Vatican museums / Sistine Chapel tour

[Pushka]

Just had to pop in here and mention we are in Rome right now.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Just had to pop in here and mention we are in Rome right now.

Enjoy; and is the scaffolding still hiding the Trevi?

 

[amaroo]

Jeez there is some $$ difference between tour operators ... found one that starts at 8am which I understand is 1hr before general opening.

The tour to Pompeii/Amalfi is also throwing up some big $$ differentials. Pays to do some research.

 

[RooFlyer]

Things may have changed of course; may also be seasonal differences but the 'Early Access' tour I did - which was definitely the very first group in - started at 7:45am (through the doors, into the ticket lobby).

 

[amaroo]

Things may have changed of course; may also be seasonal differences but the 'Early Access' tour I did - which was definitely the very first group in - started at 7:45am (through the doors, into the ticket lobby).

Good to know. This one "promises" an 8am start in the Sistine Chapel...is there a difference ?

 

[Pushka]

Enjoy; and is the scaffolding still hiding the Trevi?

Will find out tonight. Catching up with friends we made on the cruise at 7pm.
Colosseum is under repair also.

Sistine Chapel closed due to PH today. Vatican Square packed as was the Colosseum.

 

[RooFlyer]

Good to know. This one "promises" an 8am start in the Sistine Chapel...is there a difference ?

I find it difficult to see how any tour could 'start' in the Sistine Chapel. Once you go through the door off the street, there is a large security / ticket lobby. On both tours I did, once we went through the door, and then security, we were told to wait while the organiser got the physical tickets from one of the many booths in the lobby. In the meantime there were toilets and water vending machines etc.

For the first tour, the gardens one, we were then introduced to our guide and we set off towards the gardens after about 15 minutes in the lobby (including getting audio receivers). This was not an 'early' tour.

One the second tour, 'early access', we were led through the door at 7:45 sharp, did security and once the organiser got the tickets, we were led up an escalator (IIRC) to a check-point where the tickets were scanned and we were given maps and then it was 'off you go' (no guide). It then took about 10 minutes of fast walking via the route I got from the previous day, to reach the entrance of the Sistine Chapel. By that time yes, it would have been about 8am (but probably more like 8:10 or so) but only a few of us made it to the Sistine in the first 20 mins or so (which was great); I think most of the others got 'lost'.

If they promise to get you into the Sistine by 8am, I'd say its an 'early' one and a likely 'starter' for you. But of course check details. When we marched in at 7:45, we passed about 8 or so other tour groups in the rope lines immediately outside the doors on the street. They were all 'early' tours, but not the first!

This is the blurb I got from my TA on this tour. This is CIT tours in Australia, but the actual tour was run by some local mob.


[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
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EXCLUSIVE PARTNER S EARLY ACCESS SISTINE CHAPEL & VATICAN MUSEUM TICKETS​

[/TD]
[/TR]
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Tour 3 E AM
** Exclusive Partners entrance
** Be part of the firstgroup enteringwith your map and Audioguide
** Great DVD as a memorabilla


Enter into the Sistine Chapel as aVIP!With privileged access to the Sistine Chapel 15 minutes before over tourgroups and 1 hour and 15 minutes before the general public, you ll have thechance to admire the Michelangelo s masterpiece with only a few other luckypeople.

With the aid of a map of the Museumsand your exhaustive pre-recorded audioguide you ll feel free to explore all theVatican Museums at your own pace.Special tickets include the DVD Art and Faithwith a full description of the Vatican city in several languages.

Includes:
Noline partner s entrance ticket
AudioGuide Device with more than 400 comments
Mapof the Vatican Museums
Vatican TreasuresVD

Does not include:
  Pickup and drop off service, extras

Departures: every day except Sunday at 7.45 am
Blackout dates: Dec 8, 25-26; Jan 1,6; Feb 11, Mar 19, Apr 21, May 1, Aug 14-15.

Meeting point:
Steps near Caffe Vaticano on VialeVaticano 100 opposite side of the Vatican Museums entrance, at 7.20 to 7.30 am.

 

[Pushka]

Enjoy; and is the scaffolding still hiding the Trevi?

A little sob

As if

But your focus turns to the beautiful facade.

 

[Jacques Vert]

A little sob
View attachment 54154

We were there in Nov last year and I seem to remember a bit more scaffolding so maybe they are getting close to finishing: another year or two?

 

[amaroo]

I find it difficult to see how any tour could 'start' in the Sistine Chapel. .

<snip>

Looks like I got a little excited with start times Your experience sounds a lot like the tour I'm looking at (also Pompeii options) Early morning vatican Tour

 

[RooFlyer]

I read that as you will get access to the Museum complex at 8:00am; not sure what 7:20 refers to (hotel collection?). If so, I think it would be one of the rope line tours that was waiting when we entered at 7:45 and you'd get in well before the hoards, but may be in 'competition' with a couple of other 8:00am groups.

