? Re: booking vatican tour thru the vatican

[kaerofan]

Has anybody booked a tour directly through the vatican? I am leaning towards doing this myself rather than through the ship but from what I read on the web site it says all reservation requests must be faxed within a month of your trip. Has anybody ever not gotten in? And how long does it take for them to get back to you if you do get a reservation? I'm just a little unsure abut the process? Thanks

[lambs2]

I have heard of a number of folks here on cruise critic being successful at booking a tour directly with the Vatican. Last year I faxed my first request to the Vatican for tickets for DH and I on a specific date about six weeks before our cruise. Never heard a thing. I tried two more faxes (I was charged for long distance fax calls so assume they got through), and still received absolutely no response. Then I found the email address. I tried that a few days before we were set to fly out to Venice before our cruise. I even gave them the fax number for the hotel we would be staying at in Venice. Still nothing in response at home or the hotel, and then I checked two more times on my email once we were on board our ship. Nothing. We went to the Vatican Museum on the day I had said, but our names were not on the list. :( We just toured it on our own, but the guided tour would have been nice.

This coming January we are heading back to Rome and this time we would very much like to take the Scavi tour. At least I received an acknowledgement of my email from the Vatican when I requested tickets this time. It remains to be seen if we will actually get invited to purchase tickets as time gets closer to when we will be in Rome. After our disappointing experience last year I am trying not to get my hopes up.

[Susan-M]

We were successful in making reservations via fax (that was before e-mail requests were allowed.) I sent it 30 days out and my confirmation arrived within a few days.

 

The e-mail address was provided in their website a few months ago and since then a number of people have reported back that they were successful. I would suggest sending a request via e-mail at least 30 days out (some people have done it further in advance with success). The e-mail address is at the bottom of the page which outlines the tour details.

 

lambs2 - I sent my Scavi request in early May for this October & received confirmation in mid-June.

[AK Wife]

I have been to the Vatican with a tour group. It was an amazing experience and I think one should have a guided tour to really hear the stories behind the art and the church. My observations were that there were far more tour groups than individual visitors. I remember waiting to get into the Chapel because only so many people can get in at a time. But it was beautiful and I was very moved, even though I am not Catholic. I did buy rosary beads at the gift shop (friend's DD's confirmation gift) and they had them blessed and sent to my hotel. Really cool - it had a card from the Pope inside the box when she opened it!

I would also feel safer going with a group - especially if you are American. The Vatican City (smallest country in the world - don't forget to mail a postcard home to yourself from the gift shop post office!) was fine, but Rome itself had some evidence of animosity against Americans. Safety in numbers I say! Also beware of pickpockets and scam artists, especially at the Trevi Fountain and at night. Of course that was 6 years ago, but I don't think times have changed that much.

[CoralReef]

I made a reservation 46 days in advance, using the e-mail on the Vatican website. I heard back from them within a day.

 

While the reservation process itself was simple, I did have a problem with its accuracy. I asked for an English tour, at the 12:00 time, and received a confirmation # for that time. But when we showed up, the guards at the entrance had us on the list for the 10:30 tour. They said OK, no problem, just go ahead and join the 12:00 tour. However, when we tried to check in, it turned out that the 12:00 tour was in Italian; the 10:30 and 2:30 tours were the ones in English that day.

 

It worked out OK for us because we did get to skip the line, and we just paid regular admission and used a guidebook we had with us. But we missed out on having a guided tour.

[DONNALAKA]

i guess it's hit or miss. i tried to pre arrange and i got a reply email that said they didn't offer tix to a 3rd party tour group ????????????????? i don't know where that came from ????????? i did need 5 tix for my party but ???????

 

anyway , we ended up booking a driver who DID arrange a guided tour . who's to know ????????? LOL !

[DancerOT]

i guess it's hit or miss. i tried to pre arrange and i got a reply email that said they didn't offer tix to a 3rd party tour group ????????????????? i don't know where that came from ????????? i did need 5 tix for my party but ???????

 

anyway , we ended up booking a driver who DID arrange a guided tour . who's to know ????????? LOL !

Who did you end up booking through?

