Join us for the ultimate VIP Vatican experience on a private tour of the Vatican museums, and embark on a whirlwind journey through thousands of years of history and art.
Highlights
Hidden Gems
- The Vatican Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery)
- Raphael's Transfiguration
- Leonardo's St. Jerome
- The Laocoön
- The Belvedere Torso
- The Tapestries Gallery
Tour Includes
- In-depth Vatican experience
- Expert English-speaking private guide
- Vatican tickets and reservation fees
- Skip the lines entry
- Fast-track entrance to St. Peter's Basilica
- Special Pinacoteca visit
Please Note
- For reservations made less than 72 hours in advance, your tour will end in the Vatican Museums as we cannot guarantee skip the line tickets into St Peter's Basilica.
- Please note that the Wednesday morning tour will not visit St. Peter's Basilica, as the church is closed for the weekly Papal Audience at this time. The tour will run as normal, with the extra time spent exploring the Vatican Museums in more detail.
Create Your Custom Journey
Our dedicated team is here to help you design the perfect trip. We’re happy to assist every step of the way.
We’ve Got You Covered!
Can’t make your trip? Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, minus any ticket costs.
ITINERARY
What To Expect On Your Tour
VIP Experience
Explore one of the world's greatest museums with an expert guide
Our tour of the Vatican is optimised to offer you a VIP experience of the great masterpieces of the Sistine Chapel, the Pinacoteca, the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter’s Basilica. There is only one route that brings you to the Sistine Chapel, passing through courtyards and palaces dense with history and studded with works of art. Don’t rush through them like a stranger; enjoy them in all their splendour.
The Sistine Chapel
Encounter the Genius of Michelangelo
Whoever sees the Sistine Chapel through the eyes of Michelangelo, whoever reads in it his thoughts and sentiments, encounters genius. Who he was, how he lived and what he thought. Your guide will accompany you on this Vatican private tour into the great building projects of the Italian Renaissance and together you will relive the environment of the Florentine Renaissance and the Papal court in Rome in which Michelangelo created his masterpieces. The figures of Jonah, Adam, Eve, Noah and thousands of others on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and in the Last Judgement speak of Michelangelo and of the Renaissance: our private tour will reveal clearly what they say, and how and why these frescoes of the Vatican Museums have redefined not only art, but the way in which we look at the world.
The Raphael Rooms
Relive the vivid world of the Italian Renaissance in the Raphael Rooms
This was a period of overwhelming enthusiasm and of amazing innovation. The men of the Renaissance didn’t merely dream of changing the world – they really revolutionised it. The printing press, the geographic maps with which Columbus reached the Americas, modern science, architecture, art and the sense of beauty (a concept demonized in the Middle Ages), all these were their creations. The frescoes of the Raphael rooms perfectly depict the world of the contemporary courts that governed the course of this new world and where the great geniuses of the age called home. The cultured conversations fueled by the wine of sumptuous banquets, the statues brought to light by a frenzied passion for excavations, new fashions, and above all new ways of thinking and living, are marvellously recreated by Raphael with the perfect touch of his graceful brush. On this Vatican private tour we will have the opportunity to experience this amazing world in the flesh. Indeed there is an entire world to discover here, a world of which we ourselves are the children.
Ancient Sculptures
Discover the incredible ancient sculpture collections of the Vatican
Some of the most important works that we will discover, such as timeless Greek masterpieces like the Laocoon, the Belvedere Torso and the Apollo Belvedere, were excavated at the time of Michelangelo and Raphael, who studied and admired them in the same architectural context in which they are preserved today. The artworks that they created are the fruit of their careful study. And so, we too will pass through the Pinecone courtyard, the Belvedere courtyard and the tapestry galleries, discovering a selection of masterpieces with a guide capable of recreating the climate of the epoch, helping you to appreciate the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel in their historical context.
The Vatican Pinacoteca
Gaze on works by Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio and Raphael in the Pinacoteca
Some of the finest paintings of the Vatican Museums are collected in the Pinacoteca, still ignored by most tours. In this tranquil part of the Vatican museums it is possible to appreciate the explosive force of Leonardo’s Saint Jerome and the spectacular realism of Caravaggio’s Deposition, an artist of absolute and ungovernable genius. We will also encounter Raphael’s Transfiguration, a work that would be his last when, struck by a terrible fever, he died at the height of his fame at the tender age of 37.
