Recently Viewed
Skip-the-Line Vatican Tour
4.6
10.4k Ratings
Roma
Experience the best of the Vatican with a skip-the-line group tour. See the highlights of the museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica while making new friends. Don’t miss out on this budget-friendly and time-saving opportunity!
Experience the best of the Vatican with a skip-the-line group tour. See the highlights of the museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica while making new friends. Don’t miss out on this budget-friendly and time-saving opportunity!
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Borgo - Meet your tour guide at our office, located in the oldest neighbourhoods of the Vatican, Borgo Pio. Following a self introduction by your guide, you will walk through the charming shops of the Borgo, as he/she shares some local tips for eating and site seeing in Rome, including off the beaten track sites that you must visit during your…
- Borgo - Meet your tour guide at our office, located in the oldest neighbourhoods of the Vatican, Borgo Pio. Following a self introduction by your guide, you will walk through the charming shops of the Borgo, as he/she shares some local tips for eating and site seeing in Rome, including off the beaten track sites that you must visit during your holiday!
Some background will also be provided on the history of the Sistine Chapel (we do it here as the chapel forbids noise and travellers are expected to observe silence once entering).
What's Included
- Experienced tour guide with over 10 years of expertise
- Includes admission to Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica
- Guaranteed skip-the-line access to Vatican Museums
- Experienced tour guide with over 10 years of expertise
- Includes admission to Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica
- Guaranteed skip-the-line access to Vatican Museums
What's Not Included
- If you book the “Museums & SISTINE CHAPEL Tour” option it does NOT include St. Peter’s Basilica.
- If you book “ONLY ST.PETER’S BASILICA TOUR” option it does NOT include the Museums & Sistine Chapel.
- Sistine Chapel closed Apr 2025–Conclave end. Tours continue with extended Vatican visit. No refunds.
- If you book the “Museums & SISTINE CHAPEL Tour” option it does NOT include St. Peter’s Basilica.
- If you book “ONLY ST.PETER’S BASILICA TOUR” option it does NOT include the Museums & Sistine Chapel.
- Sistine Chapel closed Apr 2025–Conclave end. Tours continue with extended Vatican visit. No refunds.
Additional Information
A holiday in Rome without visiting the Vatican is like a day at the beach without swimming in the sea. See the best of the Vatican museums and gain direct entrance with skip-the-line access to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, while our excellent guides entertain you with stories that go with each masterpiece.
This budget-friendly tour is the…
A holiday in Rome without visiting the Vatican is like a day at the beach without swimming in the sea. See the best of the Vatican museums and gain direct entrance with skip-the-line access to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, while our excellent guides entertain you with stories that go with each masterpiece.
This budget-friendly tour is the best value for money for travelers that are interested in 1) seeing the museum’s highlights 2) meeting a new friend or two through your group and 3) skipping the lines (trust us, with over 6 million tourist spilling into the museum every year, you’ll want it!)
Disclaimer: you will be entering the Vatican museum during one of the busiest times of the day. While the tour provides skip-the-line access, the crowds in the museum vary from day to day and some delay with security can be expected (it would be misleading for other tour operators to not tell you this!)
- VERY IMPORTANT UPDATES ON THE SISTINE CHAPEL CLOSURE (CONCLAVE April/May 2025) = Following the passing of Pope Francis and during the historic Papal Conclave to elect the new Pope >>> The Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from April 28, 2025, until the end of the Conclave (election of the new Pope). <<< This is an exceptional and rare moment in history, when the Vatican, as a sovereign state, prioritizes religious and state proceedings. Our tours will continue as scheduled with an extended guided visit of the Vatican. According to Vatican regulations, no refunds or partial refunds are issued when certain areas are closed, provided at least one main section remains open. Thank you for your understanding and for being part of this extraordinary historical occasion. Special Inclusion: Skip-the-line ticket to Basilica of St. Mary Major (Jubilee Basilica and burial place of Pope Francis) as compensation for the Sistine Chapel closure.
- Unforeseen events= The Vatican is its own country and therefore the Pope can decide also last minute to close St. Peter’s Basilica for ad hoc events. It is a very rare event during the year but it is possibile and we will do our best to inform you. If it is too late to inform you, our guide will extend the tour in the Vatican. Not to worry that the incredibile collection of Vatican Museums and the masterpiece of Michelagelo in the Sistine Chapel will still be included.
- Most of our tours include the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. However, there are two specific options with different inclusions. You will find below:
- Museums & SISTINE CHAPEL Tour – Includes the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel but does NOT include St. Peter’s Basilica.
- ST.PETER’S BASILICA TOUR – Includes St. Peter’s Basilica but does NOT include the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
Location
Via Plauto, 17
Via Plauto
The meeting point is located in Borgo Pio, near St. Peter's square. The exact address is Via Plauto 17/A.
IMPORTANT: Please check your booking for the start time of the Vatican ENGLISH tour. Arrive 20 minutes
before at the meeting point ( Via Plauto 17A ) for check-in.
Thank you !
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(10351 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Mary_s
Apr 25, 2025
The best experience. A... - The best experience. A lot of stops along the way and our tour guy Max was great thank you for a great night
Review provided by Viator
Northstar529037
Apr 25, 2025
Passion Humor and deep knowledge - Karl was the best guide you can imagine! He had such a passion for the subject and so many funny and interesting anecdotes to tell. 3.5 hours and so much learned, while still having fun! Wonderful!
