Early Access Vatican Gold Tour

• Skip the line tickets - NO LINES!
• A highlights visit to the museum's three main galleries
• Exclusive access to the Sistine Chapel
• Access to St. Peter's Basilica & Papal Tombs
• A hand-picked and professional English-speaking Guide

COMPARE ALL VATICAN TOURS

Highlights of the Vatican Museums

As seasoned tour guides in Rome, we know the Vatican Museums like the backs of our hands. This means that we know exactly what works of art and which galleries you absolutely must see on a visit to Vatican City. After entering at 7:30 am like a celebrity, follow your guide through the Candelabra Gallery, Gallery of the Tapestries and Gallery of Maps. Admire the ancient Roman and Greek statues, the Flemish tapestries created by Raphael's students and the gorgeous topographical depictions of Italy. You'll hear all about the best of these treasures from your expert guide.

Enjoy the Sistine Chapel with NO CROWDS

See the Sistine Chapel at its finest, with almost no one else around. Since we are one of the very few companies to be granted this rare andexclusive early morning entrance, you get to visit the Sistine Chapel in total peace and serenity. If you've ever seen the Sistine Chapel during normal hours, then you know what an incredible opportunity this is. As you turn your eyes skyward to take in the hundreds of biblical figures depicted in intricate detail, along with Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, take note of the absence of crowds. It's in this Chapel, surrounded the wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling frescoes, that new popes are elected.

The Sistine Chapel is a place of worship, therefore, speaking inside is not allowed. Since our guide cannot explain the frescoes while you are inside, we explain the Chapel in advance and provide you with a map/handout for reference before you enter. Men and women must cover their knees and shoulders before entering. We understand the summers in Rome get hot, a good alternative is to bring a scarf or shawl to cover up with before you enter.

St. Peter's Basilica and Bernini's Baldacchino

Did you know St. Peter's Basilica took 120 years to build? Now's your chance to skip the line and enter through a special door to continue your ultimate VIP Vatican tour. Contrary to other Vatican tours, this exclusive tour allows you to see how the chapel sounds and looks when mass is taking place. This because the Vatican Gold Tour enters at a time when mass often takes place. In order to respect those taking part in mass, it's not possible for guides to speak inside the Basilica at this time of the morning. Because of this, your guide will explain St. Peter's Basilica and the Papal Tombs before the group enters the church.

Designed by Renaissance architects including Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Michelangelo and Donato Bramante, St. Peter's is the largest church in the world. It is here that The Pietà and the Baldacchino are housed. Located right below the dome of St. Peter's and above the papal altar, the Baldacchino by Bernini stands 29 meters tall. Then, you are free to go beneath the floor and visit the final resting place of hundreds of popes (and one Swedish queen!), inside the Papal Tombs. 

If your Vatican tour lands on a Wednesday, St. Peter's is not open for tours due to the weekly Papal Audience. On this occasion, your guide will take you to visit even more masterpieces and hidden gems inside the Vatican Museums.

Important: Remember, it isn’t possible to return to the Vatican Museums from St. Peter’s Basilica. If you want more time inside the museums, you must forgo the visit to St Peter's Basilica. Also, if you’d like to stay in St. Peter's Basilica longer, don't leave with the guide to take photos in the piazza. Because the security line is long and re-entry on your own is not recommended, we suggest you spend at least 30 minutes inside St. Peter’s and explore on your own after the tour concludes on the terrace outside.