VIP Small-Group Vatican Early Morning Guided Tour

Rome, Italy

2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Offered in: English

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Overview

Beat the midday crowds and heat on this morning Vatican Museums guided tour. Designed with first-time visitors in mind, this itinerary covers the highlights of the expansive Vatican Museums and ends with time to admire Michelangelo's frescoes inside the Sistine Chapel. Choose the English or Spanish language option, and end early enough to explore St. Peter's Basilica on your own after the tour.

A great introduction to the Vatican Museums collection for first-time visitors
Headsets to hear English- or Spanish-speaking guide clearly
Choose among several morning start times to suit your schedule
Free time after the tour to visit St. Peter's Basilica if you choose

What's Included

All Fees and Taxes
Professional Art Historian Certified Guide
Headsets to hear your guide clearly

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and Drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Piazza del Risorgimento, Roma RM, Italy
Meet your tour coordinator in the middle of Piazza del Risorgimento (400m from Metro A Line, Ottaviano metro stop), in front of the caffe Bar "L’Ottagono". Look for the staff with the 'The Best Of Rome' logo sign. Please be at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the departure booking time.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Piazza della Città Leonina

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Vatican Museums

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Sistine Chapel

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Meet your guide at least 15 minutes prior to your departure time at Piazza della Città Leonina 2, in front of the Pizzeria.
If you arrive late for the meeting time, it will not be possible to join the group or reschedule, unless you pay for the activity again. As per "No Show" rules you will not be entitled to a refund.
A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements.
Cancellations, changes or issues due to weather, security and events held by the monument are beyond our control and are directly decided by their administration team. These issues will be reviewed by us and dealt with on an individual basis but are the responsibility of the monument.
All visitors must pass through the monument/attraction security check please allow at least 10 minutes to clear security.

Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair.
All clients will be asked to show a photo ID, you must bring a photo ID to be allowed into the monument.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Pets are not allowed inside the venue
On Wednesday, due to the weekly Papal Audience, and on religious ceremony there is a possibility that St Peter's Basilica will be unavailable during which the access to St Peter's Basilica is closed.
We can’t be held responsible in case of sudden closure of the Saint Peter’s Basilica or any other room inside the Vatican Museums without notice, as this is a decision of the Vatican Administration itself and we have no control over it.
Due to the Jubilee, some monuments may be under restoration. Please pay attention to any messages we may send regarding potential changes.
The Vatican Museums reserve the right to close any section, including the Sistine Chapel, due to unforeseen circumstances. On such occasions, no refund is guaranteed to customers.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Reviews

3.7

based on 10 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Beautiful Tour

Tracy_A, Oct 2024

Barbara did a great job pointing out things. She kept us on time so that we were able to see alot of things. She was fun and entertaining!

Awesome country within a country

Donald_N, Oct 2024

Awesome and enjoyable experience at the Vatican with our guide Gigi. He answered all our questions and was very informative. We thought with our tour that our guide would come with us into St. Peter to explain a little bit about the Bacilica? We did enjoy the Bacilica with our group on our own.

Not VIP or Early morning.

tom_n, Sep 2024

Not as advertised!! Nothing VIP or early morning about it. Museum doesn't open until 8am, but we're asked to arrive at 645am. To wait around until 730 to start the walk. Still had to wait in line to get into Museum. The tour guide was vey informative and personable. She did well keeping the group together. But be warned, you'll be one of dozens of other groups touring the same time. You won't get any relief from the crowds or extra time to look at the art. Overpriced in my view given the ticket is only 20 euro for the Museum.

Great Place and Tour, Poor Tour Guide...

JOSE_R, Aug 2024

I've had this tour before with a different tour guide and that is the reason a highly recommend it. However, for this time around the experience was very different and unpleasing, which for my girlfriend who was first time visiting was very offputting. Our Tour guide this time around was solely focused on the art aspect and many times rude to both tour members as other visitors, not part of our tour group. On many occassions made people move or interrupted their experience to move her way to the front of an exhibition and forcing tour group members to participate on scene type recreation of scenarios, making everyone on tour uncomfortable. Also, the tour was scheduled to begin at 7:45am, however the tour guide left the meeting point at 7am for which several tour members were left behind which was rather unfair as for all intendes purposes we were early and they were not late.