He communicated so well to keep the whole group together and we always knew what was coming next even the day before the Pope's funeral, where it was crazy full.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Passenger01144197790
Apr 10, 2025
Great VIp our - Amazing! Thank you for the tour. We appreciatesd the your and felt very vip to Be able to be escorted by such a knowledgeable guide
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pinkwrld123
Apr 8, 2025
SO WORTH IT - The skip-the-line group tour is so worth it. The guides are also amazing. The sistine chapel is beautiful. The Vatican has no air conditioning so I would recommend bringing a paper fan to cool yourself off. Also remember to cover your knees and shoulders.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sabrina
Apr 5, 2025
Early start - worth it! - We scheduled the first tour of the day for the Vatican - this included Saint Peters Basilica, Vatican museum and the Sistine chapel. Our guide was Paola and myself and my friend ended up being the only ones on the tour. She was absolutely amazing, very knowledgeable and was able to get us through the crowds with ease and to the best spots to see the highlights. Saint Peters was pretty empty as we went so early, this was a highlight of the trip as Paola was able to take time to explain things to us and show us the basilica without any rush. As the Sistine Chapel asks for silence and no pictures, she took time to go through the paintings with us beforehand on a printout so we could understand what we were looking at when we entered. Would really recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tourist39851878872
Mar 31, 2025
Chicken feet are so delicious. Especially the non-bone chicken was the one who didn't eat spicy foods, but I was able to eat it in a set with mayonnaise and egg sauce fisting. - This is the first time the whole building has a chicken farm. 2nd floor 3rd floor underground and very narrow space
First, clean, free wifi, cell phone charging, delivery, packaging, menu panels for foreigners and others, we recommend bone-free chicken during meals. The chicken legs can be slightly sticky, so if you eat them with egg sauce and fisting, you can eat chicken legs with lots and sweetness. I do.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Matt_h
Mar 7, 2025
High Quality Tour - Tour was set for 8am, with instructions to meet at 7:40am to check in. This was easy, and within minutes we were on our way with our guide, Paola. It’s a bit of a walk to the main gate, but not unreasonable. We skipped the main ticket line, though still needed to go through security like all other attendees. Upon entry, we were given a quick bio-break and were provided radio earpieces, which are needed to allow you to hear your guides in the very busy spaces. The tour began outside with an overview of the Vatican grounds and a detailed overview of the Sistine Chapel via printed handouts provided by the guide. Once the overview was completed, we headed inside to walk down a long hall of tapestries and other art in the Vatican Museums. We arrived at the actual Sistine Chapel around 9:15am, and it is breathtaking; we were given about 15-20 minutes to view it (no pictures are permitted here). Around 9:35am we departed for the main entrance, down a parallel long hall with more Vatican-related art. After another bio-break, we left out the way we came and after a 5-10 minute walk to another meeting point, our tour guide handed us off to the St. Peter’s Bascillica tour guide, Lorenzo. Here we were provided a 15-20 minute break. We were again administered radio earpieces and departed for St. Peter’s Bascillica around 10:30am. After about a 10 minute walk, we arrived at St. Peter’s square, and then to the SPB security gate. The group entered SPB around 10:50-11:00am. Once inside SPB, our guide took us around for about 30-45 minutes, at which point the formal tour concluded. It was very helpful having guides, and found it to be a good tour.
Review provided by Viator
Sophie_p
Apr 1, 2025
Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica Review - We toured the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica March 31, 2025. We had an overall good experience, our guide was very knowledgeable and was very accommodating with some of the older folks in our group. I will say the only negative feedback would be how fast the tour was and how much of the Vatican we felt like we missed out on because of that. With it being the Jubilee year, it was very crowded (and we started at 8:45am), you pretty much are fast walking through the museum to see as much as you can in the timeframe you have. Overall though, I do feel like our guide did her best to hit the high points and point out as much important sculptures, tapestries, etc. as she could while also telling us all the history.
Review provided by Viator
Janet_g
Mar 20, 2025
Overall, a great visit. Highly recommend. - Early start and a half hour walk, security etc before you actually get inside the museum. Great to skip the queues! I went in March and I suspect it’s very much quieter than it would be in summer. A bit of rush going through the museum, would have liked longer. A bit too much to take in in such a short 3 hr visit for all 3 sites!
Sistine Chapel was an 8 minute visit. No photos allowed, no talking either! Not long enough to admire one of the great masterpieces of art!
St Peter’s was the WOW factor for me, particularly Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture!!!
The painting and decoration in all 3 buildings is astounding!! Just would have liked longer. Our guides were good but had strong accents and spoke a little fast. Also, due to crowds, we could not always see what they were referring to.
Review provided by Viator
Brian_t
Mar 16, 2025
Well organized, though commentary work. - Philippo was very organized and led the group very well in terms of getting through the various museums on time. He spoke clearly and ensured that no one was lost. He was also humorous and made effort to be interactive with the group.
However, during the tour, he focused on his own interpretations of the social, economic and political context of the museums, eg the sculptures were perfectly toned bodies but the people were vain like people today using filters on social media.
He hardly focused on the art work themselves or tried to explain what the artists were trying to convey. He left it to the participants to figure out for themselves.
He was often critical of the emperors and made negative comments about a Pope going against what he preached and other Popes stealing from other places and countries for his own pleasure and for his “playground”.
Perhaps he should refrain from offering his own interpretations / perspectives as it may be sensitive to some participants and there were children in the group. He should share more about the art work themselves.
Review provided by Viator
More activities from this operator
