Time of day for a private Vatican tour.

[Cretia]

My husband and I will be in Rome on October 31, 2014. One of the main reasons we are going is because I have wanted to see the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel for years. I don't think I can express in words how important this is to me. We are planning on getting a private tour guide.

 

Now the issues:

 

DH is a lousy traveler. Hates people, hates new places, hates not knowing where he is. He's doing this trip soley for my benefit, which I love him for doing.

 

I generally get drowsy in the afternoons and since we'll be flying in the day before, I imagine jet lag will definitely make my general tendency worse. I also get headaches when I'm tired like that. Nothing that I can't work through, but all other things being equal, I would rather tour through a site I care less about than the Vatican Museums.

 

I had orginally wanted to do an early morning Vatican tour but I've been having trouble working out a company with which to spend the entire day. The companies I've found either are so much more expensive than anyone else or scheduling an entire day with them starts to become painful (some of the conversations I've had with tour operators have just been...difficult... when it comes to trying to see what we want to see. They are all private tours, so for the life of me I can't figure out why they are being so difficult but it has been).

 

DH is not crazy about the idea of booking a morning Vatican tour with one company and then another tour in the afternoon with a different company (he worries about finding the second company).

 

Through our travel agent, we found a wonderful tour company in Rome that we would really like to use. However, he only does the Vatican at 9am or 2pm and says he highly recommends doing it at 2pm as the mornings can get crowded.

 

So I thought I'd just ask for some of you that have spent more time in Rome. In (very) late October, which is supposed to be the low season, how crowded would the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel be in the morning? Will it be bad enough that I should consider working through a headache to try and enjoy later in the day? Or should I try to convince DH that he really needs to suck it up and let me book two companies for this day?

Edited December 1, 2013 by Cretia

[cruisemom42]

Unless you book a private tour that can get you into the Museum before the regular opening, or an after-hours tour, it will be crowded inside the museum, period. I've visited the Vatican in October, November, and even February. Still crowded. ;)

 

It's true that most of the large tour groups go through in the morning hours, so it can be somewhat more crowded then. Mondays are a zoo, avoid that day if at all possible (because most other museums in Rome are closed, everyone converges on the Vatican....)

 

I don't quite understand why you are having issues finding a private guide to do what you have in mind. Are you trying to cover too much in a day? They usually have a pretty good idea of what will work in terms of scheduling.

[Cretia]

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what the issue is, either, other than perhaps a language barrier issue. There are a lot of things I would like to see, but I always try to emphasis that I know that it is impossible to see all of them. I would just like to see as many on the list as fits in a decently paced schedule. It's more than possible that they are just misreading the part where I say I don't expect to see all of them...

 

But we go back and forth on their canned tour descriptions, which usually contain three or four items I would prefer to cut out and replace with one of the others. I should harass one of my italian speaking friends to just email for me, so we can clear it up if that is, indeed, the problem.

 

But anyway, to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, is that it's likely that there isn't going to be a significant difference in crowd size between a 9am tour and a 2pm tour?

 

And thanks so much for the quick response!

[CruiserBruce]

Have you talked with Rome in Limo? They are very accommodating...

 

I agree with cruisemom42, the Vatican is busy year round. But when we toured it, our guide suggested the afternoon as less busy. There was no line to get in, however, it was crowded. We saw the huge lines for the morning tours, so can't imagine how crowded it was.

Edited December 1, 2013 by CruiserBruce

[cruisemom42]

 

But anyway, to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, is that it's likely that there isn't going to be a significant difference in crowd size between a 9am tour and a 2pm tour?

 

And thanks so much for the quick response!

 

Here's my take, for what it's worth:

 

Afternoons: Crowded

 

Mornings: Slightly to significantly more crowded, depending on how many tour groups are booked (e.g., how many ships are in port that day, what day of the week it is, etc.)

 

If it is just slightly or somewhat more crowded, I'm not sure you could tell the difference.

 

The ticket lines are more crowded in the morning than in early afternoon. But some of those people from the morning haven't left, so the museum just seems to stay crowded throughout the day, except for possibly the last hour as folks are starting to clear out.

