Pristine Sistine: early entrance, small group Vatican tour
Overview
There are moments that stay with you forever. Visiting the Sistine Chapel and seeing the masterpieces of Michelangelo should be one of those. For too many visitors, this special experience is ruined by overcrowding, but what if there was a shot at a better moment?
Over the last five years we’ve practiced the Pristine Sistine Chapel tour on thousands of occasions, crafting the best possible experience of the Vatican Museums. Along with your guide, you’ll enter an hour before the public and pass through galleries before they fill up for the day. Depending on how busy the Museums are that morning, your guide will spend a little time giving you an introduction to rooms along the way, like the Gallery of the Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries or the Raphael Rooms; or take you directly to the Sistine Chapel.
They know how to read the crowd and their aim is to get you to the Chapel at the most peaceful time (always before the 9am opening). During the peak months of high season and a few days over Easter, there will be some groups inside the Sistine Chapel when you visit, but you’ll always have much more space than other times of day.
Most days, you’ll find the Chapel relatively quiet. Spend 15-20 minutes peacefully enjoying what is surely one of life’s greatest artistic experiences, and then embark on a full-guided tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. Entering before the public, you’ll have time to move around the Chapel and admire the various frescoes from every angle, without having to use your elbows.
But that’s only the start of our journey.
Highlights
- Enter the museums before the general public to see the Sistine Chapel at a quieter time. During Easter and summer, the Chapel may have some groups inside but never the hoards you’ll see later. On quieter days you’ll have it pretty much to yourself!
- See the best of the Vatican City in under four hours. With a guided tour of the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums (including the Raphael Rooms) and St. Peter’s Basilica, you’ll cover all the bases.
- A visit to the picturesque town of Bosa with its castle and coloured houses.
- Engage with the art and architecture of the Vatican. Our guides are passionate art experts, full of stories, and are familiar with even the smallest details of these massive museums. With groups of just 12 or fewer, you’ll find the guides easy to engage with.
Extended Tour Description
Engage with the Best of the Vatican Museums Collection
We say engage because that’s what you’ll do. Our guides have been carefully chosen as the perfect travel companions, enriching your visit with witty anecdotes and entertaining details to bring world-famous works to life. They will lead you on a carefully-crafted route through the best of the collection; teaching you not just about the art and history of the collection but the history of the Popes too. You’ll learn about the many characters that have lived, worked and painted here.
Traveling in small groups of only 12 people or fewer (with personal headsets) you’ll always be able to hear your guide and engage with their stories, asking all the questions you can think of. We won’t finish at the Vatican Museums though. Our next stop is the world’s largest Basilica.
Skip the Lines into St. Pater’s Basilica
As an official Vatican tour operator, we will go directly from the Vatican Museums to St. Peter’s Basilica, bypassing long general-access lines and avoiding a long walk and wait to enter the church. Everything about this incredible building is awe-inspiring, from Bernini’s monumental altar canopy to Michelangelo’s moving Pietà and transcendent dome.
As you explore every nook and cranny of this huge building, you’ll get an insight into the heart of the Catholic Church and Renaissance Italy with our passionate guides at the helm. Our Pristine Sistine Chapel tour guarantees that perfect Sistine moment, plus an engaging and entertaining three hours to follow.
You will probably only visit the Vatican City once. Make it perfect with our original, Pristine Sistine Chapel tour.
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StartVatican
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HighlightsEnter the museums before the general public to see the Sistine Chapel at a quieter time. During Easter and summer, the Chapel may have some groups inside but never the hoards you’ll see later. On quieter days you’ll have it pretty much to yourself!See the best of the Vatican City in under four hours. With a guided tour of the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums (including the Raphael Rooms) and St. Peter’s Basilica, you’ll cover all the bases.A visit to the picturesque town of Bosa with its castle and coloured houses.Engage with the art and architecture of the Vatican. Our guides are passionate art experts, full of stories, and are familiar with even the smallest details of these massive museums. With groups of just 12 or fewer, you’ll find the guides easy to engage with.
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Route StopsSistine Chapel (twice)Raphael RoomsBelvedere Courtyard with Apollo Belvedere & Laocon & His SonsPinecone CourtyardGallery of the CandelabraGallery of the MapsGallery of the TapestriesSt. Peter's BasilicaSt. Peter's Square
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