Info: +39 393 907 0080

9:30am / 6:30pm (Local Time: 12:47:31 PM)

Private Vatican Tours

If you are coming on a cruise for the day, do not book this tour. Please find the tours that are right for you here: Tours For Cruisers

Vatican Private Walking Tour – Essential Info

Our tours are private and therefore the can be customized.
• The Vatican tour takes 3 hours and includes the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica.
• You enter from the Vatican Museums and exit from St. Peter’s.
• The Sistine Chapel cannot be visited separately from the Vatican Museums.
• You walk about 2 miles indoors and you cannot cut your visit short, once you enter you have to go through the whole thing and there are very few places where one can sit and rest.
• You cannot rush through the Vatican Museums and get to the Sistine Chapel quickly, the place is huge and always very crowded.
•The best time of the day to visit the Vatican is the afternoon because it’s generally less crowded, especially on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Trying to keep the level of noise down inside the Museums and the Basilica, the Vatican has made it obligatory for guides who have groups with more than 5 participants to use microphone and ear pieces to speak to their tourists. This does not mean you’ll tour with an audio guide, it’ll be your private guide speaking to you through a mike, so you can look around and take your pictures while the guide provides the commentary.

Vatican Private Walkig Tours

  • Via Santamaura, 9, 00192 Rome Phone +390694329438 
  • We will inform you about the scheduled entry slot.
  • Please arrive at the office approximately 30 minutes before scheduled entry time.
  • We recommend that you take this tour in the afternoon, around 2 or 2.30 pm, as this is when the place is normally least crowded, but the tour is also available in the morning.

Your specialized private guide will have your skip-the-line voucher and take care of the entry formalities.

Follow your guide through the Galleries and finally arrive at the Sistine Chapel.
It’s a long walk and you see a lot of art on display.
Paintings, tapestries, frescoes, and statues dating back to different eras and made by different artists.

The subjects of these artworks are not always related to the Catholic Church, in fact you will also see ancient Roman statues, Egyptian, Etruscan, and Greek artifacts, your guide will tell you about them and will always be ready to answer your questions. It’s a walk you’ll love!

  • No one can speak in the Sistine Chapel, and so the guide will use illustrated panels to tell the story before entering the room.
  • We will however give you a booklet with pictures of the frescoes and captions that you can use to remind you of what your guide has explained to you once you are alone contemplating the chapel.
  • Also, it is not allowed to take photos or videos in the Sistine Chapel. Those caught taking pictures or talking are expelled and their guide is held accountable and fined.
  • From the Sistine Chapel you will go down a long staircase that will take you to St. Peter’s Square and you will enter St. Peter’s Basilica without having to queue to pass the security checks.

Sistine Chapel
Rules: No speaking, no picture, no videos.
Dress code: shoulders must be covered, skirts and shorts must cover the knees.
he guide will use illustrated panels to tell the story before entering the room.


St. Peter’s Basilica
Rules: You can speak softly, take pictures and videos.

If you have more than 5 people in your group, your guide must provide you with earphones and speak to you through a microphone.
Dress code: shoulders must be covered, skirts and shorts must cover the knees.

You can also visit the Basilica separately from the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel if you have the time. Please visit the website for the details of these two tours: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican “Grottoes” and Dome. Vatican Gardens, Vatican Museums and Sistine ChapelVatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
Booking Calendar

Dress code and rules for the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters.

St. Peter’s Basilica, Papal Tombs and Dome.

7:15 am – Meet your guide at Largo del Colonnato, 5.
There is no other way to skip this line, which is only caused by security checks, but enter the seat as early as 8:00 am.
You reach the place on your own and you are on your own again at the end of the tour. However, you have the option of adding a one-way or round-trip transfer service for an additional fee.
This would be convenient if you stay away from the Vatican and have more than 3 people in your group, as most taxis take a maximum of 3 passengers.

Firstly, we climb up to the Dome. There might be a bit of a line to get into the elevator in the high season, please be patient.
The lift takes you to the terrace, from where you can enjoy a beautiful view of Rome, saving the climb of the spiral staircase of 231 steps, known as “The snail of Saint Andrew”.
Besides enjoying the view of Rome, which is surely more impressive from the top of the Dome anyway, you can get some refreshments at the local coffee shop. If the climb to the top isn’t for you, maybe you can at least climb the two ramps that will allow you to look inside the Basilica from above.

