Rome has many important museums but the Vatican museums are a class apart. There are so many guests/ tourists who exclusively come to Rome with the purpose of touring the Vatican that Vatican museum tours are in a separate league altogether.
There are so many types of Vatican Museum tours that are really easy to get frazzled. There are the Vatican Museum tours before opening hours, small/ semi-private Vatican museum tours, Vatican gardens and museums combo tours, VIP Vatican Museum tours with special out of hours visit to the Sistine chapel. There are other value-added options like Vatican museums tour with lunch/ breakfast.
One approach would be to select exactly which kind of experience you want and then narrow down the operators who provide each kind of experience. This is a list of the top Vatican tour operators in Rome along with their offerings who provide the overall best-rated experiences.
You can also easily find various options for entry and tours of Vatican Museums (including combination tours with other attractions) and book online from this Viator site.
The Roman Guy
The Roman Guy started out as a content-rich blogger and is now a provider of top-rated small group tours of the Vatican and other attractions. They have Italian and American tour guides who speak many languages fluently including English. Some of their best Vatican tours are detailed below. The tour group do their best to include differently-abled guests (this should be notified in advance). The guides are super informative and go the extra mile like showing rich informative content on the tab before entering the Sistine chapel (you cannot speak inside).
Super Early Vatican Gold Tour
The Super Early Vatican Gold Tour offers entry and tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. You can enter these attractions around 7.30 am… that’s a full hour and a half before the general public. Done in group sizes of a maximum of 13, this is a 2-hour tour led by an extremely informative guide.
The tour starts off with a visit to the Sistine Chapel and then a visit to the main galleries; the Gallery of the Candelabra, the Gallery of the Tapestries and the Gallery of the Maps followed by a skip the line entrance to St. Peters Basilica.
The Vatican highlights Tour with St. Peter’s Basilica & Sistine Chapel
This tour offers a summarised yet content rich experience of the Vatican Museums and its best galleries and attractions. This 2.5-hour tour starts off at 8 a.m. and is meant for group size 16 (max). The tour covers the main galleries i.e. the gallery of candelabra, the gallery of tapestries, the gallery of maps along with the Sistine Chapel, Papal tombs and skip the line entry to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Vatican in a day detailed tour with privileged entrance
This tour is meant for people intensely interested in history and art and with a special interest in the Vatican’s. The 5 hour Vatican Day Tour with privileged entrance covers almost all areas worth visiting the museums. The tour starts off at 8.00 a.m. and lasts for 5 hours and is meant for a maximum group size of 12.
The tour includes a before hours visit to the Sistine chapel and then the Vatican Pinacoteca followed by the Carriage Pavilion and the Bramante courtyard. Next on the agenda are the Galleries of Tapestries, the Gallery of Candelabra and the Gallery of Maps. The tour guide will then take you to the famous Raphael Rooms and the Borgia Apartments followed by a skip the line visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Papal Tombs.
The Vatican under the stars evening Tour
If you want the exclusive experience of viewing the Vatican museums under the starlit sky then this tour is perfect for you. Photographing the museums all lit up in lights and clicking a few snaps of an illuminated St. Peters Dome from a special terrace viewpoint are the highlights of the trip.
This small group tour (max group size 13) lasts for 2 hours and starts off at 6.45 p.m.
The tour starts off with a visit to the Pinecone courtyard and then moves to the Pio Clementine Collection and then the galleries (candelabra, tapestries and maps). Next on the agenda is Raphael’s rooms and the Sistine chapel. After this, there is half an hour of extra time for self-guided exploration and photography.
Roman Guy tours usually start off at a common meeting point and that is Caffe Vaticano on Viale Vaticano 100. This lies across the street from the Vatican Museums entrance
Booking & Contacts
You can book one of their best tours from this Viator site.
You can also browse through their tours on their website. The tour prices start from 60 euros per person and upwards depending upon the duration and features of the tour. Phone: +1 888 290 5595.
Imago Artists
The company really believes in living up to its slogan ‘we create unforgettable memories’ and if money isn’t a governing constraint then experiencing the Vatican doesn’t really get better than the Imago Artis experience. The dynamic and ever so stylish Roman Fulvio De Bonis heads the team and they partner with Hotel Eden, Hotel Russie and other properties so the client list is exclusive. The experience model is also exclusive….you can expect to travel around Rome in a vintage Fiat 500 and then have a session inside the private chambers of the Pope in the Vatican.
The Imago team has more than 35 professionals including geologists, art historians and archaeologists who can deliver top-notch information that surpasses the inputs provided by a regular tour guide. The team is multilingual and adept in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Russian. The tours are heavily customised and in a very small group so basically you can get inclusions/ exclusions according to your choice.
