I am traveling with a 79 year old senior who can walk but is beginning to have difficulty walking distances. He does have some other health issues but they are managed. From my research of the Vatican Museums I understand that they have few if any places to stop and rest once you enter. I am beginning to think it will be best not to do the tour.

Is the Vatican Museums rather difficult for someone with walking difficulty? I am now considering visiting just St. Peters Basilica instead. I know they offer free tours but I haven’t been able to find out exactly when and where one obtains those and how many people are typically grouped together. Would it be of any benefit to hire a private guide for an hour or two just for St. Peters Basilica?

Why not get a wheel chair for the Vatican Museums. Why miss out when wheel chairs are free.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...o_Servizi.html

I have done a free tour of St. Peter's but can't remember which company gave it - perhaps Odessey. I happened to be there when the tour started. There was about a dozen people on the tour but I'm sure it varies. Check some of the tour companies to see if they give tours of the church. I thought the information I got on the tour was very interesting.

Here's some tour information from the Vatican site.

http://saintpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm#tours

You might want to spend some time looking at the Vatican web site since there is lots of information and advice shown there.

vatican.va

I would definitely go for the wheel chair. Neither the museums nor the basilica have any place to sit down (barring the cafe int he museums) so you need to plan on being on for feet for a couple of hours anyway.

The other option is to get one of those folding tripod stool that folds up and look like a large umbrella. They can be hung from the shoulder and aren;t too heavy. BUT - all of these places will be crowded - and using that will mean pulling over to the side for a rest while the group or tour continues - you can't just sit down in the middle of the museum or basilica.

Frankly I think a tour is a really bad idea for someone with limited mobility. Tours are set to move to a certain scheduled and cannot stop of slow down for one member - so those who can't keep up often are left on a bus or in a cafe while the rest of the group goes to see the sights. I wold use a cab instead to get right to the door of wherever you want to go, spend the time comfortable for you and then leave - and not be trying to keep up with a faster moving group.

The stpetersbasilica website (not an official website) hasn't been updated since 2006 so it's likely tour info on there is out of date. The information desk shown in the link is inside the Post Office on the left of St. Peter's. You don't have to go through security to reach it so you might want to check there first and see if the free tours still exist.

You can rent an audio guide and tour at your own pace. They are available for both St. Peter's and the museums. Here's the info for St. Peter's. This location is on the right side of the church after you go through security and enter.

http://www.vatican.va/various/basili...audioguide.htm

Audioguides for the museums are inside after security.

>>>>From my research of the Vatican Museums I understand that they have few if any places to stop and rest once you enter.<<<

There is a cafeteria in the museums so you could take a break there.

The tour I took didn't move around very much within the church. Not a lot of walking.

Private guides are very expensive and unless you have lots of money it would not be worthwhile just for the church. Email the vatican and look at a few tour web sites.

A good guide book will get you through both the museum and St. Peter's.