Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's with private guide
Visit the best of the Vatican with a private guide to see the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The tour includes the ticket and reservation to skip the line at the entrance!
PRIVATE GUIDED TOUR OF VATICAN MUSEUMS, THE SISTINE CHAPEL, and ST. PETER'S BASILICA
This enchanting guided tour unveils the history of the greatest archaeological treasures kept in Vatican City.
DURATION: approx. 4 hours
AVAILABILITY: Every day except Sunday and Wednesday.
DESCRIPTION: An unforgettable guided tour inside the magnificent Vatican Palaces, which have one of the world's largest collection of masterpieces. An expert guide will show you the key sections of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The tour lasts 4 hours and can be customized to meet specific visitor requests. The second part of the tour takes place inside St. Peter's Basilica where your guide will help you appreciate the wonder of the basilica and its most important artworks, including Michelangelo's Pietà.
Note: For groups over 10 people, headsets are provided to help listen to the guide's explanation.
TOUR ITINERARY
This tour includes a first part inside the Vatican Museums of about 2 hours and 30 minutes followed by a guided tour inside St. Peter's Basilica.
THE VATICAN MUSEUMS – PART ONE
First stop is theCortile della Pigna, the "Pine Cone Courtyard," named after the huge Roman bronze pine cone, originally a decoration on the Roman fountain of Agrippa.
The next stop on the tour is Belvedere Courtyard, the start of the Greek–Roman section of the Vatican Museums and the site of among the most famous statues of the Ancient Age, including the Laocoön group (depicting the tragic end of the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons killed by a sea snake that sprang out of the water during the Trojan War) and the Belvedere Apollo, inspired by the Greek god of the Sun and considered one of the masterpieces of ancient statuary.
Next on the tour is the Hall of the Muses, where we can see the Belvedere Torso, a fragment of an ancient statue of Apollonius that inspired Michelangelo, impressed by its perfect, powerful anatomical structure. Michelangelo used it as a model to paint some of his best known masterpieces including the Christ of the Last Judgment that you will have a chance to appreciate at the end of this tour inside the Sistine Chapel.
Next up is the Round Hallwhere you can appreciate the beauty of the Bust of Zeus, the golden statue of Hercules, the statue of Hadrian, and the massive porphyry basin originally located in Nero's Domus Aurea.
We'll continue to the Greek Cross Hallwhich holds two porphyry sarcophagi made for the burial of St. Constance and St. Helen, the daughter and the mother, respectively, of Emperor Constantine the Great.
Moving to the upper floor, we'll go through the Candelabra Gallery, named for its magnificent chandeliers, whose home was once Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. Next: the Gallery of Tapestries, which Pope Clement VII commissioned in the 16th century to adorn the Sistine Chapel. Raphael's followers made these tapestries using precious fabrics of Brussels. The gallery has a special climate control system to preserve these precious but fragile tapestries.
The Map Galleryis the third and final gallery. About 120 meters (400 feet) long, it displays topographic maps of the Italian peninsula, the first complete representation of the various sections of Italy. Visitors can admire the marvelous Vatican Gardens from the window.
The Sobieski Roomand the Room of the Immaculate Conception come before the entrance to Raphael's Rooms. The Sobieski Room is named for the enormous 19th-century painting.
Then we come to the Raphael Rooms. Raphael and his pupils decorated these four famous rooms, originally the Pope's residence, on the orders of Pope Julius II.
The Room of the Segnature was originally Pope Julius II's personal library and office and was the first that Raphael frescoed. This room holds Raphael's best-known works, including the "School of Athens."
Room of Heliodorus: here you can appreciate the beautiful "Deliverance of St. Peter" depicting the prince of the apostles and the pope being miraculously rescued from jail by an angel while the guards lie asleep.
The Fire in the Borg Roomhas frescoes illustrating political aspirations and life stories of some of Popes Julius II's predecessors.
TheHall of Constantine: once used for official receptions and ceremonies, this hall was decorated by Raphael's pupils based on his drawings, as he died prematurely before it was completed.
The tour continues inside theSistine Chapel. The chapel was built in the 15th century and was decorated with frescoes by the era's most eminent artists, such as Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and, famously, Michelangelo who frescoed the ceiling and the entrance wall depicting the Last Judgment. Impressively, the ceiling covers 930 square meters (10,000 square feet), organized with over 300 figures bringing to life scenes of the Genesis, including the extremely famous "Creation of Adam." To its sides are extraordinary depictions of prophets and sibyls.
ST. PETER'S BASILICA – PART TWO
Without leaving the Vatican Museums, visitors head inside St. Peter's Basilica through an interior passage, the Door of the Sacraments.
If the Door of the Sacraments cannot be used due to a special decision of the Vatican Museums administration, visitors may choose between reaching the Basilica by leaving the Museums and walking to the Basilica with the guide, or giving up the extra hour of the tour for the Basilica and requesting a partial refund of the amount paid for the 3-hour tour. Italy Travels shall in no case be liable for closures of the passage.
The Basilica is a genuine treasure trove, one of the world's longest churches, and a center of the entire Christian world. Major masterpieces of art history are found within the Basilica. Protected by bullet-proof glass, Michelangelo's Pietà is in the left transept. This was one of Michelangelo's earliest works and the only one he signed. The gentle mastery with which it was crafted makes it one of the major draws for millions of visitors to the Basilica every year. The immense proportions of the Basilica are among its most awe-inspiring aspects. To give you an idea of its size: for Bernini's Baldachin, he had to take bronze from the Pantheon because the structure was so large. As you leave the Basilica, the vision of the square is a fitting finale to a tour immersed in masterpieces. Bernini also designed the colonnade that encircles the square, ushering in tourists, pilgrims, and visitors. Its 284 columns make one of the most famed and iconic places in the world, renowned for its importance and beauty.
Our guides
All Italy Travels guides are licensed by the Province of Rome, have extensive experience and work at the highest levels of professionalism, skill, and excellence. Our staff is constantly committed to providing top-notch service to our clients. We provide the best guides working in Rome, most of whom are art historians and teachers in the humanities.
Private tours including tickets to Roman museums always have tickets with booking to avoid waiting in ticket lines.
For the cancellation policy for this tour, click here
