Visit the splendor of the Rome of the Popes through a Vatican Museums tour!
The Vatican Museums in Rome are among the most visited museums in the world. Every year, about 7 million tourists come to the Eternal City to admire the masterpieces exhibited in the 7 km of museum halls and corridors. To date, they are the fourth most visited museum in the world, cementing their position as the most popular museum on the Italian peninsula.
To make sure that you miss nothing during your time in the Vatican City, it is best to take part in a Vatican Museums tour to avoid wasting too much time in queues or on attractions that hold less interest. Only a specialized tour operator can help you make the most of your Vatican adventure. That’s where we’re here to help!
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The Vatican City and its masterpieces
Any traveler in Rome should start at the Holy of Holies of the Catholic Church: the Vatican City. The smallest independent state in the world cannot but impress with such household name attractions as Saint Peter’s Basilica, the omnipresent Dome of which was designed by none other than Michelangelo. and the stunning, colonnaded Saint Peter’s Square, designed by Bernini and containing an obelisk in the centre brought to Rome by the emperor Caligula.
But these sites are just the warm-up for the infinitely impressive art collection housed within the Vatican Museums.
The Vatican Museums are partly housed in the Vatican Palace, a group of interconnected buildings also housing the Pope’s apartment, the offices of the Secretariate of State, and reception rooms and halls. The rest is devoted largely to the Vatican Archive and the Vatican Library.
The Vatican Museums are made up of a number of small museums and palaces and house one of the world’s most important collections of art and antiquities. The collection includes priceless objects from ancient Egypt and classical antiquity as well as works of art from the Renaissance, up to the 19th century.
Among the palaces there is the famous Sistine Chapel, a monumental work of humanity that you must see at least once in your life. The Vatican has twelve museums, representing five galleries and 1,400 rooms. Here are some of our highlights for your Vatican Museums tour:
- The Pio-Clementino Museum is one of the most famous, as well as the largest complex of the Vatican Museums. Located in the small Belvedere Palace, consisting of a dozen rooms, it houses important collections from the Greek and Roman periods, including some masterpieces of world art. You’ll find statues of emperors adorned as gods, ornate ancient bathtubs, and a range of divine marble sculptures. Yet the main draw of this museum is the pathos-evoking statue of the Trojan priest Laocoon, struggling with a sea serpent to save his sons.
- The Pinacoteca, designed by the architect Beltrami, is located in a building dating from 1932 and linked to the Museums by a majestic portal. Deriving its name from the picture galleries of the ancient world, the Pinacoteca houses an enviable collection of almost 500 paintings, taking you on an unforgettable journey through the history of art from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries.
- Don’t miss the rarest and most visually immersive cartographic set in the world: the Gallery of Maps. This beautifully frescoed 16th-century collection contains forty topographical maps of the Italian regions and of the territories of the Church. While wandering down this stunning hallway, see if you can spot Rome’s main attractions – the Colosseum, Pantheon, and, of course, your accommodation!
- Many rooms and chapels within the museum are decorated by the works of such master artists as Fra Angelico, Pinturicchio, Raphael, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci. Some of Michelangelo’s greatest paintings decorate the ceiling and one large wall of the Sistine Chapel. Yet perhaps the most awe-inspiring (and often-overlooked) section of the Vatican Museums are known after his rival who decorated its walls – the Raphael Rooms.
Walks Inside Rome: travel services and guided tours
Walks Inside Rome is a family-run company of travel services and guided tours which was established in Rome over 20 years ago.
We are a specialized tour operator to guarantee you the best tours in Rome for private tours or small-group tours. All our tours can be combined and customized to meet your needs and interests.
Booking your guided Vatican Museums tour
If you want to absorb more than 2,000 years of Rome’s history and culture, entrust your experience to one of our licensed expert guides. The advantages are clear: instead of searching for works and specific sites for hours on end in the museums, you’ll be guided through the main sites. In this way you can learn significantly more about the works than when you go through museums alone.
Come to visit the Italian capital and enjoy the splendor of the Rome of the Popes on your own private Vatican Musuems tour. Our dedicated guides, experts in their field and fluent in English, have selected the very best of the Vatican’s collection, and condensed it down to craft your perfect itinerary.
We are open 7 days a week. Contact us if you have any questions, or want any more information about our services. You can fill out the form on our website, send us an email, call us or chat with us on WhatsApp.
We look forward to meeting you soon so we can start exploring Rome together!