Sistine Chapel Exclusive Tour Before Opening Hours & Vatican Museums

1 h

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About this activity

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy

After your once-in-a-lifetime Sistine Chapel experience, you have the option to visit the Vatican Museums without having to leave and enter again. Besides full-day tickets, we also provide a map of the 9-mile-long museum and an introduction to its highlights - everything you need to design your own itinerary, enjoying the world-renowned art collections at your own pace.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Citta del Vaticano 1, 00120 Vatican City Italy

Your experience begins just outside the Vatican Museums in the early morning, where you’ll receive your tickets and be accompanied to the Sistine Chapel. There, you’ll have the time and the space to contemplate its beauty. This is a far cry from the crowded afternoons when there's barely room to move around in, let alone appreciate, this incredible space.

To this day, critics say that no artist’s work has ever approached the scale, technical skill and sense composition of Michelangelo’s frescoes. People the world over have been awestruck by the powerful imagery of the “Creation of Adam,” painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, while others have marvelled at “The Last Judgment,” which adorns the altar wall. You’ll have the luxury to see these 15th century masterpieces for yourself, up close and personal.

Duration: 30 minutes

Pass By: Cortile della Pigna, Vatican City Italy

Pass by the Pine Cone Courtyard to admire Vatican Museums from a different angle

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Included

Early Entrance Access 1.5h before the main public
Escorted entrance
Entry/Admission - Vatican Museums
Entry/Admission - Sistine Chapel
Guaranteed to skip the lines

Not included

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and drinks, unless specified

Additional

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
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
This option is not wheelchair accessible. For your information, Vatican Museums provide wheelchairs free of charge in the main lobby. You can easily pick one up after entrance, before starting your own independent visit. If you are looking for a guided tour with wheelchair access, we recommend booking our private tour so a guide can lead you through the alternate routes.
St Peter's Basilica, the grottos and the dome: After the tour, you may visit these attractions on your own. Your tour will end at the front of St Peter's Basilica, which is a very convenient location to leave for lunch, visit the Vatican bookstore, visit the Vatican post office, enter St Peter's Basilica, continue to the grottos below St Peter's or climb to the dome. Your tour guide will be happy to point you in the right direction!
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Features

Tourism

85%

Cultural

80%

Reviews

4.7

684

randy c

5 | 2019-09-30

This tour is the way to go in order to beat the crowds - the tour guide was so passionate and knowledgeable about all aspects of this tour. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone

Awilda S

5 | 2019-09-30

I absolutely loved the tour guide. It was important to book for this particular attraction because explanation of the set is necessary before going inside the chapel where no speaking is allowed.

Diane K

5 | 2019-09-30

Our guide was incredible and the detailed information and stories of each picture helped us to see the works on the ceiling as we viewed the detailed paintings with a better understanding and ability to pick out the fine details of her explanation.

Frank D

4 | 2019-09-13

The tour of the SC was amazing but after a short visit of the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's got too crowded. You should not include all these together. We chose the tour to get away from the crowds. Combining everything together defeats the best part of the tour (avoiding the crowds).

bradlind1959

5 | 2019-08-26

We were able to get into the chapel before the big crowds. It was a hot day as well, so getting in early made for a better experience. The colors were much more vivid since my visit 40 years ago. The tour guide was excellent. I don't recall his name, but he was from the small town at the very toe of Italy.

Kerry N

5 | 2019-07-25

Our guide was Sabina and she was absolutely fabulous. Well worth spending the money to do this early entry because once open to the public it is packed.

Dorothy T

5 | 2019-07-23

Ursus was excellent. Clear, friendly, informative and very helpful. He went out of his way to ensure we had a great experience.

ceantal1

5 | 2019-07-22

This was the best way to observe the Sistine Chapel before the mobs. Highly recommended. Plus you have time to go back into the Vatican Museums if you want to be back in the mob.

jbkamp88

5 | 2019-07-19

If you want to be one of the first to walk through the Vatican museum and into the Sistine Chapel then take this tour. The tour part is simply a guide walking you to the chapel through the museum. The process takes about 30 minutes and during that time the guide will be sharing historical information with you. As you walk through the museum the guide will talk about some of the things you see but there will be no time for pictures as you are constantly walking towards the chapel. It is quite cool to walk through the hall of maps when it is completely empty. The one catch is that the chapel doesn't open until 8am. So your group will be the first one to enter, however, there will be a line of people behind you as you enter. Once you enter the chapel your guide will be done with the tour. It was still worth the money in my opinion. My wife and I then enjoyed walking around the Vatican museum when it was still relatively empty.