Not everyone knows that the architecture of St. Peter’s dome was designed by Michelangelo and is considered his greatest architect’s masterpiece. However, he’s not responsible for the mosaics that
decorate the dome, they were made by the Vatican Mosaic Studio, established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1572 and still in operation, based on designs by the famous painter Cavalier d’Arpino. Once back down from the Dome, your guide will take you on a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica focused on its highlights.
St. Peter’s is the largest church in the world, took 120 years to build, it’s almost 400 years old and full of priceless works of art which, of course, your guide will be telling you about.

Once back down from the Dome, we tour the Basilica. The highlights are the Pietà, sculpted by Michelangelo at the age of 24 and numerous works by Bernini, such as the Canopy over the Papal Altar, the funeral
monuments to the Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII, the “Throne of St. Peter”, and more…
Leaving St. Peter’s, you’ll descend to the “Grottoes”, where 91 Popes are buried, starting from the first one, St. Peter.
Once out of the Basilica and the “Grottoes”, you’ll stop in St. Peter’s Square, designed by Bernini, and your guide will conclude this amazing 3-hour tour explaining the church’s façade, the obelisk, and the
square itself which was designed by Bernini.

You can also visit the Basilica separately from the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel if you have the time. Please visit the website for the details of these two tours: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican “Grottoes” and Dome. Vatican Gardens, Vatican Museums and Sistine ChapelVatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.

Please Note: Meet your guide at Largo del Colonnato, 5. at 7:45 AM

Booking Calendar

Vatican Private Walking Tour by night

Visit of the Vatican Museums after sunset, 2 hours. Visits available every Friday between 14th April – 28th October.
Opening times from 7:00pm – 11:00pm (latest entrance at 9:30 pm and latest exit from the Galleries is at 10.30 pm). Does not include St Peter’s Basilica as it closes at 6.30pm. This is a great opportunity, especially if you shouldn’t have the time for visiting the place during the day.
The tour itinerary includes the Pius-Clementine Museum, the Candelabra, Tapestries and Maps Galleries, the octagonal courtyard, plus the famous Sistine Chapel, and more..
We can also combine an afternoon golf cart tour of Rome beforehand if you want, of either 3 or 4 hours. In this case you would be picked up from your hotel (or place of choice within the golf cart range).
At the end of the golf cart tour we will take you to meet your guide at our offices near the entrance to the Museum.
One way or round trip private transfer is available at an additional cost – return to hotel or place of your choice.

Booking Calendar

Vatican Gardens, Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

Our office is very close to the entrance to the Vatican Museums.
This is where you will meet your private guide, who will have your very special tickets and will accompany you to the Vatican Museums. The guide will take care of the formalities and will introduce you to the Vatican representative who will accompany you to the bus.

The guide will not accompany you on the tour of the Vatican Gardens, as the bus capacity is very limited, but you will have audio guides.

The Vatican representative will help you board the bus, show you how to use the audio guides and explain that you cannot get up from your seat while the bus is in motion, but you can stand up when it stops.
However, you are not allowed to get off the bus until the tour ends.
At the end of the tour of the Vatican Gardens, you will be directed to the Courtyard of the (picture gallery) which is where you’ll meet again with your private guide and start the tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.

The guide will take you through the Gallery of Candelabra, Gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Geographic Maps and finally you’ll arrive to the Sistine Chapel.
Please keep in mind that they want complete silence in the Sistine Chapel and therefore the guide will not be able to describe it to you once you’ll be in it, but will have to tell you about it, with the help of pictures, before you actually get there. Also, you can take all the pictures you want in the Gardens and the Museums, but not in the Sistine Chapel. Those who insist on speaking or taking pictures get thrown out.

