Vatican Tours-Need advice!

We did a small group tour of Vatican museums through Context and would highly recommend them--worth the money. I got so much more out of my visit this way than I had doing the museum on my own 7 years prior.

We took the 5-hour tour in June with Through Eternity (www.througheternity.com). While 5 hours sounds like a long time, it flew by. We had a 30 minutes lunch break in there. We stopped at the Vatican cafeteria which has no atmosphere but lots of choices at very reasonable prices. Or, you can bring your own food like we did as we feared we would end up being left at an expensive restaurant. After seeing the cafeteria prices, I wouldn't bring my own food again. Our guide, Brandon, was a Canadian and PhD candidate at Oxford with undergrad degrees in Latin and art. He was very fun, very "with it" and kept great track of the 7 people in our group. Although they would take up to 15 people, our group was super small. But I don't think the experience would be diminished if there were 15 people. We all had headsets and could easily hear him speaking in his mic. Although it was hard to spend the money, we are SO glad we ponied up for a tour. It was likely the only time we'd go to the Vatican and I felt the experience was more memorable because of the insights, guiding and info provided by Brandon. We felt he deserved a tip at the end and he was sure grateful. FYI, Through Eternity was very responsive by email, even when we changed our dates. It is a company recommended by Rick Steves as well.

Look at the Vatican's web site, reserve, book and pay it there. We booked a tour in Spanish for my mother and my wife and I got more useful information from Rick's book. I think the guides are reading Rick's book and skipping all the boar-ring stuff. Man it was so close, even in Spanish.

WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT?

I agree with just booking through the vatican. It's a two hour tour that hits the most popular rooms. The tour ends just before entering the Sistine Chapel.

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

At the end of the tour you have the option of re-entering the museums and visiting them on your own or going into the basilica.

I've done the tour several times with different friends and family. It's a really good tour and gives a lot of great information.

Donna

Context tours are very, very good, but pricey. I've done the Vatican's version of a tour twice and was disappointed both times. It's been described as a "forced march" to the Sistine Chapel where you are then dumped off and left to your own devices. I would book a private or semi-private tour.

We did a private tour with Fredrica D'Orazio in June which we loved. She charged 50 euros/hr, (min of 3 hours) also had to pay the admission fee. That said, we felt it was worth every euro!

I just posted this independently but will respond to you, also. We used Rick Steve's tour right out of the book. As it was, we spent at least 3 hours in there not counting the visit to St. Peter's. We had downloaded Rick's tours onto the MP3 for the sistibne and for St. P's (he does not have an audio tour for Vatican.) However, I had previously tried to book Dark Rome, which has a semi-private at 8:10 AM. But they do not go to Pinocoteca, which I wanted to see. I have no regrets. We saw so many beautiful art museums in Rome and Florence! They are sort of blending together. One regret I do have is that, knowing what I know now, I would have sprung for a private guide for the Forum! I am interested in Roman history and had trouble co-ordinating Rick's audio tour with our location in the Forum and at Palatine Hill. And we were rushed. Si, if I could do it over again, I would hire a private guide for the Forum and not for the Vatican.

I considered 4 tour companies: Roman Odyssey, Rome Walks, Enjoy Rome, and Through Eternity. At that time, 3 yrs. ago, the tour companies could not get ahead in the line and I found out that the best time to go with the shortest line is at noon. Roman Odyssey was the most reasonably priced (4 hrs. & included admission) for the 3 of us and started at noon. We had a small group of five. Our tour ended at 4pm which was just enough time for my boys to get in line to go up into the dome and for me to attend the 5pm mass. My only complaint is that it was often hard to hear our guide because there are so many people in the museum. She didn't feel it was necessary to equip us all with headphones hooked up to her because we were such a small group--I should have insisted on it. There were lots of tour groups going around at the same time. Have fun on your trip.

I think the bigger question isn't which tour size to book, but which company to book. How organized the company is, and how much its guides know (and how skillful they are in making that knowledge fun and exciting!), is the real question.

