MrsJenn

Please give me your opinion on the after hours Vatican tour with 'Italy with us'. This is our first trip to Italy (husband and me). If we had one splurge, should this be it? It sounds fantastic, but I would love other's opinions.
We will be traveling to Rome, Florence, and Venice on our "getting to know Italy" vacation, early December 2008. I have emailed and there is space available for the tour.
Thanks for any info!
Jennifer

LovinTrvl

We took the same tour in August of last year. I was very pleased with how it went. The guide was fantastic, and after 2 weeks in Europe fighting crowds at popular tourist sites, it was really nice to have the entire museum to ourselves. We had the Sistine Chapel to ourselves for about 30 minutes.

The only downside was that you only get to see a portion of the museums. While they do include the highlights, if you happen to pass another exhibit that you find interesting, you either have to come back with the masses to see it or be content with a passing glance.

There are many things to splurge on in Italy--meals, clothes, shoes, purses, hotels, etc. I can't say if this should be your splurge or not. I can say it will be money well spent.

happytrailstoyou

I don't know abut the After Hours Tour, but I can definitely recommend the tour of the excavations under St. Peter's--the Scavi Tour, which must be booked in advance.

Vttraveler

there was a thread about this earlier this year
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35099168

It would not be my choice for a big splurge but other people obviously think it is well worth the money

amyb

As I've said on other threads and in my trip report itself, it was the highlight of my week in Rome. The only quibble I had was that I have to go back to see the Pinacoteca (painting gallery) but I think if we'd started in there, we'd have needed another few hours on top of what you already need.

Ditto on our guide and I also lucked out with a fabulous bunch of fellow tour-goers, and we all spent the night out eating and drinking afterwards. Very fun!

But seeing the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel literally by yourself is a once in a lifetime experience...except that I'd probably do it again when I go back! ;-)

MrsJenn

Thanks to everyone for the great replies! I think we will take the tour, it sounds like such a great opportunity.

Vttraveler

I just wanted to emphasize that I agree with amyb that the Pinacoteca is well worth visiting, too. It is much less crowded than the Sistine Chapel and Raphael rooms and full of fabulous paintings. Of course, the Vatican museums have an incredible collection of other art work, too.

I think you can get into the museums relatively easily if you wait until early afternoon.

Ross King's Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling is a great book to read in preparation for the Sistine Chapel and Raphael rooms

kelliebellie

I second reading "The Pope's Ceiling" before going. It is an interesting history of how it came to be.

We didn't take an after hours tour, but the regular day visiting is very crowded. It would have been nice to have a little more elbow room.

And if you are Catholic, then I think the tour would be a must. It is an amazing place even to a heathen like me!

annw

We went on this tour about a week ago. We were one of three groups of about 10 people each, so you won't necessarily be the only people there, nor will your group necessarily be the only group there at a time. They try to space things out, but we ended up in the Sistine Chapel with at least one other group of ten or so there, also listening to their guide.

Our guide was experienced giving tours during the day, but we were his very first tour group for the after hours tour, so there was some tentativeness about timing, where we were going, etc. He was also a convert to Catholicism from the US and so might have focused more on the church specifics than on some of the art. That said, he did seem also knowledgeable about the art. He mentioned that they had had 110,000 visitors to the museum that day.

Given that context, I was very glad we hadn't tried to go earlier in the day when it is mobbed, hideously hot, and the guards in the Sistine Chapel are shushing people, clapping there hands, and telling everyone to move on. Also, we were able to take pictures--or they did not prevent us from taking pictures, technically not allowed due to copyright held by the people who restored the chapel. I used my IPhone (no flash) but the issue was copyright, not the flash.

Helen was a good communicator and she efficiently managed the groups; I think it would be easier on tour members to meet at the museum instead of walking over to her office and then back to the museum, personally.

On balance, as I had wanted to set up a special visit for my 4 sisters (and treated them to it), it worked for us. If you can afford it, I think it's a good thing to do once.

CRV

The way our timing worked out we did an organized group tour through the day then the after hours tour the same evening. The day tour was crowded and noisy. During the evening tour we saw things that we had walked by only hours earlier. Our after hours guide was excellent. Although there were a couple of other small groups in the evening they didn't spoil the experience. Negatives - the time goes much too quickly. I think we only had a couple of hours, whereas you could take more time during the day. And, we found the lighting much better during the day because of the minimal artificial light at night. Am I glad we did it - Yes!