In Depth Vatican Museum Tour with Sistine Chapel

Tour Overview

No trip to Rome is complete without a visit to the Vatican Museums, where jaw-dropping masterpieces of art will leave you spellbound. With fast, skip-the-lines entry, our Wednesday morning Easy Access Vatican Tour is the perfect hassle-free way to see the highlights of the Vatican in the company of a knowledgeable expert guide. We keep our group sizes small to ensure you’ll get the best out of your time in the Vatican as you come face-to-face with Michelangelo’s iconic Sistine Chapel, the magnificent Raphael Rooms, amazing ancient sculptures and much more. Better still, as many visitors to the Vatican attend the Papal audience on Wednesday mornings, this is the quietest time of the week to visit the Museums. Join us for an entertaining, enlightening experience and see for yourself why this is one of our most popular tours!

Tour Description

Skip the Lines with Expert Guides 

Say goodbye to the hassle of long queues as you breeze past the crowds waiting in line to enter the Vatican Museums courtesy of our priority access. Our experienced guides are all experts in art and history, and know everything there is to know about the Vatican and its treasures. They’ll escort you through the labyrinthine corridors and halls of this incredible museum, making sure that you don’t miss a thing on your Vatican adventure!

We choose our guides not only for their knowledge, but also for their ability to bring the past alive. With their passion for storytelling and eye for detail, our guides will unveil the hidden secrets of the Vatican Museums before your eyes - breathing life into every canvas and every sculpture you pass.

Insightful commentary and fascinating anecdotes mean that our Easy Access Vatican tour is both fun and informative - a winning combination that guarantees you’ll get the best experience. 

We think that Wednesday morning is one of the best times to visit the Vatican Museums: as many of the visitors to the Vatican will be in St. Peter's Square to attend the weekly Papal audience, you'll have a quieter, less crowded experience in the Museums. 

Visit Ancient Sculpture Galleries

After skipping the lines and entering the Museums, we’ll head to the Pio-Clementino museum to admire some of the world’s most iconic sculptures. Renaissance popes were avid collectors of classical sculptures, and some of the most important works of ancient sculpture have been on show in the Vatican Museums for over 500 years. On our tour we’ll encounter a series of amazing ancient marbles that have had a massive influence on developing ideals of naturalism and proportion in the Renaissance.  

The core of this collection is in the so-called Octagonal Courtyard. Here you’ll get to see the Laocoon, an ancient masterpiece of psychological drama, as well as the Apollo Belvedere and Belvedere Torso, paragons of ancient beauty that inspired Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Other highlights of this part of your tour include the Round Room and the Candelabra Gallery. 

Explore the Gallery of Maps 

Built in 1578 by order of Pope Gregory XIII, the 120-meter-long Hall of Maps displays colossal maps depicting 16th-century Italy. Commissioned to record his vast estates, Pope Gregory enlisted top painters and renowned geographers to fashion a stunning fusion of art and science.

Each map meticulously details Italian regions with vibrant colors, highlighting cities like Venice, Florence, and Rome. Walking through this part of the Vatican Museums is one of our favorite parts of the tour, as it allows us  to trace Italy's coasts while encountering historical vignettes.

Your guide will point out fascinating hidden details like Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon and Christopher Columbus's voyage to America enlivening the maps and bringing the world of the 16th-century vividly back to life. 

Admire the Hall of Tapestries

We'll get to explore a different facet of early-modern art in the Tapestry Gallery. Renaissance tapestries, valued for their lavish materials and intricate craftsmanship, await. Our guide will highlight the breathtaking series from Pieter van Aelst's Brussels workshop, depicting scenes from Christ's life and Resurrection. The depth of emotion picked out in the threads of wool, silk and precious metals is incredible. 

Most spectacular of all is the massive tapestry portraying Christ’s Resurrection: keep your eyes fixed on those of Christ as you walk past; in a miracle of illusionism, his gaze follows you as you make your way down the gallery.

Enter the World of the Renaissance in the Raphael Rooms

Your Vatican visit will continue in the Raphael Rooms. Housed within the refined confines of a suite of rooms that were originally the private apartments of the Pope himself, Raphael's breathtaking frescoes stand as a testament to the artistic brilliance of the High Renaissance era. 

These magnificent works were originally commissioned by Pope Julius II (who also hired Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel chapel), and offer a captivating glimpse into the cultural tapestry of the Renaissance Golden Age. The highlight of the Raphael Rooms is the famous School of Athens.

Learn how this massive fresco stands as a summation of the enlightened values of Renaissance humanism, and how Raphael paid homage to his illustrious contemporaries by painting their faces in the guises of the ancient philosophers who discuss the nature of being in the soaring space of St .Peter’s basilica - which was being built at the time.

Come Face-to Face with Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

Undoubtedly the highlight of our route through the Vatican Museums is the awe-inspiring Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's masterpieces grace every surface. As explanations aren’t allowed in the Sistine Chapel itself,  your guide will give a detailed account of the Sistine Chapel before you enter and provide you with a handout that you can use for reference when inside. 

Commissioned by the ambitious Pope Julius II, what Michelangelo came up with after 4 years of arduous toil stunned contemporaries and continues to captivate viewers today. The ceiling boasts over 300 monumental figures, including prophets, sibyls and sinuous ignudi. At the heart of it all, nine frescoes from Genesis depict the Creation, the story of Adam and Eve, and the tale of Noah. The iconic centerpiece, "God Creating Adam," portrays the divine spark of life with a mere fingertip touch.

Three decades later, Michelangelo embarked on his final Sistine Chapel endeavor - adorning the chapel's vast altar wall with "The Last Judgment," depicting Christianity's apocalyptic finale. A solemn Christ, resembling the Apollo Belvedere, delivers judgment as saints help the saved to heaven and drag the damned down to face hell's torment. Your guide will make sure you don’t miss fascinating details, including St. Bartholomew holding a portrait of Michelangelo in his flayed skin.

Please be aware that the Sistine Chapel is a sacred space where visitors are required to cover their knees and shoulders. Failure to adhere to this dress code may result in you not being able to enter, so please bring a shawl to cover your shoulders if necessary.