St. Peter’s Basilica
Learn the story of 2,000 years of faith in St. Peter's Basilica
From the Sistine Chapel, we will directly enter St. Peter’s Basilica without waiting in line
This part of our guided visit will bring us to the heart of the Christian faith, and along the way we will discover an incredible collection of relics and religious tokens that have accumulated here over the course of nearly 2,000 years at the site of St. Peter’s tomb. Our Vatican group tour is optimized to allow you to experience these amazing objects in their original context. At the same time you will have the chance to admire and understand enchanting works of art such as Michelangelo’s Pietà, a work whose intimate embrace overflows with such tenderness that it can move even the hardest viewer to tears. The masterpieces of Bernini, the great genius of the Italian Baroque, also dominate St. Peter’s, and the spectacular eponymous piazza dazzles with astounding optical effects. It is here that the faithful have gathered for centuries to celebrate the great events of Christianity, from the election of new popes to solemn masses. We will bring you here to read a history that will also become our own, a history lived by the protagonists of our fascinating Vatican private tour itineraries.
- The Basilica of St.Peter’s may be subject to unscheduled closings and late openings for religious ceremonies. Because these are often last-minute for security reasons, we do not have time to notify our guests. We will provide you with a complete experience by exploring the Vatican Museums in more detail and cannot provide any refunds in these circumstances.
Create Your Custom Journey
Our dedicated team is here to help you design the perfect trip. We’re happy to assist every step of the way.
What Our Guests Are Saying
Guests Reviews
Bel tour, guida preparatissima. Tanta roba anche con 5 ore a disposizione. Avrei tagliato un po’ sulla parte delle pale d’altare, concentrandomk di più sulle sculture e sulle sale con le carte geografiche e busti. Bello san pietro, insomma soldi spesi bene
Worth the extended time!
I cannot recommend the extended 5-hour tour of the vatican enough! We had a small group of 5 people which made navigating the crowds so much easier. You could spend weeks in the museums and basilica but it still wouldn’t be enough time. Without a guide i would be so lost. The extended tour went by quickly, but it was the perfect amount of time for a first-time visitor. Our guide, cynthia, was fabulous. She was so kind and patient and made sure to make our experience as personalized as possible. I was blown away by her knowledge and so grateful to have this curated tour. I was 5 months pregnant at the time of tour and worried 5 hours would be too much, but it wasn’t! We even climbed the basilica on our own at the end. I read through several websites and blogs to pick the best tour to suit our needs and i am so thankful we went with througheternity. If you have the option to do the extended tour, i would absolutely take the opportunity.
Breathtaking journey of history
phenomenal experience led by a guide guia whose passion and depth of knowledge made for an extraordinary historical journey, chronicled in a perfect manner. I would booked another private tour in a second!
Not worth the price
while we appreciated the guide’s enthusiasm and kindness toward our family, we were not impressed overall. Many visitors are now making their way to the sistine chapel first to avoid the crowds, but through eternity tours was not willing to honor that request. Instead, we wasted 30 minutes outside listening to partially erroneous information (michelangelo did not pack the sistine on his back..) and the tour ended 20 minutes early. Our objective was to enjoy as much of the museums as possible, including the often missed pinacoteca, but there was no reason for 50 minutes of our five hour tour to be wasted.
Alberto is the true master of the vatican city!!
Our vatican vip experience with alberto was, in a word amazing. Alberto’s knowledge of art and history, his passion for his faith and his home city and his vast experience as a professor and guide was evident from the first moment. His insights into the time period, the artists, the painting styles, the political temperament of the popes and the times and his overall passion for the subject matter made our 5+ hours with him absolutely fly by! If i could give 10 stars out of 5 it wouldn’t be enough. He was informative, funny, insightful, charismatic and above all, genuinely kind. We all loved him, learned so much from him and truly appreciate the treasure he is to anyone lucky enough to have him as a guide, teacher and tutor. Thank you, alberto!! You were magnifico!! Grazie mille!
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