Vatican Tour Options

Just to be sure you're clear on what "crowds" can mean in this context, try Googling "photo crowds in Vatican Museums" and see what you think about seeing the Sistine Chapel that way.

In addition to the alternatives you list, there's the option to pay extra for access outside of the public opening hours. Just the other day, someone here pointed out that the Vatican itself offers that option. I had previously thought early access required a rather costly commercial tour (offered by Walks of Italy and Dark Rome; perhaps also by others).

I can't provide any personal guidance since I saw the Vatican Museums decades ago, before the explosion in European tourism. After reading here about current conditions, I've decided that I will either skip that site (as I did in 2015) or pay for early access. But I tend to be an in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound sort of person where museums are concerned. I'm usually at each one about twice as long as the average tourist, or else I don't go at all.

Hi Lauren.

You don't say when you're going in April but if you're there on the night of the 21rst you'll be able to do the Vatican museums at night when they are much less crowded. They aren't booking for that right now but it should open up soon.

If that doesn't work for you you might consider an early entry with breakfast. It will get you in before the crowds and allow you to explore a little bit before the museums and Sistine Chapel are overwhelmed. If the crowds don't bother you then just book entry tickets and do it on your own. That way you can spend as much or as little time there as you wish.

Personally, I don't think paying more gets you more. ALL guides in Italy must take the same very rigorous test in order to get their license (yes I know the Vatican is a separate state but they still take a test in order to be a guide). I've taken private tours and official tours and think they are both really good.

Donna

I agree with previous posters. There are crowds, and there are Sistine Chapel crowds(which include guards yelling).

Get in as early as you can, or go on the Friday evening.

Thanks everyone!

We will be in Italy in early April, so we won't be able to attend the April 21 tour.

Yes, I have seen the Vatican crowd pictures online, like in Google's image results: https://www.google.com/search?q=vatican+crowd&espv=2&biw=1085&bih=663&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUtIuCqJ_SAhUl2IMKHeU5B2QQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=vatican+museum+crowd

I'm curious about the crowd situation. It's my understanding that the Vatican is supposedly less busy on Tuesdays, so our plan is to go on a Tuesday. We're also in Italy during a time when it's not insane with hordes of tourists (like mid summer). Instead, we'll be there in early April. So, my thought has been that the Vatican won't be packed shoulder to shoulder like you see in the Google image results.

Please tell me if I am making the wrong assumption?

It's not just the number of people, it's the tension. Almost everyone there just wants to get to the Sistine Chapel, which is at the end of a long slog. So, by the time they get there, they're tired, resentful, and very very tense. Then, they start talking; the dull roar of this starts to get louder, and the guards shush everyone; there's quiet for a minute, then the dull roar starts again and the process repeats. Despite being in this legendary place of artistic accomplishment, I couldn't wait to leave. It isn't like, say, crowds at the Eiffel Tower, where everyone is happy to finally be in this famous place. It's more like a "I came all the way to Rome, schlepped all the way through Vatican Museums I'm not interested in, just to see the Sistine Chapel; I've checked that box, I'm exhausted, can I go now?" vibe.

April may not be as crowded as July, but I wouldn't assume you will have a tranquil experience.

As I always post, I was there over 20 years ago, in September 1994. It was such a miserable experience that if I ever go back, I'll pay extra for an early or late entry without the hoards - or I won't go back at all.

Harold, you mean the tension in the crowd is like the crowds the day after Christmas?! :-D

I usually run to a few stores on December 26 to buy some gift wrap and gift bags on sale. The other shoppers out on December 26 — especially the ones near the front of the store who are returning items — are just GROUCHY!

Lauren, my first time in the Vatican Museums I enjoyed the Museum itself, but I was most excited about getting to see the Sistine Chapel. I mean, it is the Sistine Chapel, right? We went early 8:30 as part of a RS group BUT I was so frustrated in the Sistine Chapel. Our guide had done a great job of preparing us for our time there - be respectful, reverent, silent, accommodate others trying to see the Chapel, etc. I COULD NOT BELIEVE the tour groups that broke every rule and just made it a very disappointing experience. I've been at frat parties that were quieter. Announcements were made in various languages constantly reminding ADULTS of the rules. We finally left when we realized it just wasn't going to get any better.

So I was VERY excited to find the Walk of Italy tour "Pristine Sistine". Small group, early admission (7:30) and head straight to the Sistine Chapel. After a period of time there, double back to the beginning of the Museum and end up again (with increased crowds) at the Sistine before slipping into the Basilica itself. I'm sure there are similar tours - and I'm not endorsing this particular one because I go in May - but I am more than happy to pay the approx. 60E additional to take this tour and very hopeful that this will be a more fulfilling visit.

