Vatican Tours

Through the Vatican's website:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

Your options are here:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/visitatori-singoli.html

"Open" tours mean without a human guide.
In all cases you will have to pass a security checkpoint but that queue moves quickly. August time slots for the museum are filling quickly so I'd book your tickets ASAP. Also, if you tour with a rented museum audioguide, you'll need to backtrack to the entrance to return it; you'll leave an ID to check it out.

The basilica is free and you'll have to stand in the security line outside the church to get into that one. It can be very long although it also moves reasonably quickly.

Editing to add: I see you're traveling with an 8 year-old? The dense mob at the museums could be difficult for a child that age to manage as she will have trouble seeing over and around the crush of bodies. You might want to re-think that one?

Thanks for links was just looking at this myself.

Are the early entry tours worth it? Id be there in the summer, so huge crowds...

Laura, people who've done the early-entrance tours often say that they were worth every cent they paid for them just to see the Sistine without the crush, if nothing else. I'm sure some of those folks will chime in once they've seen your question. :O)

Oh, and you're welcome!

There are also the late-night Friday openings of the museums during high season if that would appeal and you just happen to be in Rome on a Friday? Not all sections of the museums are open but the parts most visitors find interesting are, including the Sistine.

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-e-cappella-sistina/-i-aperture-notturne--i---visita-libera-musei-e-cappella-sistina.html

We had a fairly early tour when we visited the Vatican in mid-May, starting at 8:15AM, and it was absolutely packed in the sistine chapel. You could still see everything, and since we'd been there before and knew it would be packed, it was still a great experience. It's about managing expectations - don't go early and expect that there will only be a few people there.

Kathy & DOPdaddy

Thanks so much.

OP, sorry for jumping on your question