Returning to the entrance you will find yourself in the same buildings, but at a lower level, so you will see more interesting things that your guide will obviously not fail to explain. You will pass through the Christian Museum, the Profane Museum, the Clementine Gallery, the Ethnological Museum, the Carriage Pavilion and more…
You will finally go back to where you started, and we are sure that at this point you will want to have a nice lunch your guide will be happy to recommend a nice place nearby. 
Unfortunately, as much as we would like, we cannot include St. Peter’s Basilica on this tour, but for this we have a special tour that includes St. Peter’s Basilica, the Papal Tombs, and the Dome.

You can also visit the Basilica separately from the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel if you have the time. Please visit the website for the details of these two tours: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican “Grottoes” and Dome. Vatican Gardens, Vatican Museums and Sistine ChapelVatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
Booking Calendar

Follow us on our social media!

Vatican Museums opening schedule, year 2024

Opening days and times 2024
From Monday to Saturday 
08:00 a.m. – 07.00 p.m. (final entry 05.00 p.m.)

Every last Sunday of the month
(Provided this does not coincide with Easter Sunday, 29 June Sts.Peter and Paul, 25 December Christmas Day, and 26 December Feast of St. Stephen)
09:00 a.m. – 02.00 p.m. (final entry 12.30 p.m.)

Free entry

Visitors are required to leave the halls 30 minutes before museum closing time

Closures 2024

Sunday (except the last Sunday of Each month),
1 and 6 January, 19 March, 1 April, 1 May, 29 June, 14 & 15 August, 1 November, 25 and 26 December

Access to the Vatican is permitted only to visitors wearing proper attire, skirts and shorts must cover the knee and shoulders must be covered .
Tickets for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel are valid only for the date they were purchased for and are non-refundable.

Vatican dress code

Sistine Chapel Rules: No speaking, no picture, no videos. Dress code: shoulders must be covered, skirts and shorts must cover the knees. he guide will use illustrated panels to tell the story before entering the room. St. Peter’s Basilica Rules: You can speak softly, take pictures and videos. If you have more than 5 people in your group, your guide must provide you with earphones and speak to you through a microphone. Dress code: shoulders must be covered, skirts and shorts must cover the knees.

Check out our combo tour!

Combo Tour

Golf Cart Tour combined with Vatican Tour

Combine the tour to the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. peter Basilica with a city tour of Rome, explore the major highlights aboard a golf cart!

Book now!
Combo Tour

Tour of Market and private "pizza class & wine testing"

Visit a typical Italian market in the morning and take a cooking class with a private chef who will teach you how to cook a real Italian pizza that you will eat!

Book now!
Best Sellers

Special Tour:
Rome All in One

With us it is possible! With this tour you will see the most highlights of the city of Rome, you will tour the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica!

Book now!

Happy to make our customers happy

Prices Chart

Vatican Private Tour daytime

3 Hours
Vatican Private Tour daytime
Private guide & skip-the-line tickets included
From 6 people onward
€ 155.00
5 persons, per person
€ 165.00
4 persons, per person
€ 185.00
3 persons, per person
€ 195.00
2 persons, per person
€ 260.00
1 person
€ 470.00
Wheelchair rental, each
€ 30.00
Assistant for wheelchair pushing
€ 60.00
Children 0/5 years, no charge
Youngsters, 6/17 years, 30.00 € off the price
Certified disabled, 40.00 € off the price
Transfers within the city of Rome
(e.g. Hotel/Train station)
8 persons, per person
€ 18.00
7 persons, per person
€ 20.00
6 persons, per person
€ 19.00
5 persons, per person
€ 23.00
4 persons, per person
€ 80.00
3 persons, per person
€ 37.00
2 persons, per person
€ 42.00
1 person
€ 84.00

Vatican Private Tour by night

2 Hours
Vatican Private Tour by night
Private guide & skip-the-line tickets included
From 6 people onward
€ 155.00
5 persons, per person
€ 165.00
4 persons, per person
€ 185.00
3 persons, per person
€ 195.00
2 persons, per person
€ 260.00
1 person
€ 470.00
Wheelchair rental, each
€ 30.00
Assistant for wheelchair pushing
€ 60.00
Children 0/5 years, no charge
Youngsters, 6/17 years, 18.00 € off the price
Certified disabled, 40.00 € off the price
Transfers within the city of Rome
(e.g. Hotel/Train station)
8 persons, per person
€ 18.00
7 persons, per person
€ 20.00
6 persons, per person
€ 19.00
5 persons, per person
€ 23.00
4 persons, per person
€ 80.00
3 persons, per person
€ 37.00
2 persons, per person
€ 42.00
1 person
€ 84.00