 

If you go in the morning, be sure to get the tour started as soon as possible. I think the museum may open at 8:30 for some private tours. If you do that, you'll have maybe an hour before it starts getting really crowded. And be sure you (or the private guide) gets the tickets in advance to avoid waiting in line -- whichever way you decide to go.

[kuldalai]

You can only do the Vatican Gardens (including afterwards Vatican Museum and Capella Sistina) in the morning as a limited numbers escorted tour IIRC 0930 . Must be pre booked . You book on Vatican website or tickitaly website. Just go the Museum entry with your voucher by passing the queue. Exchange your voucher for your tickets at the Cassa (Cashier) and meet your guide at the point nominated on the tickets .

 

St Peters Basilica you can do separately afterwards at no cost .

[texancruzer]

I disagree (only sometimes ) with Cynthia ;)

 

We have done the museums/Sistine Chapel both in the morning (late November and early May) and afternoon (early November and mid October - most recently October 18th). I thought the afternoon was quite a bit LESS crowded. There was absolutely no line in the afternoon on the 18th (but we had bought prepurchased tickets anyway) and once inside it was definately less crowded. Now dont get me wrong - there were still alot of people but not the crushing crowds we have experienced in the mornings.

 

As for working with tour companies...... not sure who you are working with but we have never had a "language problem". As for the cost: Europe is expensive and PRIVATE tours are no exception. For a guided tour for the whole day you can easily spend 360-450 euros for 2 people. We did a private guided tour of the Vatican museums/Sistine Chapel/St Peters in the morning then a quick pick up lunch and a taxi ride to the Coliseum/Forum in the afternoon and spent 360 euros + the taxi cost (15 euros for the 3 of us) This did not include any other sites. We did those on our own (Spanish steps, Trevi, Pantheon, Piazza Navonna and much more) since we were there for 2 other days pre cruise our first trip to Rome. Many sites are not accessible by car so walking is a much better way to get around.

 

I will tell you that on our last visit (1.5 months ago) we used a golf cart tour since my MIL cannot get around and it was fantastic. They can go anywhere even right up to the Trevi etc..... it wasnt cheap but it was the only way she was going to really get to see Rome up close and personal. You can stop and get out whenever you want to go inside sites(we went inside the Pantheon) or to shop or for pictures. Just another option to throw in the mix :D

[Cretia]

Nooooo! I was *this close* to deciding to take the risk that the morning crowds would be slightly to somewhat more crowded versus significantly more crowded in the morning. Now I'm back to waffling.

 

Seriously, thank you all for your input. It's greatly appreciated.

 

CruiserBruce: RomeinLimo was actually one of the first companies I checked because of their huge fanbase here on Cruise Critic. Unfortunately, they only list Vatican tours during the usual tour day, so they weren't quite what I was looking for.

 

I should probably clarify my communcations issue. It's only with the companies who offer the early access Vatican tours that I've had issues with. All of the ones who offer the tours during the regular tour day have been great, just not what I was hoping for. No idea what the issue actually is.

 

texancruiser: I definitely understand that Europe is expensive :)

 

On the one hand, I'm an economist by trade and throwing money at problems is kinda what we do. On the other hand, I'm an economist by trade and if I'm going to be paying 150 euros over the price of the next nearest competitor, I am actually deeply offended if I can't figure out why. For that kind of markup, I darn well should be able to figure out why one company is worth more!!! :p

 

I wonder how one gets on the list to be able to do the early access tours. It'd be nice if I could figure out a way to get the tour guide that my travel agent hooked me up with to just do the early morning tour. Ah well, I can dream....

 

Edit: I went to the Vatican website to see if I could answer my own question about how one becomes an early morning operator and stumbled across the 2014 calendar. The preferred tour operator does the after hours Vatican tour, but when I asked about that, he said the Vatican only did the late openings May through October. I let it go, figuring that my objection that I was travelling in October was just about semantics and I shouldn't argue sematics with the Catholic Church. However, the 2014 calendar posted on the Vatican site clearly lists Friday, October 31, 2014, as the last of their late opening Fridays.

 

So...as the Friday night tour would solve all the problems listed above, do I politely ask him to recheck his calendar?

