Vatican Museum - Sistine Chapel Tour?

First off I appologise for asking this question as I'm sure it's been asked millions of times. However the search engine times out and the advance search informs me that "Search is temporarily down.".

We will be in Rome In June before and after our Celebrity Cruise. We arrive on Sat and sail on Monday. We return on a Friday. We would really love to take our nephew through the Sistine Chapel and have read that the best way is on a tour. Seeing that the Museum and Chapel are closed on Sunday we either have to take a tour in the Morning we board or the afternoon we dock at the end. Does anyone have any recomendations of a good, relatively inexpensive Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel tour? Would it be better to go in the AM before we head down to the port and board or the day we dock at the end.

thanks much,

Kevin, Mona and Travis

Check out Angel Tours. We have booked them for a Vatican tour at the end of April. 27E p/p.

Have not used them before but if you check on TripAdvisor you will find nothing but positive comments.

To see the Sistine chapel you must go thru the Vatican museum. You can do the Vatican museum on your own or hire a guide. We hired a guide when we went in June 2006, it was very crowded and our guide was ok but certainly not an art historian or even a docent. He pointed out the most important pieces of art and got us to the Sistine chapel. From the chapel you can go down some stairs and enter St. Peter's and tour the church on your own.

How old is your nephew? You might want him to reseach the Vatican web site and discover what he wants to see in the museum. Also on the left side of St. Peter's square as you face the church is the Swiss Guard museum. Your nephew might like to visit it. The Swiss guards have guarded the Pope and the Vactican since the Middle Ages.

I suggest you tour in the morning the day you leave for the cruise.

Have a great time in Rome.

We toured the Vatican last week. The Vatican Museums open at 10.15am and tickets cost 18 euros. We booked a guided tour in advance with Vatican Tours. The guide was absolutely excellent and well informed. There were only four of us in our group, myself, DH and two lovely guys from New York State. Be aware that if you do not book a guided tour you may have to queue for hours to gain entrance. I know we were there at Easter and the crowds were huge but our daughter and her DH visited in late September and they also queued for two hours to gain entrance. You walk through the museums before entering the Sistine Chapel. There is nothing to stop you walking straight to the Chapel but you will be fascinated by all the magnificent works of art and will most likely want to stop and look. Our tour took us 3.5 hours including the Basilica. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the port from Rome if you go before you sail. The traffic is very heavy. Hope this helps and enjoy Rome.

Ros

Check out Angel Tours. We have booked them for a Vatican tour at the end of April. 27E p/p.

Have not used them before but if you check on TripAdvisor you will find nothing but positive comments.

We did a PRIVATE tour with Angel Tours. Just a guide, dh and myself.

90 euros per person. Met our guide (Eileen) in front of St. Peters. Guides have first access in the morning (9 a.m.) - before the general public. We did the museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters with her. FANTASTIC. She knew so much - and answered a gazillion questions I had for her.

We (all 3 of us) then took a taxi to the Coliseum/Forum/Palantine Hill for another private tour. Again 90 euros per person.

Expensive but worth every penny. We really had only one full day in Rome even though we stayed 2 nights precruise.

They have group tours that meet at 9 a.m. if I am not mistaken and the tour starts at 9:30.

We also used Vatican Tours and had an excellent guide (Caterina), who knew every guard in the museum, all of whom flirted with her. She was a terrific guide, very knowledgable, and she managed to get a lot of cooperation from the guards.

I recommend going in the afternoon. All the tour buses come in the morning. The crowds are much better any time after 12:30, when the buses have left the area.

Wear really good walking shoes. The Vatican is enormous and all the floors are marble, which is very hard and unforgiving on the feet. If the day is warm be sure to linger in the tapestry room, which is actually quite interesting. It's the only room that's air-conditioned in the museum, since they have to keep it cool for the tapestries.

Does anyone have any recomendations of a good, relatively inexpensive Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel tour?

Probably the least expensive way is to book a guided tour directly with the museum at 23.5E pp. You can fax your request in 30 days in advance and pay upon arrival. Be sure to bring your confirmation that they send back. You'll enter at a separate entrance, bypassing the line for those without reservations.

Here's a link with details for the Guided Tour for Individuals along with times and booking instructions. Although it shows 2 hours, we were approx. 2 hr. 45 minutes. After the guided tour of the museums, you head into the Sistine Chapel where you can stay as long as you like, then head directly into St. Peters (the guide does not accompany you into the Sistine and St. Peters).

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

Thanks all,

Our Nephew is 18 and this is his High School Graduation present. My wife and I have both been to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel before but were on a Holland America excursion that started after the museum was closed to the public and thus no crowds. This time we are on our own. I'll check out Angel Tours and Vatican Tours. Does anyone have a URL for Vatican Tours? Want to make sure we get the right one.

thanks much,

Kevin, Mona and Travis

Hi Kevin, Mona and Travis

The URL for Vatican Tours is:

www.vaticantoursinc.com

Our guide was Dorothea and she was excellent.