There is the Vatican Gardens and the Niccoline Tour that takes visitors to the private quarters of Niccoline Chapel and the Bramante Staircase. The Niccoline chapel is known for its Fra Angelico frescoes and is usually not included in tourist visits.
Then there is the Afterhours Sistine Chapel Tour with skip the line entry to St Peters Basilica and a guided tour of the most important sections of the Vatican Museums.
The tours usually involve hotel pickup, transport and then drop back to a place of your choice
Incidentally, imago Artis is one of the 5 (amongst the hundreds) of tour operators in the Eternal City who have formally collaborated with the Vatican in Silver level cultural projects.
Imago Artis is an exclusive luxury tour operator….all of whose tours start from 100 euros upwards per person.
Contacts
Via Paolo Emilio, 28 – 00192 Roma.
Email: [email protected]; Phone: +39 06 876 599 77; Website
Note: on Wednesdays St. Peter’s Basilica has restricted access. You can visit the basilica from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. only. Avoid taking Vatican tours on Wednesdays if visiting the Basilica is a major goal.
City Wonders/ Dark Rome
This incredibly popular tour group operator (earlier known as dark Rome and now known as City Wonders) offers only small group tours and have a good team of guides who speak excellent English, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese. They pay good attention to detail and offer good quality headphones, nuanced route plans that offer more than the ordinary tour. They now offer 150 tours across 9 different European cities including some impressive Vatican City tours.
Incidentally, City Wonders is also a Vatican’s official partner which means that you can get access to many off the limit areas.
Express Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Tour
This tour helps guests gain the earliest entry possible through a special gate. No other operator offers this kind of early access…guests are directly taken to the Sistine Chapel where they can check out the frescoes in peace. The Vatican museums tour doesn’t have a guide but guests will have a map, highlights summary and a full-day ticket. There is no restriction on the areas of the Vatican that can be explored with this tour.
This is roughly a 3 hours tour but the Vatican ticket is for the entire day so guests can stay back and explore the museum on their own. However, this is a single entry ticket… it isn’t possible to re-enter the museum with this ticket once you have left it. This tour costs roughly 60 euros per person.
Vatican VIP Experience
Exclusive Breakfast at the Vatican with Early Access to Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
The highlight of this tour is the chance to breakfast at the Pinecone courtyard (preferable)/ Vatican Cafeteria and then an exclusive visit (before the chapel opens to the public) of the Sistine chapel. The next attractions are gallery of maps and then the Raphael rooms. The tour ends with an exclusive VIP entry to St. Peter’s Basilica ….you can choose to stay inside the basilica (explore the bookstore, post office, grotto, dome etc.) for as long as you like after you bid goodbye to your guide.
Breakfast is hearty American style with pastries, eggs, meats, cheeses and piping fresh pancakes. This roughly 3 hours 45-minute tour begins near the museum entrance where you will be met by your guide. This tour costs approximately 100 euros per person.
The Exclusive Half-Day Vatican City Tour with Breakfast and Gardens
This is a value-added version of the earlier tour. The tour starts off with a 45-minute tour of the state and the gardens in an open-topped bus. This is followed by a rich American breakfast in the Vatican cafeteria and a 3-hour tour of the museums, Sistine chapel and St. Peter’s basilica. The tour begins around 7.15 a.m. and lasts for a good 5 hours. This tour costs approximately 120 euros per adult.
Semi-Private Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica
This is as near you can get to a private tour as possible. This is done in a group of not more than 12 people and lasts for approximately 3 hours. The tour begins around 7.00 a.m. and uses the faster than skip the line mode to get inside the Vatican (gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Maps, Gallery of Candelabra, Raphael rooms) and explore the Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s rooms and museums. Skip the line entrance into St. Peter’s Basilica is the next activity and after the end of the tour, you will have some extra time to tour the chapel. This is one of the shortest tours offered by City wonders and is priced around 55 euros delivering great value.
All City Wonders tours provide headsets to individual guests so that they can hear the guide clearly. All tours that offer entry to St. Peters Basilica offer an extended visit of the Vatican City on Wednesdays (as a replacement) as the basilica has restricted hours on Wednesdays. It’s not permitted to talk inside the chapel which is why the guide will give guests a detailed brief before entering the Sistine Chapel. All City Wonder tours are done in groups of 20 or fewer people.
Contact Details
Testaccio, Ostiense, Rome
Phone: UK: (+44) 800 098 8019; USA and Canada: (+1) 800 358 1942
Email: [email protected]; Website
The Official Vatican Museums Tours
The Vatican Museums officially offers a staggering range of tours that have great diversity. The tours start from:
- The simple open tour of the museum and Sistine Chapel with a Vatican Museums audio guide (24 euros), and
- Open tour of the museums and Sistine Chapel with Lunch/ Breakfast at Vatican Museums (35 euros), to even a
- Night open tour of museums and Sistine Chapel with happy hours (34 euros).
