Rome: Complete Early Morning Vatican Tour | Small Group

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!

The activity starts directly at our office located conveniently very close to the Museums' entrance.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• 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 on this tour.
• A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements.
• Please plan on being at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the start time.
• 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.

• Sistine Chapel & Pinacoteca
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  Duration: 3 hours: Admire the amazing Vatican Pinacoteca in this Wednesday's Special itinerary.
  Museums & Sistine Chapel: St.Peter's Basilica cannot be included on Wednesdays due to the General Audience held by the Pope.
  Before the Crowds Early Entry: EXCLUSIONS: -St.Peter's Basilica
• Complete Early Morning Tour
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• 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
• Small group
• Expert English-speaking tour guide
• Early entrance guaranteed

• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Gratuites

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PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT INFO: • 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. • 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 or walkers on this tour. Please note that a group tour is rather fast-paced so in case of any mobility issues we recommend booking a private tour so you can go at your own pace. • We are unable to accommodate late arrivals due to the time entrance for the Vatican Museums. Missed tours or tickets due to late arrivals are non-refundable. • Please allow extra time to reach the meeting point, our office at Via Santamaura 14-b, streets of Rome can be confusing! The meeting time is 15 minutes before the start time. • If you have any difficulty finding the meeting point or if you have any other issue requiring urgent attention, please call us at +39 06 89111009. • All participants need to cover their knees and shoulders when entering the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. • Please notice that What a Life Tours is not responsible for the number of visitors the Vatican Museums allow inside. • No pictures or videos in the Sistine Chapel! Also, guides are not allowed to speak there under any circumstance. Staff is required to enforce the rule strictly. Please be understanding of these rules, meant to safeguard the chapel, the sacrality of the site, and also our guides who risk suspension if they are reported to the museums' management. Thank you, we look forward to meeting you!

Please be advised..

• This Tour is Provided by What a Life Tours.
• Tour Timezone & Starts at Europe/Rome.
• Mobile or paper ticket accepted.
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• This Tour is Rated 5 Stars based on 1526 valid reviews on VIATOR.
• Minimum 1 Travelers is required to book.
• Maximum 6 Travelers is accepted for booking.