Edited December 2, 2013 by Cretia

[cruisemom42]

Edit: I went to the Vatican website to see if I could answer my own question about how one becomes an early morning operator and stumbled across the 2014 calendar. The preferred tour operator does the after hours Vatican tour, but when I asked about that, he said the Vatican only did the late openings May through October. I let it go, figuring that my objection that I was travelling in October was just about semantics and I shouldn't argue sematics with the Catholic Church. However, the 2014 calendar posted on the Vatican site clearly lists Friday, October 31, 2014, as the last of their late opening Fridays.

 

So...as the Friday night tour would solve all the problems listed above, do I politely ask him to recheck his calendar?

 

I'm not sure I completely understand what you are saying, but certainly I would point out to them the information you're seeing online from the Vatican -- including the link -- if it doesn't match up with what they are telling you. (It sounds like they are saying the same thing, though, if they say that the after hours tours run THROUGH October....:confused:)

[texancruzer]

texancruiser: I definitely understand that Europe is expensive :)

 

On the one hand, I'm an economist by trade and throwing money at problems is kinda what we do. On the other hand, I'm an economist by trade and if I'm going to be paying 150 euros over the price of the next nearest competitor, I am actually deeply offended if I can't figure out why. For that kind of markup, I darn well should be able to figure out why one company is worth more!!! :p

 

My philosophy exactly ! I tend to research these things to death...... and when it comes to tours if I can find someone that can provide the same experience as a more expensive company for less, I go with them.....but only after I have checked them out thoroughly.

 

You will see many posts from me recommending a company for tours from Naples and Amalfi area that we have used numerous times now. They are about a 100 euros cheaper than RIL and for the life of me I cant understand why people pay more for the same experience.

ps: I am not an economist, but I do like saving money on tours so I can shop :D

[Cretia]

I went back to look up exactly what he said.

 

I talked to one other company about the evening tours, but they told me that the 2014 Vatican calendar hadn't even been set yet, so I backed away from that one.

 

I swear I haven't contacted any shady tour guides. This one, a personal recommendation by my travel agent who has used him - and my agent has never steered me wrong in any of her recommendations before - has the fewest number of reviews of all of the companies that I've contacted, and even he has 106 reviews, 99 excellent, the rest very good, on Trip Advisor.

 

Clearly my inability to get people to actually pay attention to what I'm saying is on me, but darned if I know what it is. Too rambling, you suppose? I try to be concise, but then I end up having to elaborate...

 

Anyway, his exact words to me were "Friday-night access to the Vatican Museums is not available in November" which is technically true. I guess since I saw the Vatican Museums had been closed down for November 1st this year that I personally made the leap to the Vatican not being open late because of the holy day the next day.

 

I guess I'll email him with the point about the calendar, although part of me wonders if I should bother (my travel agent, lucky woman! is incommunicado in Hawaii for the next couple of weeks). However, since the "not listening to half of what Cretia says" thing is pretty much universal, I'm not sure of the point of going elsewhere.

 

Thanks so much cruisemom42 and texancruzer and everyone else reading and posting! It's been a great help getting feedback and even typing all this out. I greatly appreciate you guys humoring me.

 

Edit: The cracks about people not listening to me go a bit wider than this trip and I hope no one thought I meant anyone here. As I've said, you've all been awesome. However, my husband, my coworkers, my bosses, and my parents all have the remarkable tendency to forget entire conversations I've had, multiple times, on multiple issues, with them. Why I expect a random stranger in Italy to be different is totally my craziness :p

Edited December 2, 2013 by Cretia

[cruisemom42]

I've found that, since English is not their primary language, private agencies/guides tend to have canned descriptions of particular sites/activities that they will use and re-use; this makes it easier for them -- allows them to avoid having to re-write things in English and potentially getting it wrong. Also remember that the person in the office may be answering dozens of queries every day.

 

Probably 90% of the time, I suspect people go with whatever highlights the agency/guide suggests. From reading many reviews here, I know that I am definitely a pickier traveler than many; I do a lot of research in advance and when I go with a private tour/guide, I want a lot of input into what the day will include -- so I do relate to your concerns.

