Vatican Tour or Rick Steves?

[jarand]

We are debating between joining a tour group offered by the Vatican or just using the Rick Steves audioguide.

 

The Vatican Tour allows the visitor to be part of a Vatican Group Tour conducted by an official Vatican Tour Guide. The tour follows an itinerary which includes: the Pio Clementino Museum, the Gallery of the Candelabras, the Gallery of the Geographical Maps, and the Gallery of the Tapestries (Renaissance art), the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. Duration of the tour is about 2 hours.

 

(St Peter's Basilica is done on your own)

 

Has anyone done this, or the Rick Steves audioguides? Advice appreciated!

[kickballpro]

We are debating between joining a tour group offered by the Vatican or just using the Rick Steves audioguide.

 

The Vatican Tour allows the visitor to be part of a Vatican Group Tour conducted by an official Vatican Tour Guide. The tour follows an itinerary which includes: the Pio Clementino Museum, the Gallery of the Candelabras, the Gallery of the Geographical Maps, and the Gallery of the Tapestries (Renaissance art), the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. Duration of the tour is about 2 hours.

 

(St Peter's Basilica is done on your own)

 

Has anyone done this, or the Rick Steves audioguides? Advice appreciated!

 

My advice would be to get a tour guide. The reason being is it is so crowded, so much to see, and you want to be able to navigate through there in a timley manner without missing much.

 

Rome in Limo suggested we get a guide. They hired one for us. When we got there I discovered why. Its a zoo, people everywhere moving in all directions. They did tour St. Peter's as well. Our guide kept us together, knew where to buy souviners, where the bathrooms were, where to ger water, the order we should see things, gathering places to get our group back together, as well as all of the insight the a good guide should have.

 

We also bought our tickets online. The guide took our paper away, came back 30 seconds later with tickets. I don't even know where she did it at. Anyway, you know my vote. We were only a group of 6 and had options, but so glad we took the RIL advice and got the guide.

[ollienbertsmum]

We ordered our tickets online so there was no waiting at all. We used the rick steves audio for the Sistine Chapel and it was perfect. I had actually done it before hand using a virtual Sistine chapel - it may sound a bit odd but there is so much to look at and take in - it really helped enhance the experience for me. it was not difficult to find the Sistine Chapel although it is a long walk. You need to make sure you leave by the 'tour' door straight into St peters - and Rick Steves can give you a great tour of the Basilica.

 

Now we were just going to the Vatican for the Sistine - I do plan a land tour when DH retires and that will be in the winter and we can spend a day in that museum. I don't know if Rick does another tour that includes more of the Vatican, but what would not have been enough if we had been interested in staying for longer. I think the Vatican had audio guides that you could use - but you might need help sorting out some highlights or you could find that you spend longer than you had planned there

[Keith1010]

I prefer a tour guide. It just provides more time to ask questions and to learn more about what you are seeing.

 

We used rome walks which was in the Rick Steves guide book.

 

Their web site is http://www.romewalks.com

 

The tours are comprised of about 6 to 10 people and the guides were great as we also used them on another day for a visit to the colosseum and ancient city.

Keith

[pilarkitty]

The Vatican tour was crazy. You actually wear a headset and the tour guide speaks into a microphone so it's sort of like a Rick Steve's guide. It was so crowded that there wasn't much time to browse the collection or ask questions.

 

We were there in april and it was so crowded. I can imagine that it's worse in the summer. We really enjoyed Rick's Grand Canal and basilica San Marco tours.

 

If you decide to go with Rick, make sure you can reserve your time at the museum instead of having to wait in line. I'm not sure if this is possible so a tour may be advantageous in that way.

 

Pro tip: if you can, wait until the end of the day to go up into the dome. The line was so long all day. We waited and walked up with no line. But, we didn't have a ship to catch.

[kazu]

We did the private guide at the Vatican and it was worth every penny:):)

 

There were only 8 of us so private and he took us to places where the public could not go. As well, he used secret stairways, etc to avoid the crowds when we were going to public areas.

 

We even went to the Pope's private room where he prays and meditates once he is elected and before he presents himself to the public:eek:

 

Highly, highly recommended:D:D

[ducklite]

I strongly suggest doing the night time guided tour. We did this and it was fantastic. Much cooler and less crowded. I can't imagine trying a DIY during the day.

[cruisemom42]

Are you staying in Rome before or after your cruise or are you just in Rome for the day?

 

If you're staying in Rome and can afford the time, doing the Vatican museum on your own with a good guidebook is definitely doable. And yes, you CAN pre-reserve your tickets for a certain time and avoid the line even without taking a tour. I like to see things on my own in a museum (things that may or may not be part of a guided tour), and I don't like being rushed. If you're like me, having a guided tour is less enjoyable.

 

On the other hand, if you are tight on time, and you only want to see what the Vatican deems to be the highlights of their collection, the tour is just fine. I've done it, and it certainly does an adequate job of covering a lot of ground and providing you with information.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We are debating between joining a tour group offered by the Vatican or just using the Rick Steves audioguide.

 

Has anyone done this, or the Rick Steves audioguides? Advice appreciated!

 

I think it must depend on when you are going. We did the Vatican tour you described in November and it was great for the money. I booked with the Vatican online. The guide told us that during the busy season that we would not have been able to see the mosaics on the floor because of the crowds. We also did most of the Rome Rick Steves audio tours and enjoyed them.

 

Cynthia

[ollienbertsmum]

I think it must depend on when you are going. We did the Vatican tour you described in November and it was great for the money. I booked with the Vatican online. The guide told us that during the busy season that we would not have been able to see the mosaics on the floor because of the crowds. We also did most of the Rome Rick Steves audio tours and enjoyed them.

 

Cynthia

 

We went last July. The museum was crowded, but you could still see what you wanted. Having said that, there were just two of us and so we could slip into little spaces in the crowds. The worst part was in the Sistine Chapel - the guards kept shouting to tell people to keep quiet and really they were much less noisy than the terrible noise the guards were making.

[kickballpro]

I thought the same thing. Everyone is whispering and you're got guards yelling "Be Quiet!" in Italian and English and loudly shusshing everyone.

[jarand]

Thanks everyone. I booked the tour! By the way, I have read many places that the guards shushing everyone is more intrusive than anyone's talking