[denisey]

Has anybody booked a tour directly through the vatican? I am leaning towards doing this myself rather than through the ship but from what I read on the web site it says all reservation requests must be faxed within a month of your trip. Has anybody ever not gotten in? And how long does it take for them to get back to you if you do get a reservation? I'm just a little unsure abut the process? Thanks

 

We asked for a guided tour through the Vatican email about 25 days before hand. We got a response back the next day for the time and date we wanted.

 

But....I can't say I was impressed with our tour guide. She spent 30 minutes (of our 2 hour tour) standing at a poster talking about the Sistine Chapel. She then spent 15 minutes telling us about a statue WE COULDN'T SEE! I was blocked off that day. She later spent 15 minutes talking about a fresco THAT WAS COVERED BY A TARP. That was half of our tour talking about things we couldn't see or would see later. It could have been luck of the draw, and there may be lots of other great tour guides, but that wasn't our experience.

 

If I am ever lucky enough to go back, I would either hire a private guide or take a good guidebook.

 

On the other hand, the guide we had for the Scavi tour was fabulous!

 

Have a great trip.

[shemp2000]

We asked for a guided tour through the Vatican email about 25 days before hand. We got a response back the next day for the time and date we wanted.

 

But....I can't say I was impressed with our tour guide. She spent 30 minutes (of our 2 hour tour) standing at a poster talking about the Sistine Chapel. She then spent 15 minutes telling us about a statue WE COULDN'T SEE! I was blocked off that day. She later spent 15 minutes talking about a fresco THAT WAS COVERED BY A TARP. That was half of our tour talking about things we couldn't see or would see later. It could have been luck of the draw, and there may be lots of other great tour guides, but that wasn't our experience.

 

If I am ever lucky enough to go back, I would either hire a private guide or take a good guidebook.

 

On the other hand, the guide we had for the Scavi tour was fabulous!

 

Have a great trip.

 

Does anyone else have feedback on the quality of the Vatican Run Tour?

 

Thanks

[Navion]

I just booked a tour for August 11 through the Vatican website. They replied within 24 hours. The best part is you don't have to wait in line. Good Luck!

[CJcruzer]

Are you guaranteed an English tour? I need to book the 10:30 a.m. since our Scavi tour is at 1:45 p.m. - and this is at the end of our stay in Rome...I am almost tempted to book the Vatican tour earlier on, in case there are snafus/mix-ups -

 

How prompt are they in starting? a 2 hour tour would take me 12:30 p.m. and then I need to grab a bite and get to the Scavi entrance (not sure how far time-wise this involves).

[denisey]

Are you guaranteed an English tour? I need to book the 10:30 a.m. since our Scavi tour is at 1:45 p.m. - and this is at the end of our stay in Rome...I am almost tempted to book the Vatican tour earlier on, in case there are snafus/mix-ups -

 

How prompt are they in starting? a 2 hour tour would take me 12:30 p.m. and then I need to grab a bite and get to the Scavi entrance (not sure how far time-wise this involves).

 

Your schedule can be done, but it doesn't leave a lot of time for "what ifs."

 

We had the 12:00 Vatican tour and then the 3:00 Scavi tour, so 3 hours. We felt pressed for time. Our tour started late, and got to the beginning of the Sistine chapel about 2:15. We rushed through the Sistine chapel and then headed over to the Scavi tour. We didn't have time to shop, eat or take a bathroom break.

 

A lot of the extra time was because of how crowded the museums were.

 

Once you get through the Sistine chapel, if you exit to the right, you go straight to St Peters. If you continue to walk to the left (if you were facing the basilica) and down the steps. You will see the Swiss guard to your right, and they will guide you. It's not too far from the end of the Vatican museum tour. No one at St Peters was able to tell us where the Scavi Office was located, so have a pretty clear idea before you go.

 

We went back after the Scavi tour to visit St Peters.

 

Have a great trip!

[nonrev1]

We did the Vatican Tour with a Vatican tour guide last year. It was excellent. I faxed the form 30 days in advance - with all the information they require. The return confirmation was faxed to me that same day. (I was surprised given how many people never heard back from them) In my confirmation, I was told that we were scheduled for a tour in English.

