Vatican museums / Sistine Chapel tour

[kevrosmith]

I booked my tour for June 2015 through Dark Rome Tours, which is now owned by City Wonders tours.

I met the tour guide on the stairs featured in RooFlyer's photos above. We skipped the entrance line to go straight into the Foyer, and then waited there for a moment while our guide went to collect our entrance tickets. We got through security fairly quickly too.

The tour I booked was called "Vatican Semi-Private" and had a meeting time of 8:10am with a duration of 3 hours.

It showed me enough of what a I wanted to see in the Vatican: there's lots of money in that small area of land, while plenty of children are dying in the world.

 

[RooFlyer]

I just found the name of the local tour group who hosted my 'Early Access' and 'Gardens etc' Vatican tours - it was Carrani Tours (booked through CIT Travel in Australia). Tours themselves were good, but organisation was bad.

 

[Pushka]

I booked my tour for June 2015 through Dark Rome Tours, which is now owned by City Wonders tours.

I met the tour guide on the stairs featured in RooFlyer's photos above. We skipped the entrance line to go straight into the Foyer, and then waited there for a moment while our guide went to collect our entrance tickets. We got through security fairly quickly too.

The tour I booked was called "Vatican Semi-Private" and had a meeting time of 8:10am with a duration of 3 hours.

It showed me enough of what a I wanted to see in the Vatican: there's lots of money in that small area of land, while plenty of children are dying in the world.

Cant disagree there. Last week as our bus was pointed at the Basilica MrP commented at how we were looking at one of the world centres of corruption. And I think maybe even the locals are starting to move towards making the Catholic Church pay tax.

 

[lmere12]

I've done the Scavi Tour twice. It goes under St Peters about 3 levels. Very interesting tour

 

[amaroo]

I've done the Scavi Tour twice. It goes under St Peters about 3 levels. Very interesting tour

Looks really good. Pity the kids are <15

 

[Radio8tiv]

I was there in January and we did the Vatican breakfast tour, booked it directly at the site for the Vatican, it was great, only the three of us and two others. We went in an hour before the crowd and had breakfast below the Vatican then we were let loose ( as I didn't get a tour) still way before the public had access, we were pretty much alone in the Vatican and later the Sistine chapel. It cost a bit more for the breakfast but was definately worth it to avoid the crowds.

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceTipoVisita=175&step=2

 

[amaroo]

I was there in January and we did the Vatican breakfast tour, booked it directly at the site for the Vatican, it was great, only the three of us and two others. We went in an hour before the crowd and had breakfast below the Vatican then we were let loose ( as I didn't get a tour) still way before the public had access, we were pretty much alone in the Vatican and later the Sistine chapel. It cost a bit more for the breakfast but was definately worth it to avoid the crowds.

Vatican Museums - Online Ticket Office

I'm in two minds about booking a private tour for the Vatican. We're going to be there a few days before x-mas so I'm thinking the numbers could be low however, they could be high We were in Paris at the same time in 2011 and the number of tourists in the city was amazing.

The main plus for a tour is the direct access to the Basilica ... if the numbers are high I'm thinking it might be the best deal going around.

 

[Pushka]

If you take the group exit in the Sistine Chapel (door on right) you have direct access to the Basilica. The group exit isn't just for Vatican sponsored tours but Ship Excursion tours as an example also use this exit.

 

[amaroo]

Can almost taste it...

[video=youtube;mJvfGm08-xE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJvfGm08-xE[/video]

 

[Pushka]

Can almost taste it...

[video=youtube;mJvfGm08-xE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJvfGm08-xE[/video]

Thats not a true video. There are no queues!

 

[JessicaTam]

Thats not a true video. There are no queues!

Or hawkers.

 

[Radio8tiv]

Or hawkers.

lol yeah get ready for the "one euro, one euro, one euro" sellers

if your going to see the colosseum, I would suggest checking out the underground and third ring tour,
once again I booked directly at the official site
Colosseum - Rome - Official Ticket Office

 

[amaroo]

Thats not a true video. There are no queues!

You can pay to avoid that problem..

 

[Radio8tiv]

Yes you can get skip the line tickets, also the tour ticket is in a time slot so it will let you in to participate in the tour
if your in Rome a few days also look into the Roma pass, it might save a few dollars
just note however if your not doing the tour, the colosseum only allows 3k people in at a time so even with skip the line tickets you may need to wait

 

[RooFlyer]

If you take the group exit in the Sistine Chapel (door on right) you have direct access to the Basilica. The group exit isn't just for Vatican sponsored tours but Ship Excursion tours as an example also use this exit.

Or single visitors, like me. Just tag onto the end of a tour group. Easy!

Thats not a true video. There are no queues!

(re the Colosseum )

You can pay to avoid that problem..

Or simply turn up 30 mins before opening. Well, OK, I joined a queue of 3 in the 'no tickets' line then! By opening time, this queue had grown to about 25; the 'have tickets' queue was about 40 long!

 

[Pushka]

You can pay to avoid that problem..

Yep. We did that. I'm surprised (but not unhappy) that most people don't.

 

[Pushka]

Or single visitors, like me. Just tag onto the end of a tour group. Easy!

Yes. We had taken a cruise excursion of just their private train, so we had a 'number' sticker on. Very easy for us to pass right on through.

 

[amaroo]

(re the Colosseum )

Great vid about things other than mainstream tourist sites ... more about food, drinks and off the beaten track. My kind of touring

simply turn up 30 mins before opening. Well, OK, I joined a queue of 3 in the 'no tickets' line then! By opening time, this queue had grown to about 25; the 'have tickets' queue was about 40 long!

Like your style. Thinking about doing the same.