Poorly paced tour w/ too much talking and too little viewing.

Richard_F, Jul 2024

I really wish I could rate this tour higher, but the lady we had spent more time talking about what we should look for rather than actually viewing it. We started our tour around 7:30am and spent an hour discussing what we should look for inside the cathedral once we got inside (which was actually going to be at the very end of the tour) and didn't get in line for the museums until 8:30am. Then, once getting through security, we spent a half hour from 9:00am to 9:30am discussing the wonders of the Sistine Chapel, still outside the museums. Once we got inside the museums, we had to rush breathlessly through the museums to finally make it to the Sistine Chapel at 10:35am...5 minutes after our tour was supposed to be over. Since 8 out of our small group purposefully selected the early tour before having to leave for the airport, including ourselves, we had less than 10 minutes inside the Sistine Chapel and absolutely no time to go inside St. Peter's, which was one of the reasons for buying this tour. We were supposed to be able to go inside a side entrance of the basilica and see what we had discussed 3 hours earlier, but that wasn't going to happen. Unless you have 4 hours to spare, do not take this 3-hour tour. I would have rated this tour only 2 stars, but the tour guide was extremely informative and had a lot of interesting information so added an extra star for her storytelling. I would have loved to have her in a classroom setting for 3 hours BEFORE the tour, but unfortunately, her pacing was extremely poor and we lost out on the opportunity to spend much time in the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and never got into St. Peter's. Very disappointed, actually, as we probably won't be back in Rome as a family again and would have loved to see St. Peter's at least once in our lifetime. One other word of caution to anyone who thinks they are going to avoid the mass of crowds by going on one of these early tours. The crowds may be at 90% rather than 110% during the middle of the day, but still expect to have to wind your way through a horde of humanity.

Very large group with entry after opening with everyone else.

Robin_H, Jun 2024

The tour’s selling points were that you entered the Vatican prior to opening, this was false. We didn’t get to the Batican until after 8 am then waited in a short line to get in. Also, it states small group, no more than 12 people but we were in a group of 20. Very deceiving advertising.

Response from Host, Aug 2024

Greetings, Your feedback is very important, as it will help us to improve our service. For your convenience, we are always available to be contacted to discuss the situation in detail privately. Kind regards, Gian

This tour don’t go inside the museum an hour earlier

Sue_P, May 2024

Our guide Barbara was so enthusiastic about Sistine chapel and Michelangelo I learned so much from her. She was great. But the problem was the company which they described this tour as early morning tour before the crowds that starts at 7 am. Vatican Museum open at 8 am so I thought our tour guide will take us inside the museum right after 7 am before 8 am crowd comes in, but that was not the case. The tour guide explained about St. Peter’s basilica and the pope at the St Peter square for 45 minutes then started walking toward the Vatican Museum and our ticket was for 8 am entry to the museum, not early morning tour that avoids crowds. Their description on Viator website is so misleading to say the least. I was so upset. There is a tour that goes inside the museum an hour earlier than opening hour, so if you want that tour, you should look for it somewhere else.

Guide is essential to maximum enjoyment

Robert_T, Apr 2022

Very informative and well worth the cost. Having a guide to navigate through the maze of pre-entry requirements, and providing valuable insights during the tour is most beneficial. The Vatican is always full of wandering tourists. Our guide was especially helpful in pointing out features not ordinarily identified.

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Thank you very much for taking the time to leave us your feedback. We look forward to welcoming you in the near future in Rome. Best regards! Luca

Visite guidée des plus intéressantes

serge_t, May 2023

La qualité de l'animatrice de la visite guidée ainsi que le plaisir de ne pas attendre en ligne et éviter des heures perdues est la raison que le prix du forfait vaut vraiment la peine.