Spending the evening immersed in the wonders of the Vatican Museums is a different take on Rome’s nightlife options….
Read: Things to do on Roman nights.
The night tours of the Vatican’s are only offered from April to October on Fridays from 7.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. The night guided tours are especially recommended as the guide will take guests on a more extensive museum tour that takes in the Gregorian Egyptian Museum, Pio Clementino Museum, Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of the Tapestries, Gallery of the Geographical Maps, Raphael’s Rooms, Borgia Apartment, Collection of Contemporary Art, Sistine Chapel and the Galleries of the Vatican Apostolic Library.
There are even Museum sectors that are exclusively open on night tours like Rooms of St. Pius V (this is where you can check out the collection of Medieval and Renaissance ceramics). There are even free concerts on Friday nights which guests can attend. The happy hour tours begin with a wine tasting and aperitivo session at the Pine Cone courtyard. The collective guided tours start early at around 5.30 p.m. before the public gets into the museums.
There are many guided tour offerings that are led by official guides of the Vatican state. These generally include guided visit to the Pio Clementino Museum, the gallery of Candelabra, the Gallery of Tapestries, the Gallery of Geographical Maps, Raphael’s Rooms and the Sistine chapel. The base guided tour is offered at 33 euros but this is a group tour (max size 15). If you want to take an official Vatican individual tour with an exclusive guide then the price comes around 280 euros (including charges for the guide and ticket).
The early entry to the museum with breakfast (at Pinecone courtyard) has a 68 euro ticket….this will get you inside the museum at 7.15 a.m. There are audio-guided open tours (27 euros) / group guided tours (38 euros) of the Vatican museums. There is even a guided tour called ‘Art and Faith’ that is specially meant for guests with a profound interest in spirituality, religion and culture.
Then there is the out of hours Necropolis of Via Triumphalis and carriage Pavillion tour (that can only be done in groups of min 10 and max 25 size) and the hidden museums and Niccoline chapel tour. Those who wish can take the Bramante staircase, Niccoline chapel, Vatican museums tour or the cabinet of the masks and Vatican Museums tour.
Another offering that offers great value and is especially suited for families with kids is the Full Day Vatican by train tour (47 euros for adults and 37 euros for kids). Each Saturday an electric train with modern amenities goes from the vintage Vatican City rail station to Pontifical villas and continues to Castel Gandolfo Barberini gardens through the Vatican gardens. The tour lasts from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and has special multilingual audio guides, train tickets (up and down) by electric train and a tour of Barberini gardens with a special ecological vehicle.
The Vatican museums also offer guided/ open tours of the archaeological area ‘Necropolis of via Triumphalis’, Barberini gardens, Pontifical Villas, Apostolic Palace and the Vatican gardens in various combinations.
If you are lucky enough to get a chance to tour the Vatican’s on the last Sunday of the month then there is free entry plus a guided group tour option (17 euros).
Booking
You need to browse different tours from the Vatican Museums Website and then book them from the linked sections.
It’s advisable to do a comparative analysis with other tour operators listed above and then decide if the official Vatican tours are suitable for you. Precook the tours….they get sold out faster and they are good quality tours though not exceptional. Some offerings like the full day train trip, Vatican museums with happy hour and concert and tour of different areas like Bramante staircase, chamber of masks etc. are worth it in their diversity.
Otherwise, like most private operators the Vatican museums offer tours that go through one end of the museum to the chapel and then out of the museum visiting all major galleries that fall in between (and not the whole museum). The headsets, guides, maps and special presentation about the art in the Sistine chapel….provided by the official Vatican tours are all of great quality.
All official Vatican Museum tours are offered in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish. For tours in other languages you need to email in advance. For differently abled guests holding a 74% or more disability certificate, entry is free though guide charges have to be paid. Those wishing to do a self-guided tour with an audio guide through the museums can follow the no barrier route published by the Vatican.
By the way, a good compromise for people who do want to know in-depth about the Vatican museums but are wary of taking a tour is the Vatican Museums audio guide. This will entitle you to considerably more information than what is printed on the info cards or on museum pamphlets, literature etc. You can book the audio guide when you pre-book Vatican Museum tickets or you can get it once you enter the museums. Either way, getting the audio guide from the official Vatican Museums website is the best idea.
Read: Insights into the Vatican Museums and its sections.
Contacts
Viale Vaticano, Roma 0165.
Email: [email protected]; Phone: + 39 06 69883145, + 39 06 69884676.
A travel addict. Still celebrating the day when he quit his high-profile corporate job to pursue his passion for travel writing.