Skip-the-line Vatican Museums tour including the Sistine Chapel

Reaching the Vatican Museums, the guide will give you an overview of the history and art of the smallest country in the world. At the entrance to the Vatican Museums skip the line and walk through cavernous galleries filled with ancient sculptures, tapestries, maps, and Etruscan antiquities. The most famous frescoes in the world will greet you when you enter the jewel box of the Sistine Chapel. Here, you’ll be surrounded by the stunning Michelangelo masterpieces that have adorned a million picture postcards including the nine central panels of the chapel ceiling, each depicting a tale from Genesis (the most famous being The Creation of Adam). Last, but not least, thanks to a direct passageway, you’ll see the grand Basilica. The world’s largest church, and one of its most sacred Catholic sites sits atop the very spot where St. Peter was buried. On this self-guided part of the tour, you’ll see the church’s chapels and elaborately painted, multi-domed ceilings as well as Michelangelo’s remarkable Pietà, a sculptural depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling her son.