James S

5 | 2019-07-18

This was a great tour to see the sistine chapel with a low volume of people. There are 100 more groups doing the same thing but it's not a zoo like it is at 9am. We enjoyed our guide giving us a quick tour down the most important artifacts of the Vatican museum. Just to clarify you dont need to pick up your ticket ahead of time. Just download it and the tour group will check you in at the steps in front of the museum. Deff worth the extra money and early rise!

Bethany R

5 | 2019-07-08

We were the first ones in so avoiding the huge crowds was awesome. Our guide on June 26th was very knowledgeable and nice. My son and I were on a time crunch in Europe and had this tour not been available we would not have seen the Vatican at all. Also know that if you choose this on a Wednesday with hopes of seeing the Basilica in the a.m. too you will be disappointed. On Wednesdays the Basilica opens after 12 p.m. due to the Pope (or his security) utilizing this area while the Pope has an outdoor service at 1030 a.m. Unfortunately we could not see either but did get to see the area (part of museum) before and after arriving at the Sistine Chapel. I did get some great pictures due to only my group being in there. My only negative was my headset would work sometimes. I did miss some info but due to small group I could hear a lot of what the Guide was saying. I didnt want to hold everyone up so I didnt say anything to the CityWonders Guide but Im sure he would have helped. Being in before the general public was amazing!

Peter H

5 | 2019-07-03

Enjoyed the tour and the history walked as long as my feet would permit. Can’t see Rome in a day! That goes for the Vatican too.

Marilou S

5 | 2019-07-03

Our guide was very pleasant. She was very enthusiastic and informative. It was a quick tour but we learned a lot.

Graham H

5 | 2019-07-03

Great tour guide succinct and competent says it all . Left you ready for more . Great tour highly recommend.

cookiemama7

4 | 2019-07-03

This was a great way to see the Sistine Chapel with out the crowds. We were the first group in that morning and we could sit and look at it peacefully. The guide gave us a very quick walk through of some of the other parts as we rushed through to get to the chapel. Once in the chapel the tour was over. We did not get a tour of the rest of the museums and we could not go into St Peter's Basilica because it was Wednesday when the Pope is in there. So the actual talking part of the tour was only about 30 mis. Great way to get in early, but a little pricey for just that, and don't go on a Wednesday.

Christopher S

4 | 2019-01-01

Stunning place. Of all the Vatican, our favorite place was the view from the cupola above the dome. A lot of stairs but worth the effort.

Daryll W

5 | 2018-10-29

Grateful for taking this tour as we truly beat the crowds and were better able to take the time to enjoy the tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful as she explained how to navigate the area and best deal with the crowds once our early tour was over! We went back to the Sistine chapel after our early tour had ended and it was just shoulder to shoulder with tourists.

rokonrae

4 | 2018-10-22

This ticket was a nice thing to have at the Sistine Chapel. With the guide we were one of the first groups into the museum/chapel. She was nice, she had her quirks that made her interesting and the day unforgettable. There was quite the line prior to opening so I would recommend using a skip-the-line ticket or this early entrance access tour.

Cindy B

5 | 2018-10-15

Easier to walk to and view the Sistine Chapel with less than 100 people! I have walking difficulties and the small number of people visiting during this time made navigating the steps easy. We returned later in the morning to enter St. Peters through the Sistine Chapel and the crowds were huge and difficult to maneuver. Definitely worth the price.

valerieslong

5 | 2018-10-05

Waking up early is not always ideal on vacation but this was our best decision yet. Barely any crowds or nudging your way to get a picture. Thank you!

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