Rome: Complete Early Morning Vatican Tour | Small Group

based on 1358 reviews

Duration:3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Location: Rome, Italy

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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 early entrance to the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums & 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!

WHAT'S INCLUDED

WHAT TO EXPECT

1.
The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums' entrance.
2.
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.
3.
The Gallery of Maps is a stupendous hallway where geography and history are perfectly intertwined. Created at the end of the 16th century, the entire room is dedicated to customized maps, which display the whole of Italy. On one side of the 393-foot long gallery are two representations of the country: one from the Imperial Roman Era and the other from the 1500s. Each map shows political happenings, religious roles, and major battles. The ceiling is no less remarkable, with frescoed scenes displaying episodes and miraculous events of apostles, saints, and martyrs, which are linked to the geographical maps below.
4.
The world-renowned tapestries adorning the walls of this breathtaking gallery used to hang in the Sistine Chapel until they were moved to their present-day location. The most esteemed pieces of the collection are the carpets based on Raphael’s drawings, depicting crucial scenes from the life of Jesus. Out of these 9 tapestries, we recommend paying some special attention to The Resurrection of Christ, which is woven in many layers, creating a surprising optical illusion as you walk by. It took the weavers 4 years to finalize the masterpiece and they cleverly used materials of different densities in order to obtain the eye-deceiving effect.
5.
Once inside the Vatican Museums, it’s straight to the main event – the Sistine Chapel. Gaze upon Michelangelo’s stupefying ceiling, Creation of Adam and the Last Judgment in awe, sharing the space with your group and a few others. Take your time – and savor each moment – because this is an experience you’ll never want to forget, as you nearly reach out and touch one of humankind’s most astounding creative achievements.
6.
If you thought the size of the Vatican Museums was overwhelmingly spectacular, St. Peter’s Basilica takes the “wow factor” to another level. The sheer capacity of the interiors is enough to leave any visitor searching for words to describe its vastness. At 613 feet long, 85 feet wide and 147 feet high, it took an incredible 120 years to build, starting from 1506. Admire Michelangelo’s unparalleled Pietà masterpiece and stroll towards the center right nave to observe Bernini’s 30-foot high bronze Baldachin, which sits directly atop the site of St. Peter’s tomb.
7.
A visit to Vatican City would not be complete without standing in awe of the beauty in St. Peter’s Square, also known as Piazza San Pietro. This massive square framing St. Peter’s Basilica is the location where the pope holds Wednesday General Audiences and special masses on religious holidays. Besides being an extremely sacred place for the Catholic Church, the square itself features a breathtaking architectural design. During the late 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini erected a series of huge Doric colonnades extending out like arms from the basilica. If you stand in the right spot, the rows that consist of four columns, appear to converge as one. This optical illusion shows the incredible architectural precision of the time! To make the most of your trip to Vatican City, we recommend you join a tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica to learn the grand history behind this marvelous city from an expert guide.
8.
Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It's home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Its Vatican Museums house ancient Roman sculptures such as the famed “Laocoön and His Sons” as well as Renaissance frescoes in the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling.

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Posted By : kgubbs23
Michele, our tour guide through the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica was incredible. His art history knowledge was off the charts and he had so much amazing information about every single piece of art in that whole place! We couldn’t have been more impressed with him and all of the impressive masterpieces of Michelangelo and many more. Definitely rate this tour a five star. Perfect size of group about 15 people. Take this tour!!

Kathryn G.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-07-02 16:04:23

Posted By : TrailBlazer370754
We had the most knowledgeable, animated and Intuitive guide who spoke clearly, who was caring for her guests and who we recommend highly as an ambassador to “What a Life Tours.” Thank you Valentina!
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Posted On : 2024-07-02 08:52:36

Posted By : Tour20114842589
Elaine was absolutely wonderful and made the tour very enjoyable. I especially appreciated her attention to detail and sense of humor.
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Posted On : 2024-07-02 05:14:14

Posted By : Jen_M
Definitely recommend the early morning tour as the line to enter the Vatican without a tour was several hundred people long.
Loved St. Peter’s Basilica and the grounds. The rest of the Vatican is basically a museum with tens of thousands of pieces of art. Didn’t realize this before we went. By the time we got to the Sistene Chapel, it was underwhelming due to all the art we had already seen.
Would definitely recommend visiting the Vatican though, because, how can you not?!?
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Posted On : 2024-07-01 22:11:44

Posted By : Z9709KFcindyw
Sabrina was the ultimate tour guide of the Vatican giving us the most important pieces to look at while avoiding the crowds. Her experience was awesome and we learned so much!!
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Posted On : 2024-06-30 17:49:36

Posted By : 971yulietf
La capilla sixtina una obra de arte totalmente una experiencia que no se puede perder si viene a roma los amantes del buen arte lo agradecerán
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Posted On : 2024-06-30 09:02:50

Posted By : Nancy S
Our guide, Elaine was professional, informative and fun. She smoothly negotiated lines and crowds. We highly recommend this tour.
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Posted On : 2024-06-29 03:18:10

Posted By : Sally_J
It was not too crowded at this time of the day in June. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative. The meeting spot was the office which was easy to find. The lines weren’t very long.
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Posted On : 2024-06-28 08:49:47

Posted By : Rebecca_n
Gabriel was very knowledgeable and took us through the Vatican at a good pace to suit all
Parties.
Highly recommend
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Posted On : 2024-06-28 07:29:45

Posted By : Dana_J
Our guide Ilardia was informative, efficient, and friendly. Choosing to do the 8am tour was the right decision, the crowds were insane.
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Posted On : 2024-06-28 02:16:43