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Italy
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Lazio
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Metropolitan City of Rome
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Rome
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Tours & Activities
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Vatican Gardens and Vatican Museums Tour
5 h
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican Gardens, Viale Vaticano presso Musei Vaticani, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Vatican Gardens date back to the Middle Ages, when orchards and vineyards extended north of the Papal Apostolic Palace.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Donato Bramante divided into three new courtyards: the Cortile del Belvedere, the Library and the Cortile della Pigna following the Renaissance landscape design style. In the Renaissance style a rectangular labyrinth was also created, made with shrubs and small evergreen trees, framed by pines and cedars of Lebanon. Today's Vatican Gardens have numerous fountains, sculptures and artificial caves, generally dedicated to the Virgin Mary and other saints.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Vatican Museums are located in Viale Vaticano in Rome, within the Vatican City State. Founded by Pope Julius II in the 16th century [1], they occupy a large part of the vast Belvedere courtyard and are one of the largest art collections in the world, as they exhibit the enormous collection of works of art accumulated over the centuries by Papi: the Sistine Chapel and the papal apartments frescoed by Michelangelo and Raphael are part of the works that visitors can admire in their journey.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Citta del Vaticano 1, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most important treasures of the Vatican, of Rome and of the whole world. It is renowned both for its frescoes and for the fact that the Popes are elected here.
The construction of the building took place between 1473 and 1481. What most attracts attention in the Sistine Chapel is not, however, its architecture, but the frescoes that completely decorate its walls and ceiling. Renowned artists such as Botticelli, Perugino and Michelangelo contributed to the wide decoration of the Chapel.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza di San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The grandeur of the seventeenth-century façade of Carlo Maderno makes the idea of the gigantic dimensions of St. Peter's Basilica, still today one of the largest churches in the world. The dome designed by Michelangelo surprises in its size and harmony, characteristics that are appreciated in the challenging but rewarding climb that allows you to admire both the inside and the outside. Among the many masterpieces, not to be missed is the Pietà by Michelangelo, the work that has been surprising for centuries in terms of technique and emotion.
Duration: 1 hour
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This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Vatican Gardens, Viale Vaticano presso Musei Vaticani, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Vatican Gardens date back to the Middle Ages, when orchards and vineyards extended north of the Papal Apostolic Palace.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Donato Bramante divided into three new courtyards: the Cortile del Belvedere, the Library and the Cortile della Pigna following the Renaissance landscape design style. In the Renaissance style a rectangular labyrinth was also created, made with shrubs and small evergreen trees, framed by pines and cedars of Lebanon. Today's Vatican Gardens have numerous fountains, sculptures and artificial caves, generally dedicated to the Virgin Mary and other saints.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Vatican Museums, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Vatican Museums are located in Viale Vaticano in Rome, within the Vatican City State. Founded by Pope Julius II in the 16th century [1], they occupy a large part of the vast Belvedere courtyard and are one of the largest art collections in the world, as they exhibit the enormous collection of works of art accumulated over the centuries by Papi: the Sistine Chapel and the papal apartments frescoed by Michelangelo and Raphael are part of the works that visitors can admire in their journey.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Sistine Chapel, Citta del Vaticano 1, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most important treasures of the Vatican, of Rome and of the whole world. It is renowned both for its frescoes and for the fact that the Popes are elected here.
The construction of the building took place between 1473 and 1481. What most attracts attention in the Sistine Chapel is not, however, its architecture, but the frescoes that completely decorate its walls and ceiling. Renowned artists such as Botticelli, Perugino and Michelangelo contributed to the wide decoration of the Chapel.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza di San Pietro, 00120 Vatican City Italy
The grandeur of the seventeenth-century façade of Carlo Maderno makes the idea of the gigantic dimensions of St. Peter's Basilica, still today one of the largest churches in the world. The dome designed by Michelangelo surprises in its size and harmony, characteristics that are appreciated in the challenging but rewarding climb that allows you to admire both the inside and the outside. Among the many masterpieces, not to be missed is the Pietà by Michelangelo, the work that has been surprising for centuries in terms of technique and emotion.