Obviously its a guided tour, with them taking you straight to the Sistine after security, ticketing etc, as opposed to mine, which was unguided.

Do you intend doing the trip to the top of the dome? If so, you might want to ask them how you can do that after your tour, without joining the huge line from St Peter's Square. I explained above that there is an exit out of the back of the Sistine to short-circuit the long line to go up the dome, but your tour can't do that, as the Sistine is your first port of call and you'll exit the Sistine back into the Museum complex. Your tour, like most will end within St Peter's ... I think usually they give you a tour of the church inside, then leave you to your own devices, and you exit down the stairs into St Peter's Square. You may be able to join the Dome queue after leaving St Peter's (but before exiting into the Square), but then I can't see why hundreds wouldn't do that, and make the queue inoperable (not that that seems to be a problem in Italy in general ).

 

[Jacques Vert]

You may be able to join the Dome queue after leaving St Peter's (but before exiting into the Square), but then I can't see why hundreds wouldn't do that, and make the queue inoperable (not that that seems to be a problem in Italy in general ).

Yes indeed, we did just that last year. I didn't see any more than 3 or 4 others go from the Basilica to the Dome over a 5 minute period; no idea why. It worked out to be a good option.

 

[amaroo]

I read that as you will get access to the Museum complex at 8:00am; not sure what 7:20 refers to (hotel collection?). If so, I think it would be one of the rope line tours that was waiting when we entered at 7:45 and you'd get in well before the hoards, but may be in 'competition' with a couple of other 8:00am groups.

Obviously its a guided tour, with them taking you straight to the Sistine after security, ticketing etc, as opposed to mine, which was unguided.

Do you intend doing the trip to the top of the dome? If so, you might want to ask them how you can do that after your tour, without joining the huge line from St Peter's Square. I explained above that there is an exit out of the back of the Sistine to short-circuit the long line to go up the dome, but your tour can't do that, as the Sistine is your first port of call and you'll exit the Sistine back into the Museum complex. Your tour, like most will end within St Peter's ... I think usually they give you a tour of the church inside, then leave you to your own devices, and you exit down the stairs into St Peter's Square. You may be able to join the Dome queue after leaving St Peter's (but before exiting into the Square), but then I can't see why hundreds wouldn't do that, and make the queue inoperable (not that that seems to be a problem in Italy in general ).

Yes for the Cupola. Have asked Q's with another operator, they highlighted the secret door...

The Vatican is vast and complex making it easy to get lost and miss the most important works of art and their significance. Also, the short cut access from Sistine Chapel to St Peter's Basilica is accessible only by official guided groups as the signage indicates at the doorway. If you choose to self tour and you are denied access by the security guards

 

[Jacques Vert]

Just make sure you avoid Wednesday mornings because if the Pope is in town he will be saying Mass and you will be joined by 10,000+ others; unless you want to see Papa, of course.

 

[RooFlyer]

Some images to help those who might be contemplating this in the future.

The first pair was takenprior to my 7:45 entrance tour, 15th July last year (ie peak season). The 'steps meeting area' on the left is almost deserted at 7:30am. It quickly fills up and you really need your tour person to stand out. On the right, pic taken 7:40am, showing what I'm calling the tour 'rope lines' waiting for 8:00am entrances. amaroo, if you are getting picked up and dropped off, I'm not sure if you will be required to join the rope lines or not. I suspect so.



The following pics were taken in the security/ticket lobby after I entered the day before, at 8:15am with my other tour. You can see already how crowded it is with 'VIP' early groups . Groups milling around waiting for their tickets to be got and for audio guides to be handed out.

 

[amaroo]

Narrowing the list down.

Just about every operator I've researched is a CC free zone, it's either cash :shock: or paypal with a fee. The fee is tour price + ~ 3% .... does paypal charge additional fees (buyers) for ex-rates/charges for purchases in foreign currency? Bit of a paypal newbie

 

[amaroo]

Narrowing the list down.

Just about every operator I've researched is a CC free zone, it's either cash :shock: or paypal with a fee. The fee is tour price + ~ 3% .... does paypal charge additional fees (buyers) for ex-rates/charges for purchases in foreign currency? Bit of a paypal newbie

Unsurprisingly, the fees look like a rip-off

[TABLE="class: table1, width: 1150"]
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[TH="align: left"]To all other currencies[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]4% above the exchange rate[/TD]
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Looks like you also cop a double whammy fee from your CC - another 3% on top?

So a €710 tour ends up costing >$120 in fees. Decided I'll be happy to support the great Mediterranean tax dodging economy by paying cash!

 

[amaroo]

We've selected our tour of Pompeii and Sorrento (from Rome) https://www.toursofpompeii.com will report back once completed.

 

[RooFlyer]

Good Trip Advisor rating .

 

[amaroo]

Good Trip Advisor rating .

Tried my best to combined a Vatican and Pompeii tour with one operator however, the Romans wanted to charge an additional €90-€500 for the Pompeii experience. Wasn't a difficult decision to split the tours and go with a local operator.