Vatican Tour Suggestions

We have always loved Walks in Italy and their Pristine Sistine Tour. I have been on it 3 times as we live there and accompanied guests. However, for 4 people that's $400 and you can hire a private guide where it is only your 4 and a guide. Contact Sonia Tavoletta [email protected] and she can customize for you.

There are dozens of threads with this info:

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Vatican+Tour&utf8=✓

You might also consider an early access tour of the Vatican Museum (which includes the Sistine Chapel) offered on the VM website itself. Those are less expensive than the early tours run by private companies. The early-access tours are popular and sell out early. However, at this point even the regular entry tours are selling out online far into the future. As of about two weeks ago, regular entry tickets were nearly sold out into the month of April. It will only get worse. Once the online tickets are gone, you have two choices: pay more for a commercial tour or line up in the buy-on-the-spot ticket line and wait. Or there's the third option of skipping the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel and just seeing St. Peter's.

However you manage to acquire entry tickets, you can expect to encounter mobs of people in the museums unless you pay for early entry. The next-least-crowded option is reportedly the late time period that has been offered on Friday and Saturday evenings in the past. They don't start doing that until later in the year. Those tickets cost the same as the regular entry tickets.

I don't know whether tour companies have resumed offering tours that combine the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's.

I looked on the Vatican Museum website for early access tickets and all I see are tickets that include a breakfast. I don't want the breakfast since it adds quite a bit to the cost. Does anyone know if it is possible to book the early access ticket without the breakfast?

TIA

Yes. If you don't see that option for your date of visit, the plain, no-breakfast tours may be sold out. I say "may", because the teminology used on the VM website can be confusing. If you give us your date(s), we can double check for you.

We’ll be in Rome early April. When I tried to book skip the line tickets, there was nothing available. I chose the early morning tour with breakfast. Didn’t see any other options. Traveling with our 12- year old granddaughter who loves art so we’re excited to have this experience with her. It was a little pricey, but everything these days are!