When we visited on March 25 (day after Easter Monday) the museums opened dead on the dot of 10.15am. From other postings here maybe the times vary - worth checking out. Vatican Tours advertise their tours starting at 10.00am but they contacted our hotel the evening before and asked us to meet the guide at 10.30am. There is a much shorter queue for those with guides and you will bypass the enormous queues.

Good luck

Ros

We used

www.rome-museum.com

last year to book our tickets for Vatican Museums and Gallerie Borghese.

We actually entered at 8:15am but I notice on the website now that they say the earliest entry is 9:30am. Maybe they open earlier in the summer, I am not sure. We purchased entry only, no guided tour although a rep from the company meets you across the road and takes you in through the short queue (no queue when we went but the end of the public queue was already out of sight 2 hours before they would let people enter from that one). Once inside and in the "Globe" garden we were sent on our way. We were so early that we had to wait as some of the security people had not turned up and they would not open part of the museums until they were attended.

Have a good read up before hand as there is just so much to see that you need to have some plan to your visit. We loved the Raphaelle rooms and the Cartography museum but unfortunately the tapestries museum and the modern art section were to dark to get any decent photos as we could not use flash.

Do not hire a sound guide if you want to go direct from the Sistine Chapel to The Tomb of the Popes and St Peters as there is nowhere to hand it back and you will need to go all the way back to the entrance to collect your deposit and hand it back.

David

After reading this thread last night, I used the website in Susan-M's post above to request two tickets for May 2. I sent the request via email instead of faxing because it was easier.

When I check this morning, I had received a confirmation showing the time and date of reservation. The only difference is that they now charge 29.5 euro pp. This is for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour. Here is what is offered for individuals on their site. One of the easiest tours I've ever reserved in Italy!

VATICAN MUSEUMS AND SISTINE CHAPEL (2 hours)

The tour itinerary takes visitors through the most significant cultural and religious areas within the Vatican Museums: the Pio Clementino (classical antiquity), the Geographical Maps and Tapestries Galleries (Renaissance art), the Raphael’s Rooms and The Sistine Chapel.

From March through October

from Monday through Saturday at 10.30 am – 12.00 am – 14.00 pm

From November through February

everyday but Sundays at 10.30 am

Rates

full fare

€ 29,50

reduced

€ 23,50

The above rates include admission to the Museums, guided tour service and headset.

I sent the request via email instead of faxing because it was easier.

 

When I check this morning, I had received a confirmation showing the time and date of reservation. The only difference is that they now charge 29.5 euro pp.

Terrific news re e-mail reservations! They must have changed their website within the past day or two as the e-mail option is new, as is the price increase. I'm surprised that the price jumped by 6E, but still very much worth it!

After reading this thread last night, I used the website in Susan-M's post above to request two tickets for May 2. I sent the request via email instead of faxing because it was easier.

 

When I check this morning, I had received a confirmation showing the time and date of reservation. The only difference is that they now charge 29.5 euro pp. This is for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour. Here is what is offered for individuals on their site. One of the easiest tours I've ever reserved in Italy!

 

VATICAN MUSEUMS AND SISTINE CHAPEL (2 hours)

 

The tour itinerary takes visitors through the most significant cultural and religious areas within the Vatican Museums: the Pio Clementino (classical antiquity), the Geographical Maps and Tapestries Galleries (Renaissance art), the Raphael’s Rooms and The Sistine Chapel.

 

 

From March through October

from Monday through Saturday at 10.30 am – 12.00 am – 14.00 pm

 

From November through February

everyday but Sundays at 10.30 am

 

Rates

full fare

€ 29,50

 

reduced

€ 23,50

 

 

The above rates include admission to the Museums, guided tour service and headset.

What is the difference between the full faire and reduced fare? Is one for Sr citizens or children or ?

What is the difference between the full faire and reduced fare? Is one for Sr citizens or children or ?

The only mention of reduced rates on the page in my link above, is:

"Reduced rates for pilgrimages and school groups: on the day of the visit a letter with the heading of the parish church signed by the parish priest or with the heading of the school signed by the Principal must be presented at the Guided Tours desk.

On the page with the regular admission rates (not tours) it mentions that children under 6 are free.

Perhaps worth asking about if you are sending in a request.

 

 

The above rates include admission to the Museums, guided tour service and headset.

Does anyone know if the guides will collect the headset at the end of the guided tour, or does one have to return it personally?

I'm worried about how having the headset impacts taking the shortcut to St. Peter's from the chapel.

29 euros is steep, but I'll feel better about it (assuming the headset issue works out) if the general admission also went up to 18 euros from the previous 14 euros?

Man, Europe's become so expensive these past few years.:(

Does anyone know if the guides will collect the headset at the end of the guided tour, or does one have to return it personally?