Duration: 1 hour
Included
- Professional guide
- Headsets to hear the guide clearly
- Entry/Admission - Vatican Gardens
- Entry/Admission - Vatican Museums
- Entry/Admission - Sistine Chapel
- Entry/Admission - St. Peter's Basilica
Not included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- 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
- Pre-booking this tour enables you to skip the long lines, which can take up to two hours, to enter the Vatican Museums. All visitors must pass through metal detectors at the security check point; expect to wait 20-30 minutes to clear security
- This tour involves a fair amount of walking, comfortable shoes are recommended
- Backpacks, tripods and big umbrellas must be left inside a cloakroom on entering the Vatican Museums. To reduce any disruption for your group, we recommend that backpacks are not taken on this tour
- It is forbidden to pick the flowers or plants inside the gardens
- In case of unexpected closing of the gardens by Vatican security, the tour will just visit the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Features
Cultural
95%
Tourism
90%
Original
20%
Reviews
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The tour started about an hour late. The guide was arguing with another guide at the ticket stand for a good half hour and then she was more interested in talking to other guides than she was interested in starting the tour. To make matters worse, the guide was hard to understand as her English was not very good. Obviously, with the late start, the tour was then very rushed. Are guide also kept wanting to take breaks so she could text somebody on her phone. Meanwhile, nobody on the tour needed a break.
Erik was an outstanding tour guide! Very knowledgeable and easy to understand!!! Highly recommend him! Very difficult to find the meeting location and the blue line tours folks were not helpful in helping us locate the exact position for the meeting point. Almost missed the tour!
Tour was really good.Our guide Daniela was really professional in her work.Everything was well organized.Skip the line was practical :)
This tour was amazing! We enjoyed starting in the gardens, especially getting away from the crowds. Our guide was wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and tireless in getting us through the crowds. Several times, she got the guards to open up special access for us, including the Bramante staircase which leads up to a marvelous view of Rome. The crowds started to build up as we moved toward the incredibly beautiful Map Room. Way too crowded... The paths leading to the Sistine Chapel were extremely crowded. The Chapel was surreal. We were able to admire it in several spots over the course of 10 to 15 minutes. Then we went to St. Peter’s Basilica and were able to see the Pieta and other works of art. We said goodbye to our guide and walked downstairs to the tombs of some of the popes. This tour is worth 5 stars however, many of us were very disappointed by the lack of detail in the instructions for meeting the tour. If you are still reading this review, I’ll try to simplify it: 100 Viale Vaticano is the number on a coffee shop across the street from the Museo Vaticano, there are steps next door to the coffee shop. Look for a person in a pink jacket that says, I “heart” Rome. As a group, they will take you across the street and through security, get you antenna sets, and place you with your guide. It’s rather unorganized, but it works.
This was an amazing tour and I highly recommend anyone visiting the Vatican to do this. Keep in mind, it is early and 5 hours long but so worth it. Our guide was amazing. Very knowledgeable and if I wasn't so jetlagged, I would remember her name : It was nice to see things other tours did not show in the Vatican and just the gardens were amazing to see. Highly recommend!
Wow - beautiful gardens - a must see
Excellent tour - our guide was literally an expert. She knew just about everything there was to know and our minds were brimming and overflowing with the information. The gardens were beautiful and since we were the only tour doing the gardens it was a lovely two hours on our own. The next FOUR HOURS was a bit of a nightmare on the feet. No lunch breaks! Wear the most comfortable shoes youve got because there was zero time to sit down. Eat a big breakfast and take some snacks with you as there is zero time for food and very minimal toilet stops. Once in the museums you are packed in like sardines - it wasn't my favourite thing to be honest. The tour then went to the Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, which was good but by then you're exhausted!
Ok. Nothing great. The tour guide was not very patient.
If you plan to go to the Vatican, do this early morning tour. It was like we had the gardens to ourselves. Didn’t see other tours until we were done with the gardens. Just beautiful. Highly recommend.
Don't go to the Vatican if you're going to skip the gardens - cause they're arguably the best part. We booked this tour so we could see parts of the Vatican that most people don't see, and we're extremely glad we did. The gardens were beautiful and very well maintained. The tour guide was great, and did a nice job moving this along smoothly. I will say, wear comfortable walking shoes, cause the tour is LONG. By the time it ended, we were more than ready for a break. But, if you've got limited time and want to get the most from your visit to the Vatican, this is the best option - hands down.