Are Vatican Tours a must? (In your opinion)

Yes imo but I can't recommend the one I took that was offered by the Vatican Museums itself. (There's a tour sign- up window inside where you buy your ticket.) The tour was rushed, but even more important, our (I assume) knowledgeable guide unfortunately spoke incomprehensible English.<BR>Some people have spoken well of the audio tape guide, I didn't try it.<BR><BR>What I should have done, and what I will do next time is take Scala Reale's 4 hour Vatican Tour. I took a couple other of their tours and they were fabulous.

joanne:<BR><BR> You can enjoy the Vatican without a tour, but a good tour will greatly enhance the experience. I would strongly recommend Scala Reale. Ask for Liz Lev. I took a tour with her and a small group in November and she was fabulous. We concentrated on the Sistine Chapel (we got there when it opened), the Raphael rooms and St. Peters. She is a trained art-historian and her insights on the art made me see it with new eyes (this was my fourth time at the Vatican).

We took the Scala Reale Vatican/Sistine Chapel tour and loved every minute of it. Since their guides are art histor/architecture graduate students who live in Rome, they are very knowledgeable and bring a different dimension to the tour.<BR><BR>They gave us insightful mini history lessons with each major piece of art and our guide had a terrific sense of humor as well. I recommend them very highly.<BR>

We took the Scala Reale Vatican Tour and I'd highly recommend it as well.

I think a Vatican Tour is helpful to get a better sense of history. I used Three Amigos Tour. Our tour guide was very informative, spoke perfect English, as well as Italian. We spent about 4 hours on the tour.

Kelly-<BR><BR>Is there a web site for THE THREE AMIGOS?<BR><BR>Thanks---Cheryl