 

Most of the time I've not found that any minor miscommunication cues have any bearing on the tour itself, especially if you have a lot of positive reviews. However, you should definitely be comfortable with whatever group/person you're using and be sure that you're on the same page with all the major details.

 

Perhaps you can submit a clear and simple proposed itinerary from you (e.g., timing, site(s) covered, service expected, number of people) and asking them to confirm it, or alternatively to tell you if it is not possible?

[NCruiser2012]

We booked a private Vatican museum tour with RomeinLimo. I asked which of the days would be the least crowded. They recommended Tuesday afternoon at 1:30. We bought our tickets ahead of time. We met our wonderful guide across the street from the entrance. He had a sign with my name on it.

 

We went in the middle of June and I did not think it was that crowded. There was no line to buy tickets. We were able to move fairly freely throughout the museum and basilica.

 

I hope you find what you are looking for. RomeinLimo may be a little expensive. We have usually gone with a group of six, so it becomes more cost effective. We have used their services six times. They are always there when we need them and these trips are always the highlight of our vacation.

[slidergirl]

I did the Friday evening at the Vatican this past May (the first Friday offered). It was soooo amazing!!! It was not crowded at all. There were times that I was the only person in the room. There were, at the most, 100 people in the Sistine Chapel when I was there - and it was easy to snag a seat along the edge.

I just looked at the official Vatican Museum site and yes, it DOES have the 2014 schedule on it and, yet, it DOES list 10/31/2014 as the last Friday night for the Museum.

I would suggest maybe going outside the usual box on this one. If you are staying the night in Rome: hire one of the usual tour companies for their usual "see the sites" for the daytime. Then, look at another private guide who will just do the Vatican with you. You can just take a taxi to/from the Museum.

[Cretia]

It looks like it's working out with the tour guide my travel agent recommended so I'm pretty happy. I've got to run the prices by DH, but I'm feeling a lot better about this than I did a few days ago.

 

Thanks everyone for chiming in!

 

Slidergirl, I have a question for you about the Vatican at night. I was told that St. Peter's Basilica wasn't open at night and that if I wanted to see it, I would have to go back for the basilica during the day. Was that your experience?

 

I think I've got a 7:30 am tour lined up now. It'll be a pain for breakfast but it's definitely a pain I can happily live with.

 

Still, the night tour did/does sound wonderful...

 

I really have to find a traveling companion that enjoys it more than DH. I'm already planning the trip back! :D

[nomorecloudydays]

Cheryl,

 

Not related to shore excursions, but just a note to offer my apologies to you for not getting back to you on Silhouette in October concerning visiting our S1 suite for the cabin crawl. I had not looked at the roll call for several days before we departed for Rome on 16 Oct, so was unaware that you had decided to include us on the 'crawl', and when I finally got your voice mail in the cabin, it was actually after the cabin crawl. I'm very sorry for not calling back, and I sincerely hope we can meet on some future Celebrity cruise.

 

Cheers,

Terry

[CruiserBruce]

Hmmmm...nomorecloudydays...doesn't have anything to do with the picture on next to my screen name, does it?

[texancruzer]

Cheryl,

 

Not related to shore excursions, but just a note to offer my apologies to you for not getting back to you on Silhouette in October concerning visiting our S1 suite for the cabin crawl. I had not looked at the roll call for several days before we departed for Rome on 16 Oct, so was unaware that you had decided to include us on the 'crawl', and when I finally got your voice mail in the cabin, it was actually after the cabin crawl. I'm very sorry for not calling back, and I sincerely hope we can meet on some future Celebrity cruise.

 

Cheers,

Terry

 

No biggie, we just had 4 cabins...... but they were good ones. Would have liked to have seen your corner S1 tho...... but that's o.k. Hope you enjoyed your cruise - we sure did !

[slidergirl]

It looks like it's working out with the tour guide my travel agent recommended so I'm pretty happy. I've got to run the prices by DH, but I'm feeling a lot better about this than I did a few days ago.

 

Thanks everyone for chiming in!

 

Slidergirl, I have a question for you about the Vatican at night. I was told that St. Peter's Basilica wasn't open at night and that if I wanted to see it, I would have to go back for the basilica during the day. Was that your experience?