When we arrived, we were able to bypass the line - which was about a mile long! We had 20 people in our group and had a fantastic guide. She was wonderful, was able to answer all of our questions, had patience and had been a guide for several years.

Hope this helps......

[CJcruzer]

thanks for the advice - I have decided to go with a 10:30 Wed. morning tour (it will be even less crowded because of the Papal audience) and we won't feel rushed - if we arrive early in the morning we can walk around the square, etc...After we will probably go to Castel San Angelo and then walk/people watch the rest of the day.....I think I would be too nervous about rushing from one place to another and we are there for almost 5 days....So I have decided to do a "venue" each day and then do neighborhoods/shopping/walking the other part of the day.

 

So after our Scavi tour we can visit St. peter's and I won't need to do that the day of our Vatican tour? It will be later in the afternoon on the Scavi tour day - so probably the crowds will have thinned a bit.

 

What exactly do you have to supply to the Vatican in your request for reserved guided tour?

[bluejays29]

What exactly do you have to supply to the Vatican in your request for reserved guided tour?

 

 

I just emailed the Vatican and received an email back for a tour on October 28th. They had me fax a confirmation with the time check off what we wanted and Private or Group Tour. They emailed me back to say they received the fax and to remember to fax it one week before the tour for a second confirmation.

 

Hope that helps

[CJcruzer]

Well I'll be darned! I just got a reply that says

 

At the moment we are not able to confirm your reservation yet. Please, send us a new email one month before the date you want

 

 

I was requesting September 24th - 2 months away! yours is even further out!

 

I guess I will just have to try again....but it doesn't make sense.

[bluejays29]

Well I'll be darned! I just got a reply that says

 

At the moment we are not able to confirm your reservation yet. Please, send us a new email one month before the date you want

 

 

I was requesting September 24th - 2 months away! yours is even further out!

 

I guess I will just have to try again....but it doesn't make sense.

 

 

Not sure if it makes a difference or not but ours is a private group tour?

[nonrev1]

They let you reserve a group tour 60 days in advance...individuals, 30 days.

It looks like it has gotten a lot easier from when we went last year. They now have e-mail - only fax for us.

They asked us to include in the fax - all the names of those that would be on the tour, what dates we would like, times and language. You also had to include a fax number for them to fax it back to.

 

Now that they have an e-mail - it makes it alot easier.

 

Good luck - it was well worth it!

[cruzcation]

Must the Vatican tours be paid for in advance or, can a reservation be made by e-mail and paid at the time of the tour?

[CJcruzer]

we are two people looking to be part of a group tour - do you mean you are booking your own group of people (say 6 or 8?)

 

The price is the same I see.

 

Seems confusing to me

[denisey]

So after our Scavi tour we can visit St. peter's and I won't need to do that the day of our Vatican tour? It will be later in the afternoon on the Scavi tour day - so probably the crowds will have thinned a bit.

 

You can do St Peter's after your Scavi tour. Your tour ends back at the office and you just walk back past the Swiss guard and up the stairs.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[nonrev1]

You do not pay online or in advance - you pay when you arrive.

 

As for group - you have to have a group already pulled together to be considered a group. Otherwise you are an individual booking and they place you with a group for a tour.

[bluejays29]

we are two people looking to be part of a group tour - do you mean you are booking your own group of people (say 6 or 8?)

 

The price is the same I see.

 

Seems confusing to me

 

 

There are actually 12 of us in our group so we did the group tour the cost was 150 euro for the guide then 18 euro per person for the admission. They did not want any form of payment from us. The email I received back was that we pay on that morning!

[sashakelly]

Is there an entrance fee when you book throught the vatican.

[Dog Bear]

I have sent an email to Vatican for a tour and they replied in a few hours. Very fast. However I have assigned to the 2:00P.M. tour. I would prefer the morning sessions which give me more buffer time to go back to the port.

 

Hence I booked the Angeltours for morning session 9:30A.M..

 

However they could not guarantee visit of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. That means I have to queue up again?

 

Did anybody try Angeltours?

 

Anybody knows if there is a tour guarantee visit of St. Peter's Basilica.

 

Thanks.