St. Peter's Basilica, Papal Tombs and Dome

3 Hours
St. Peter's Basilica, Papal Tombs and Dome
Private guide & skip-the-line tickets included
From 6 people onward
€ 90.00
5 persons, per person
€ 100.00
4 persons, per person
€ 115.00
3 persons, per person
€ 130.00
2 persons, per person
€ 195.00
1 person
€ 390.00
Wheelchair rental, each
€ 30.00
Assistant for wheelchair pushing
€ 60.00
Youngsters, 0/17 years, 5.00 € off the price
Certified disabled, 40.00 € off the price
Transfers within the city of Rome
(e.g. Hotel/Train station)
8 persons, per person
€ 18.00
7 persons, per person
€ 20.00
6 persons, per person
€ 19.00
5 persons, per person
€ 23.00
4 persons, per person
€ 80.00
3 persons, per person
€ 37.00
2 persons, per person
€ 42.00
1 person
€ 84.00

Vatican Gardens & Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica

3 Hours
Vatican Gardens & Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica
Private guide & skip-the-line tickets included
From 6 people onward
€ 185.00
5 persons, per person
€ 205.00
4 persons, per person
€ 230.00
3 persons, per person
€ 250.00
2 persons, per person
€ 240.00
1 person
€ 555.00
Youngsters, 6/17 years, 20.00 € off the price
The bus is not accessible to wheelchair/walking aids users and children under 6 y. o.
Transfers within the city of Rome
(e.g. Hotel/Train station)
8 persons, per person
€ 18.00
7 persons, per person
€ 20.00
6 persons, per person
€ 19.00
5 persons, per person
€ 23.00
4 persons, per person
€ 80.00
3 persons, per person
€ 37.00
2 persons, per person
€ 42.00
1 person
€ 84.00

Contact Us

mail@mybesttour.com

NOTE: We reply to your e-mails almost instantly so, if you don’t get our reply to your e-mail within 48 hours, please check your “spam” folder and/or resend your e-mail to another one of our e-mail addresses and/or call us.
For short notice/last minute reservations, please do not just send an e-mail, call our emergency number: +39 337 783 255.

Reviews

Brian Vance
Brian Vance
Read More
Private tour highly recommended! We had 7 people including 2 kids who needed someone who could engage them, and 2 seniors who needed lots of rests and help with stairs. Eugneia did all of that and more. I really think that a private tour was the best way to see the Museums- she guided us through at the right pace and had interesting things to talk about the whole way. Even the kids stayed interested. It goes without saying that the Sistene Chapel was a wonder, but "Museums" doesn't really explain what this tour is all about...I've never been in a "museum" as amazing as this one, with another surprising marvel around every corner. We had an awesome time and would recommend this private tour to anyone.
Jonva Beach
Jonva Beach
Read More
Wow! Laura was amazing. We booked a Vatican tour with this very knowledgeable and wonderfully friendly tour guide. I can’t imagine how much we would have missed had we tried to do this on our own. Her knowledge was incredible about the history of not only the Vatican but the popes and history surrounding the Catholic Church. She gave us an experience that we will never forget!!!!!!!!
Joe Pigg
Joe Pigg
Read More
We had a single day to try to see Rome and the Vatican and wondered how we'd be able to see it all. We were there with a teenager, another young boy, and my 76 year old mother in law. we met with our private guide set up by "My Best Tour" specifically to take us on a tour of the Vatican. Isabella . She was such a wealth of information and because everyone around the Vatican seemed to already know her, we were able to get into a few places very few tourists regularly go. We learned so much about the things in the Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica from her. We are so grateful!
Previous
Next

+39 06 9432 9438

mail@mybesttour.com

Copyright © 2024 | My Best Tour | All rights reserved P.I. 15164011007 | Tour One – Travel Agency License # ADV 18878
– Website Created by TIZIANA ZAGAMI | Web Manager at My Best Tour –