Vatican Museum Sistine Chapel Guided Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Meet your expert tour guide and bypass the notoriously long admission lines to enter the sprawling complex of the Vatican Museums. Equipped with individual headsets so you can hear every detail clearly, your guide will navigate you through miles of magnificent hallways containing centuries of papal art collections and classical antiquities. Walk through the open-air Pinecone Courtyard (Cortile della Pigna) to admire its 4-meter Roman bronze pinecone before entering the Pio-Clementino Museum, home to iconic ancient sculptures like Laocoön and His Sons and the Belvedere Torso. Continue along the grand halls to marvel at the 16th-century tapestries in the Gallery of Tapestries and the gilded ceiling of the 120-meter Gallery of Maps. Before moving forward, step inside the private papal apartments known as the Raphael Rooms (Stanze di Raffaello) to view monumental Renaissance frescoes, including The School of Athens.

   1.5 hAdmission included

2. Step inside the world’s most famous sacred room, the Sistine Chapel, where papal conclaves gather to elect new Popes. Out of respect for the sacred nature of the venue, absolute silence is observed inside; your guide will provide a thorough walkthrough of the artwork beforehand so you can appreciate every detail. Look up at the soaring vaulted ceilings painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, featuring dramatic biblical scenes such as The Creation of Adam. Stand before the altar wall to absorb the emotion and power of Michelangelo's massive masterpiece, The Last Judgment, as well as surrounding wall frescoes painted by Renaissance masters Botticelli, Perugino, and Ghirlandaio.

   1 hAdmission included

3. Your guide will take you to St Peter Basilica by utilizing the reserved group passageway leading directly from the chapel into Saint Peter’s Basilica. Once inside the magnificent basilica, your guide will bid you farewell, leaving you with complete freedom to explore the largest church in Christendom at your own pace. Wander beneath the soaring 136-meter dome to discover world-famous masterpieces without feeling rushed. Take all the time you need to admire Michelangelo’s deeply moving marble sculpture, La Pietà, and stand before Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s colossal 29-meter bronze Baldacchino towering over the papal altar. When you are finished exploring, step out into St. Peter's Square.

   30 minAdmission included

Cancellation

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Reviews

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Know before you go

How it compares in Rome

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 8352 experiences we list in Rome.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 4925 of 8352.

About Rome

Rome layers nearly three thousand years of history into one walkable city, from the Colosseum and Forum to Baroque piazzas and Vatican art.

Ancient Rome is still in plain sight. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill sit together at the city's heart, the Pantheon still stands with its open oculus, and fragments of temples and aqueducts turn up between apartment blocks. Across the Tiber, Vatican City holds St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Top-ranked sights in Rome: Colosseum, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel.

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