Help chosing a Vatican tour
 

Hello,
We will be in Rome in October this year and I am trying to sift through the different tours for the Vatican. Please help me decide which one I should pick. We would like to visit the Vatican, first thing in the morning. Also the price range seems to be rather vast- not sure which one to go with.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I went to the Vatican website. Is that the tour choice you mean? It appeared to me to be self explanatory and you would have to decide which you are interested in. St. Peter's of course if free, so how much of the Vatican Museums, Gardens, Sistine Chapel, Scavi do you want to do in one day--up to you.

Which tours are you considering?

WALKS OF Italy. They have a great tour that gets you in before everyone else

I went with Italy With Us this past March. The guide (Cesare) was excellent. I would definitely recommend the company. 49 E included entrance fee; about a 2 hour tour.

Caveat - I have not been there. So.. I have no first hand experience whatsoever :-). Been simply researching for a trip next month.

Having said that, if the primary objective for a tour is early entry rather than getting a guide to talk thru the art, the following seems to be a good solution
https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va...ita=175&step=2 (This is what we chose).

Keep in mind that they'll apparently require you to have your breakfast and you may not necessarily get to Sistine Chapel (if that is where you want to head to first) before the other early entry tours. Also, if you do this and try to check out the rest of the museum afterwards, you'll now be swimming against the tide of humanity heading towards Sistine Chapel by this time (although Oct will likely be way better than next month).

The advantage with the tours is - if you are not interested in the rest of the museum (i.e. other than Sistine Chapel), the tours can get you thru a side entrance into St Peter's to avoid the other line which will have started forming in front of St. Peter's by this time.

On certain months, there is Friday night time visit available to Vatican Museum. That apparently get much less crowd. But some of the galleries inside Vatican are closed on Friday nights.


By all account, Walks Of Italy seem to be one of the best.

It is all a bit of a mess. There is no perfect solution. If I were a rational individual, I would have skipped this in August.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone . Walks of the Italy looks like a good tour - we are interested in being able to see the Sistine Chapel in the early hours, before it opens to the public . Does anyone have first hand experience of this tour ?

The Vatican is nuts. I went once with a group tour and then the second time a few years later on my own. I would recommend neither. Walks of Italy makes it sound like they’re the only company that offers early morning tours when in reality a lot of tour companies are starting to offer this. I would go with a smaller company like Eden Walks, that offers the same early entry access (at 8:30am) at a much lower price point. I would also recommend the semi-private option but I just prefer touring with smaller groups.

I think this is the option that Kaush has chosen, described in English:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/...-vaticani.html

The Early Entry to the Museums and Breakfast is probably the most cost-effective early entry choice. It will get you in at the same time as the other early entry tours, at a lower cost. It's not a guided tour, but it includes the Vatican's audio guide.

I would suggest avoiding Saturdays and Mondays, which are the two busiest days, followed by Wednesdays. In October, especially late October, a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon shouldn't be very crowded, by Vatican standards.

I've been to the Vatican Museums four times, and never found it uncrowded. The next time I go, it will be on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon in late January.

I am going to Rome at the end of July and at the recommendation of a coworoker, I booked the early access Vatican/St. Peters and Sistine Chapel tour-apx 4 hours. "Early Access Vatican Museums Small-Group Tour with St Peter’s and Sistine Chapel" if you search this on tripadvisor you will find it. it is a bit more expensive than other tours, but being able to beat the lines is worth it.

NE
We took this tour three years ago. we were a group of 7 people. Yes, we were in before the public and were able to get great photos of the museum. The Sistine chapel was empty. We had about 20 minutes to visit and use the bathroom which was also empty. Book, you will not be disappointed.

We did the early entry walk of Italy tour. It was very through and the guide was knowledgeable. We went off season so crowds weren't terrible but I highly recommend them

Thanks again everyone - I have booked the early morning tour with Walks of Italy . Looking forward to it !