To that end, I'm partial to Walks of Italy, which is the company started by Jason Spiehler -- the guide recommended by both Rick Steves and the New York Times for several years running. He's picked a group of like-minded, well-educated guides to work with him, and from the rave reviews the company's been getting it shows. Plus, even their normal group tours are no bigger than 12 people.

You can look at all their options on their website, but their Vatican tour is 3.5 hours for just 35 euros/adult, ticket fees included. They also have private tour options, and a neat tour called the "Pristine Sistine," where you go in to the Sistine Chapel before it even opens to the public; that's 85 euros per adult.

Regardless of what company you book with, make sure you ask about the experience/education of the guides and are clear on the pricing. A LOT of companies have hidden fees when it comes to charging for tickets and so on.

I have used Context for Vatican tours and highly recommend them. Because the groups are small (no more than 6) the guides can adapt the tour to the interests of the group, so you get a major benefit of a private tour at a much lower price. (They also will book private tours.) I first took their Vatican tour after multiple visits on my own over several trips to Rome, and after taking several relevant courses. Yet I learned so much from their guide. All their guides are academically qualified for the tours they lead, but they also make the information both accessible and interesting. Have also used them in Florence and Paris and was similarly impressed.

We took the vatican museum tour on FRIDAY night. It was incredible, no crowds, and we spent 45 minutes in the sistine chapel sitting comfortably. OUr tour was directly through the vaitcan museum, and had about 20 people in our group. We noticed tour groups going through, being rushed who paid 3x the price with an outside company several times. They did not seem to be enjoying their experiences. The secret was the friday night!

We took the vatican museum tour on FRIDAY night. It was incredible, no crowds, and we spent 45 minutes in the sistine chapel sitting comfortably. OUr tour was directly through the vaitcan museum, and had about 20 people in our group. We noticed tour groups going through, being rushed who paid 3x the price with an outside company several times. They did not seem to be enjoying their experiences. The secret was the friday night!

Another vote for Context. It may seem pricey, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're spending thousands of dollars to travel. Those few hours you are at the Vatican - do it right. Our guide was Gregory DiPippo. He did an amazing job on the Rafael rooms. Also, keep in mind, it's not just the Vatican museums, The Context Tour also includes St. Peters.

We used Presto Tours for our tour last September & we were very pleased. It was a 3-hr tour (because hubby wasn't sure he could do the 5-hr tour) & I thought it was the right amount of time for us & the tour guide was extremely informative and knowledgeable. We skipped the line it was a fairly small group (I'd say less than 10 people) & we all had headphones (I think it's mandatory now in the Vatican). I personally would not spend the money for a private tour and I wouldn't do the group tour if there are 25 people. I believe Presto Tours limited the number of people to 10-15 but there were only 10 or fewer people on our tour. You probably won't go wrong with a small tour group. Enjoy the Vatican; it's incredible.

Hi Devinn! My experience tells me that not always cheap tours are good tours too...lines for entrance, crowds, fast-speaking guides... Sometimes they could be...sure! But I think that if you go to Vatican City ONE time during your life...a private tour is a MUST! I visited Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Saint Peter (also inside!!!) and all the other places with one of these Vatican tours last September and i joined it very much. Hope this helps!

Rik, Enough already! So far today you've registered both here and on Fodor's forums (busy boy!!). All of your posts answered threads about Vatican tours on Fas old as 2006. It's obvious that you have some interest in the company you've been posting. At least this post wasn't a copy and paste job like the ones you posted on Fodors (which I noticed have been deleted BTW). This time you actually claim you've taken these tours. If you read the OP, this was posted in August 2010 for a September 2010 trip. Its obvious you're just looking for posts to comment on to promote yourself, because there was no reason to answer this question at this time. Be honest and state you're affiliation when you post, and stop reviving old threads. Better yet, ask your customers to post THEIR experiences with your tours. Honestly, your posts are so obviously promotional. I would never consider any tour company that posts on forums without full disclosure. You may be trying to promote this company, but you're probably doing more harm than good.