 

I think I've got a 7:30 am tour lined up now. It'll be a pain for breakfast but it's definitely a pain I can happily live with.

 

Still, the night tour did/does sound wonderful...

 

I really have to find a traveling companion that enjoys it more than DH. I'm already planning the trip back! :D

 

The Basilica wasn't open when I finished going through the Museum, so I'd say "yes". The Basilica wasn't on my "to do" this trip (the Museum was the only thing on my list this time), so I wasn't concerned about whether or not it was open. You could always do the Basilica first; if there was enough time between finishing up the Basilica and the start of your Museum tour, you could always grab a snack (or walk to the Museum entrance, then walk down the hill to Pizzarium!!!!). I did spend a little time in St. Peter's Square after my visit. It was kind of surreal to be in a totally empty area (maybe 50 people total) and imagine that, a little time before, thousands of people were packed in there when they announced the appointment of Pope Francis! Not everyone's idea of something to do, but it was worth it to me to be there in the empty square. Then, just walked across the street to the taxi rank and picked up a taxi back up Montemario to my hotel.

 

I like having the luxury of usually only having one "must see" on my trip lists for each spot I travel to. A lot of my enjoyment of travel is in just wandering around, encountering what I encounter, not feeling stressed to hit a bunch of places in a short time. I may or may not be back, but I love to just experience the area as a whole, not a closed-box of places taken to, looked at for a few minutes, and checked off a list.

Edited December 4, 2013 by slidergirl

[nomorecloudydays]

Hmmmm...nomorecloudydays...doesn't have anything to do with the picture on next to my screen name, does it?

 

Not sure which concert your picture's from but I think I spotted at least Glenn and Don. Yes, we are die-hard Eagles fans, and No more Cloudy Days is one of Glenn's finest pieces of work. Doesn't match the story in the lyrics, but the title expresses our retirement philosophy exactly.

 

Happy cruising!

[samavarcruiser]

Vatican is always less crowded in the afternoon except of Wednesday when there is a Papal audience and St.Peter is closed in the morning.

My 2cent :)

[jackom]

Hi Cretia

 

My wife and myself experienced a private tour of Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel through Viator website 2 month ago. It took place during the afternoon but the time of day doesn't make any difference to this particular tour

 

We were a group of 10 plus guide and a security guard with a big bunch of keys

 

We bypassed the thousands of people lining up to enter and once inside the guard kept unlocking doors to rooms that the public never get to see.

 

I can't begin to explain the mind blowing treasures we saw in room after room.

 

At 5 p.m. we entered The Sistine Chapel and almost immediately sirens sounded and the hordes of public were ushered out leaving ou group of 10 plus guide the only people inside The Sistine Chapel.

 

If you are able to arrange this particular tour I am positive you won't be disappointed

 

It was without a doubt the highlight of our 20 day cruise to that part of the world

[FoxyBride14]

We booked a private Vatican tour with eyes of Rome. They recommended a 2:30pm start time, so that's what we did. We actually kind of had to do that anyway because we won't be landing until 7:30am (over night flight). We only have 2 days there, so we need to cram stuff in lol

[cpl100]

Hi Cretia

 

My wife and myself experienced a private tour of Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel through Viator website 2 month ago. It took place during the afternoon but the time of day doesn't make any difference to this particular tour

 

We were a group of 10 plus guide and a security guard with a big bunch of keys

 

We bypassed the thousands of people lining up to enter and once inside the guard kept unlocking doors to rooms that the public never get to see.

 

I can't begin to explain the mind blowing treasures we saw in room after room.

 

At 5 p.m. we entered The Sistine Chapel and almost immediately sirens sounded and the hordes of public were ushered out leaving ou group of 10 plus guide the only people inside The Sistine Chapel.

 

If you are able to arrange this particular tour I am positive you won't be disappointed

 

It was without a doubt the highlight of our 20 day cruise to that part of the world

 

I looked onto the Viator website but am having difficulty determining which tour is the one you took. Can you specify please? Also, was it a tour that you had to arrange to have ten people or did you and your wife sign up independent of the other eight? Thank you.