Available languages
3 hours 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Meet at our comfortable offices less than a block from the museum entrance. Join our small group Vatican tour in the early morning with a top-notch tour guide and get the earliest entrance available to the museums, Sistine Chapel & Raphael Rooms. In a small group, you will be able to discover with no rush the extraordinary abundance of history and art.
Your guide will tour you through these corridors and halls, pointing out the exhibits on display. Once through, the Sistine Chapel awaits you.
The finale of our early entry Vatican tours culminates in St. Peter’s Basilica. Majestic and inspired, it is the perfect place to come full circle on the morning’s itinerary. Feast your eyes on Michelangelo’s Pietà and admire the stunning interior of the dome he designed, as well as Bernini’s massive bronze baldachin sitting over the Pope’s private alter directly above St. Peter’s tomb and other little-known details that can only be spotted when inside!
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
MEETING POINT IS VIA SANTAMAURA 14B, What A Life Tours
Under 18s aged 0-6 must book as "Child", under 18s aged 7-17 must book as "Youth". This is the age they will be on the day of the tour with us. Failure to book correctly will mean we cannot get your child inside the museums.
The ticket is valid only for the date and time reserved. We are unable to accommodate late arrivals due to a time entrance of the Vatican Museums tour voucher. Missed tours or tickets due to late arrivals are non-refundable. Please allow extra time to reach the meeting point as Rome's streets can be confusing. Meeting time is 15 minutes before the start time of the tour.
A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. ALL participants MUST cover their knees and shoulders. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements.
While the Vatican Museums are equipped with elevators for wheelchair access, they are not conveniently located on the group tour route and only give access to specific sections of the Museums. As a result, we cannot accommodate wheelchairs/walkers on this tour.
Please remember to bring with you a valid ID document for all participants.
We cannot accommodate service animals.
Please notice that we are not responsible for the number of visitors the Vatican Museums allow inside.
Large umbrellas are not permitted, please leave these at your accommodation.
No pictures, videos, or even speaking is allowed in the Sistine Chapel.
We recommend that you bring your own headphones as the ones provided by the Vatican have a single earpiece only, and you may prefer to use both earbuds to hear the guide better.
St. Peter's Basilica is an active parish and therefore subject to last-minute closures due to mass or other religious events. In these cases, we will offer an extended tour of the Vatican Museums (including areas normally not part of the tour). Please note that 2025 is the Jubilee year, closures of St. Peter's Basilica can happen anytime without further notice. No refunds are recognized for unexpected closures.
Powerbanks are not permitted inside the museums, please leave these at your accommodations.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Meet your guide at our comfortable offices near the Museums' entrance
Skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica
Headsets to hear the guide
Entry to the Sistine Chapel
Small group
Expert English-speaking tour guide
3.5-hour guided tour
Early entrance guaranteed
Hotel pickup and drop-off
The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums' entrance.
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums feature many works of art that belonged to the different Popes and are full of artistic beauty. Here is a glimpse of some of the most beautiful things to see in the Vatican Museums. Rooms and Galleries of the Vatican Museums, as the Greek Cross Room, the Gallery of Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries, Raphael Rooms and much more! From a relatively small collection of statues brought in by Julius II, it grew into a gigantic museum to a point that nobody even knows how many items are kept in the vaults and galleries of the Vatican.
Duration: 3 hours: Admire the amazing Vatican Pinacoteca in this Wednesday's Special itinerary.
Museums & Sistine Chapel: Please note this tour does not include St. Peter's Basilica but will go to the marvelous Pinacoteca instead.
Before the Crowds Early Entry: EXCLUSIONS:
-St.Peter's Basilica
1,871 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Kasey H,
Jul 4, 2025
- Viator
We were so very lucky to get Elaine as our Vatican guide, she has a passion for her job and it shines in how she is able to explain the artwork and events that have happened in the Vatican. 10/10 for the morning, she did a great job of getting us in quickly and that helped out so much with the crowds. She is from the UK and with us from America that helped with being able to understand her English which was very helpful. She is full of little bits of knowledge that I am sure very few know which made for a wonderful tour.
Bill M,
Jul 2, 2025
- Viator
We had a small group tour and the experience was fantastic. I highly recommend this tour and the lady we had as a tour guide was so articulate and extremely knowledgeable. Well worth it.
Megan P,
Jul 1, 2025
- Viator
The tour guide walked at a pretty good clip and we made our way through the Vatican museums, Sistine chapel and St. Peter’s basilica. The tour felt rushed at times in order to see everything.
Nicole C,
Jun 28, 2025
- Viator
The Vatican museums can be an overwhelming experience. We booked the early morning entry tour and I am so glad we did. We were in Rome as the busy tourist season was beginning in late June. We were one if the 1st groups into the museum and had a wonderful, self-titled geek guide, Elaine, who was very knowledgeable and more passionate about her job than anyone would think possible. I am definitely glad we did this tour. It was well worth the money, despite the heat wave that made it challenging at times.
Jessica K,
Jun 27, 2025
- Viator
Elaine brought so much wonderful energy to our early morning tour of the Vatican! She was an expert at navigating our group through the sites and truly brought the stories and history behind everything we saw to life. We had a perfect group size of 12 and the early morning entry meant we didn’t have to do too much waiting or dodging crowds. Elaine’s tour was organized, engaging, thoroughly informative, and even humorous at times. It was a great, memorable experience!
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