 

The headsets are turned in prior to going into the Sistine Chapel (I think we returned them to a desk at the end of the museum tour.) The guide doesn't accompany you into the Sistine Chapel...they brief you on it beforehand.

The headsets are turned in prior to going into the Sistine Chapel (I think we returned them to a desk at the end of the museum tour.) The guide doesn't accompany you into the Sistine Chapel...they brief you on it beforehand.

Thank you Susan-M! So it should be no fuss, no muss once in the museum then.:) Finding the entrance should be easy, I guess (i.e., by looking for the lineup :p )?

Based on this site, the museum allows entry between 8:30 and 16:00, and kicks people out at 18:00? http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Orario.html

So is this not really correct in that the 8:30 is for private tours and that entry to the general public isn't allowed until 10:30, so that if you tried to line up unreserved for 8:30, you'd be near the front but still not allowed in for about two hours!?!:eek:

Finding the entrance should be easy, I guess (i.e., by looking for the lineup :p )?

You're welcome ... not sure about the 'no fuss/no muss part though.;) "

Here's a link from their website with good detail on where the entrance is:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Trasporti_02.html

Based on this site, the museum allows entry between 8:30 and 16:00, and kicks people out at 18:00? http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Orario.html

So is this not really correct in that the 8:30 is for private tours and that entry to the general public isn't allowed until 10:30, so that if you tried to line up unreserved for 8:30, you'd be near the front but still not allowed in for about two hours!?!:eek:

Has anyone done this tour Monday morning and then left for the ship? (Freedom). Wondering if we stayed at a hotel near the Vatican where they would allow us to keep our luggage and then return to catch a shuttle to the ship. I'm sure we'll have to check out of the hotel in the AM but some/all (?) will allow us to leave our luggage.

Thanks

Apologies if this has been explained before. It is just that I am on information overload at this point and have lost the details somewhere in between.

if I buy the tickets for the guided tour at 10:30 for E 29.50 does that include the admission fee? I am confused because in another area it says that the admission fee is E 18? or do I have to pay the admission fee in addition to the E29.50?

If I only buy the ticket for E18 in advance, do I still have to stand on line? or can I go to the front of the line with my ticket? Is the E18 ticket assigned an entrance time or can I go anytime during the day I purchase it? I understand that there will be no guided tour on this option but right now it does not matter as this is a one day stop on my cruise and I rather see what I can than not at all.

Thank you for your patience.;)

Hi Lia... yes admission is included in the €29,50 tour price.

I'm not familiar with purchasing the admission only ticket in advance ... is it available on their website? My only concern with it is if it doesn't have a designated time, you may end up waiting in line for a long time.

Hi Lia,

I think one can only bypass the general queue by purchasing the 29E guided tour. To purchase the "general admission" 18E ticket, one has to wait in line (unless one pre-purchases from a third-party reseller unconnected with The Vatican Museum).

Ideally, I'd like to just buy the 18E ticket in advance and bypass the line too!

Susan-M,

I recall having read in other threads on this forum somewhere that pre-10am entrance was limited to private tour operators. I can't search to confirm this at the moment because the site indicates that the function is temporarily unavailable.

After reading this thread last night, I used the website in Susan-M's post above to request two tickets for May 2. I sent the request via email instead of faxing because it was easier.

 

When I check this morning, I had received a confirmation showing the time and date of reservation. The only difference is that they now charge 29.5 euro pp. This is for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour. Here is what is offered for individuals on their site. One of the easiest tours I've ever reserved in Italy!

 

VATICAN MUSEUMS AND SISTINE CHAPEL (2 hours)

 

The tour itinerary takes visitors through the most significant cultural and religious areas within the Vatican Museums: the Pio Clementino (classical antiquity), the Geographical Maps and Tapestries Galleries (Renaissance art), the Raphael’s Rooms and The Sistine Chapel.

 

 

From March through October

from Monday through Saturday at 10.30 am – 12.00 am – 14.00 pm

 

From November through February

everyday but Sundays at 10.30 am

 

Rates

full fare

€ 29,50

 

reduced

€ 23,50

 

 

The above rates include admission to the Museums, guided tour service and headset.

I did this tour last year and it was great! So glad you can now e-mail for a reservation.

Does anyone know if the guides will collect the headset at the end of the guided tour, or does one have to return it personally?

 

I'm worried about how having the headset impacts taking the shortcut to St. Peter's from the chapel.

 

29 euros is steep, but I'll feel better about it (assuming the headset issue works out) if the general admission also went up to 18 euros from the previous 14 euros?

 

Man, Europe's become so expensive these past few years.:(

If you have the guided tour they take the head set for you.

So, if I'm understanding correctly, if book a guided tour, I will bypass the long lines. The guided tour cuts the lines, or does it just shorten the waiting time?