Vatican and Sistine Chapel - Tours or on your own

Took a guided tour with about 8 others…..Walks of Italy…….outstanding!

Hi!
You didn't say when you are going to Rome which can make a difference. And how interested you are in actually learning about the museum and chapel, or just want to take a look at them. In peak season you can't move in the Vatican and Sistine chapel it's so full of people. Off season, or better yet way off season, it's a bit better. Otherwise, if you can afford it and it fits your schedule, try for a tour that goes after hours. It's a big difference.

We're going the very end of September and will be there for 4 nights. We want to see the beautiful art in the museum and
Sistine Chapel.

It is overwhelming. You won't understand what you are seeing or what NOT TO MISS without a guide.

We visited in early October 2023, after our My Way Italy tour ended. We planned the earliest tour we could, booked directly through the Vatican Museum website. I had been in the museum with a school group in April 2011, and it was such a jam packed people everywhere experience. This time I wanted to avoid that if at all possible. I believe our tour this time was at 8:00, and I remember taking a photo of the empty hallways behind us because it was such a profound difference from my earlier visit.

Our guide gave us a presentation at the start, explaining much about the Sistine Chapel on a large video screen because she would not be accompanying us there. I thought that was odd at first, but once in the chapel (end of our tour), it would have been difficult to follow any guide’s presentation as there were so many people there and the guards constantly ushering people through and saying “silence!” There were some seats available along the wall, and we quickly sat down, and then had the leisure to really look up and around carefully as the hordes moved by us. The RS audio tour was loaded on our phones, and that was great to listen to, and to pull up his diagram explaining the panels of the paintings. We stayed as long as we wanted, then made our way out.

Another highlight was the Raphael Rooms, which were stunning. These rooms were not part of our school tour in 2011, because our group spent so much time trapped in a sea of sculptures and people. I was so glad to have a knowledgeable guide this time who was savvy about what to see and what to breeze by. She said in a very practical manner that we couldn’t see it all so she would be sure we balanced what we did see. I appreciated that!

We were really happy with our tour, even starting that early, because the crowds kept building rapidly, and by the time we were done, we were ready to escape. We had taken a taxi from our hotel to get there asap, and found an incredible line already, waiting for ticket purchases that day! We asked to be sure, then went to the front of the line to enter and check in.

One disappointment for us was not getting some kind of skip the line pass to get to St. Peter’s Basilica. We were there in October, and then the Basilica and the museum both opened at 8:00. I’d been prepared to get there at 6:30a.m. if needed to see the Basilica first, but alas, not possible. It was also not possible to take any shortcut…our ticket did not provide for that. So when we exited the museum and walked back to St. Peter’s, there were huge lines all around the colonnade, and it was HOT. No way could we stand there… so regretfully we gave up. I’ve seen it, but my husband had not, and we were disappointed to walk away.

So, consider if that is important to you to do both, and be sure your ticket provides for that. Maybe the options that included breakfast, or happy hour options at the end of the day would let you do the shortcut route?

All in all, would highly recommend the Vatican Museum official tour rather than a third party one. It was well worth it for us.

It all depends on your interests. My wife and I did the early tour with Walks of Italy. It was fine but a little long for us. I’m recommending for my son and DIL to do it on their own - see the Sistine Chapel, then see a little else. That will be enough for them.

The usual rule is that only people on combination Vatican Museums/St. Peter's tours who accompany their guide into St. Peter's are allowed to use the shortcut. The Vatican itself doesn't offer combination tours, so the shortcut is available only to people who take the much more expensive commercial tours.

Effective in early 2024, there are no longer tours that provide entry to the Museums before they open to the public.

We had an incredible experience on July 1 , 2024 with Through Eternity Tours. We booked a 3 hour tour for as early as possible, 7:30am. If it's worth it to you to find a group that promises they go to the Sistine Chapel first, call or email. We started in the Vatican museums and then our group arrived at Sistine Chapel at 9:30am and it was pretty crowded, but again -- no photographs, so just enjoy and look up. We did get to go through that side door into St. Peter's Basilica, which saves an extra line of security and time. We continued the tour in St. Peter's and had the opportunity to go down into the crypt/catacomb.
We found Through Eternity was phenomenal with their wisdom and the guides we had were locals from the area. We also booked them for a Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Colosseum tour (ended at Colosseum, which was perfect) on a Sunday, which was a wonderful idea since that area the roads are all closed to cars on Sundays. That was 3 hours as well. Our guide, Alexandra, is an archaeologist and it was obvious she knew the depth and breadth of history and what was really meaningful to see in the Forum and Colosseum.