Vatican Tickets & Tour: Sistine Chapel & Raphael Rooms - Skip the Line

Highlights

• Guaranteed Skip-the-Line Access
• Expert Art Historian Guide
• Essential Vatican Treasures

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Vatican Museums

   1h

   You meet with your guide at the entrance to the Museums and with privileged access by-pass the queues and head inside.  You can leave your belongings in the cloakroom and take a comfort break before starting the tour. The visit begins in the rooms that hold ancient Roman and Greek artworks collected from excavations in the city of Rome.  When the Popes ruled Central Italy the Vatican had the rights to all finds.  Your guide will take you to see the most interesting of these including the Belvedere Apollo, the Torso, the busts of Claudius and Hadrian and the sarcophagi of Helen and Constance, the mother and daughter of Emperor Constantine.Next on the itinerary is a visit to the Room of Animals and the Gallery of Candelabra where you walk over rare Roman mosaics and come face-to-face with the magnificent statues of Diana of Ephesus, the Muses and many Greek philosophers.

2. 2

   Stanze di Raffaello

   30min

   You then proceed to the Gallery of Tapestries, the Sobieski Hall and Raphael’s Rooms.  The latter were the private apartments of Pope Julius II and were painted by Raphael and his disciples.  Here you will see two of the painter’s most famous masterpieces, the Parnassus and The School of Athens.

3. 3

   Sistine Chapel

   30min

   The highlight of any tour is of course the famous Sistine Chapel, Italy’s most visited site.  Your guide will tell you all about Michelangelo’s frescoes, The Last Judgment, the Creation of Adam and the Genesis as well as details of the Stories of Moses and Jesus painted by Botticelli, Perugino and other famous Renaissance masters.  Still in use today, the Sistine Chapel is where the conclave takes place to elect a new Pope.  Listen to anecdotes and some well-kept secrets about this amazing place.

4. 4

   St. Peter's Basilica

   30min

   It is then time for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica where you will explore the numerous side chapels with their hidden crypts. You will see Michelangelo’s Pietà and your guide will explain why this is the only work that he signed. You will gain an appreciation of the mastery that went into the creation of Bernini’s altarpiece and learn how Michelangelo triumphed over his contemporaries for the honour to paint St. Peter’s magnificent dome.

5. 5

   St. Peter's Square

   30min

   The tour will end in Saint Peter's Square

Before you go

Location