We saw the Vatican years ago with our kids. We went in April during the week. The rest of the museum wasn't super full, but Sistine was wall-to-wall. I LOVE museums and art and especially Michelangelo. I couldn't wait to get out. It was claustrophobic (something I usually do NOT experience). We will return this winter and plan to pay to enter early and take a tour.

Yes, grouchy is a good word, if not quite strong enough. As you see from some other responses, my experience wasn't unique.

The insanity that the museums - and Sistine in particular - has become is truly tragic. I first saw it in relative peace back in 1973? Compared to the mob in 2007, I'd have gladly traded it for that less vivid, pre-restoration experience. We've skipped the museums entirely after than point in time.

It was a long time ago (2005), but we took the "official" English guided tour with a Vatican guide and after four more trips to Europe, that tour remains a highlight. I am typically someone who likes to wander around on my own and can tune out the crowds in a museum, but the crowds there are truly overwhelming.

The guide was a woman whose English was very clear with a delightful Italian accent. I was expecting to be, and was, awed by the Sistine Chapel - but the School of Athens, the ancient maps, the tapestries, the sculptures - I was grateful for a guide to direct our focus to these treasures.

Thank you, thank you, everyone! You have convinced me. I'm checking out the Walks of Italy early-entry tour options right now and will book one ASAP! :-)

I am visiting Italy in July. I already signed up for a tour with Walks of Italy. It is not the "pristine sistine" tour. Perhaps I could have saved money by going on an official Vatican sponsored English language guided tour. Too late now. My tour cost $71, as you wrote above; it lasts 3 hours and 45 minutes, starts at 9:45 am. I have never been to Italy. I won't recognize whether my Walks of Italy guide is knowledgeable or not and I didn't pay attention to whether my tour avoids the crowds.

Mike- Email Walks OF Italy to see if you can switch over to the Pristine Sistine early entry, they are a wonderful company to work with. Every guide we had on Walks of Italy had their license to guide around their neck and will not hesitate to tell you that they are licensed and we felt that there were so knowledgeable and you can trust what they say as fact. You can also ask questions. In fact they are so passionate and knowledgeable I thought they kinda talked too much, but all very interesting. On one Walks of Italy tour we saw another guide that we had from the day before and we greeted each other like long lost family, too funny.

The "pristine sistine" tour starts at 7:30am. That's too early for me. I just won't pay attention to the crowds.

Last September we did the night tour, however it was part of the RS tour I was on. I am going again next month, in April. this time no tours, just going on holiday with my mom. I've reviewed the tours on Viator (part of Trip Advisor) since I booked and took a Viator tour last Sept, for a half day trip to Pisa and it worked out great. Viator has a night Vatican Tour available in April. Less crowds in the evening all around. If you are going right around Easter, I would expect big crowds. I booked my Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum tour through livitaly.com. Saw them at a booth a recent travel and adventure show and decided to give them a try. It's a bit pricy, but they offer a small group max of 6 people. The tour starts at 730am and will start with the Sistine Chapel, before the doors are open to the public. I noticed many other vendor tours also have a morning start of 730am, so appears that they open up for those tour vendors, and the regular public waiting in line for the museum/Sistine chapel, cannot go in until 830am. Hope this helps!

We did the pristine Sistine tour with walks of Italy. Worth every penny. We were able to see and take a ton of pictures at the museums. No one blocking our views. The Sistine Chapel was not crowded and we were able to enjoy it. Each group had about 8 people in it. I would take the tour again.

For you previous Pristine Sistine tour-takers, are the Walks of Italy tour guides actual Italian natives? I'm just totally curious and just thought about that.

I signed up for the Pristine Sistine for my April trip. :-)

We were in the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel two years ago in late September and the Chapel was crowded and noisy as the other posts have said! We also love art and are Catholic so we were hoping for a "spiritual" experience in the Sistine Chapel. We are going again next October and this time we booked the early access Sistine Chapel tour with Dark Rome tours. After they guide us to the Chapel we will be able to tour the rest of the museum at our own pace, which we like. Hopefully we will be able to enjoy the Sistine Chapel this time. It is an amazing place!

We just did the Pristine Sistine tour on February 21, our guide was Julietta, a native Roman. There were 12 in our group. She took us to the Raphael Rooms first because they are very small and get crowded fast. We had the room to ourselves for about 10 minutes. The Sistine Chapel was pleasantly uncrowded, we were able to grab a seat and just marvel at the art work. Outside on line, While waiting to enter, they give you a paper with the ceiling and go over the different panels. Personally, I liked the other painting in the chapel, The Last Judgement, also by Michelangelo better. To me it was more interesting. She also went over this beforehand. This is because there is supposed to be silence in the chapel. It was quiet when we were there because the hordes hadn't arrived yet.