As you pass the tall, looming walls in Rome that hold the Vatican City on the other side, you can practically feel the effects of stepping into another city.
The buildings and monuments shine with a pearly sheen, glittering under the sun.
The gaze is met with the most sacred of art and Catholic architecture, with St. Peter’s basilica standing in all it grandeur on St. Peter’s square designed by Bernini, and with the nearby Vatican Museums with which is attached the sublime Sistine Chapel.
This article gives you suggestions for the best guided tours of Vatican City. Read ahead to determine which ones seem to be the best fit for you, or that capture your imagination the most.
Early morning Vatican tour
The symphony of the chirping birds has just started as you step into Vatican City after the dawn breaks. The expansive collections held within the famed museums are for you to enjoy alone, without masses of crowds bustling all around you, dampening your experience. The crisp morning air welcomes you as you stand before St Peter’s Basilica on an incredibly designed square by Bernini. You enter the basilica to marvel at all its splendour; all of this is done during the early rays of the day.
This tour is for you if: You would prefer to visit Vatican City in total tranquility.
Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum express tour
You have reached one of your dream destinations, and you can hardly believe it! Here in Rome there is so much to see. With the few days you have available, you want to make sure you can extract the most potential out of your trip. Visiting Vatican City is a non-negotiable, but you want to determine that you can visit the other wonders of Rome as well.
Our guides are aware of such desires and can tailor your Vatican tour to expertly guide you through the museums and the glorious Sistine Chapel. They would omit entrance into St. Peter’s Basilica to shave some time off your tour, but will end on the square so you still have a chance to marvel at the exterior of the basilica.
This tour is for you if: You would like to optimize your time in Rome.
Vatican gardens tour
Although much less opted for, the combination of visiting the Vatican gardens as well as the museums is an electrifying experience! Imagine wandering around winding paths to discover English, French and Italian-style gardens, accentuated with the soundscapes of murmuring fountains and breezes swifting through leaves.
There are a myriad of focal points in the Vatican gardens such as Lourde’s Grotto, Tower of St. John, Casino Pio IV, the Vatican heliport and the Rose Garden. After your guide has fully immersed you in the histories of the landscape design of these grounds, you will then have entrance into the Vatican Museums.
This tour is for you if: You would like to immerse yourself in both the art and the nature of the sacred Vatican City.
Treasure hunt at the Vatican (for kids)
The reality of exploring Rome is underway, and behind ancient walls lies the Vatican City which is another dream within a dream. However, you are worried about whether the entire family will be able to enjoy the sacredness of the city-state. Will the children get bored during the extensive stretch that exploring the Vatican is?
We have devised an approach to the Vatican for the kids. Our expert guides will accompany them through a treasure hunt with enthralling gamified activities! With clues and riddles to follow and solve, your younger ones will gallop toward discovering art and artifacts, hence getting familiarized with some of the most iconic symbols of Vatican history.
This tour includes making a stop at the Sistine Chapel as well as putting a fun, educational spin on St. Peter’s Basilica.
This tour is for you if: You are traveling as a family and would like to have a different experience while also involving your children in an active way.
Vatican tour for kids with mummies and popemobile
This tour is an alternative to the treasure hunt, yet it holds a lot of the same qualites: Gripping and fast-paced through the use of gamified activities to make the Vatican all the more memorable!
Your guide will sprinkle in fun facts throughout as they lead your children in and out of the doors of the world’s most famous Catholic site. There will be special emphasis on the mummies in the Egyptian Museum, as they always seem to capture the imagination. Other important stops will consist of the Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of the Maps and of course, the magnificent Sistine Chapel.
The most unique aspect of this tour however is showing the children the popemobile, which is a motor vehicle that is specifically designed to be used by the pope for special public appearances! With the popemobile being likened to the Batmobile, your little ones will be enthralled by its unique look and uses.
This tour is for you if: You are looking for a family-friendly option for journeying Vatican City.
Vatican tour by night
The Vatican at night creates an atmosphere that is undeniably steeped in serenity. The torchlit ambiance lends even more allure to the experience of drifting from hall to hall in the museums to see the Catholic Church’s extraordinary art collection. With St. Peter’s Basilica being closed in the evenings, your tour guide will indulge you in extensively answering all your curiosities about the galleries. You will also get to spend more undisturbed time to gaze at Michelangeloe’s wondrous frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
If you wish to do so, an aperitivo can be arranged in the museum’s Courtyard of the Pine. You can enjoy some drinks under a dark, inky sky and all the while be surrounded by the architecture of the Vatican.
This tour is for you if: You would like to discover the Vatican and its architecture under a new perspective.
