine-chapel-early-access

The early access tours like this one allow you to enter the Sistine Chapel before the crowds arrive. There were fewer than 50 people there when we went in. We enjoyed the peace for 30 minutes, then went back through the museum to see the Rafael Rooms.

If you want a tour that includes St. Peters, the same company offers a three-hour tour that includes that. You Meet at 8:00 am instead of 7:30. The Sistine Chapel would not be as empty as it was for us, but still should be less crowded than you would find with a tour starting later.

Posted by
20 posts

We just came back from Rome and used Walks of Italy -- Pristine Sistine -- we were one of the first groups in the Sistine Chapel -- had plenty of room. Also, the tour had only 12 people -- it was wonderful and we got a chance to see everything! We had to meet at 7:15 but it was worth it to walk through the chapel without the hordes of people that come later on.

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