Visit the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Basilica in the company of a local, expert guide on this great 3-hour private tour. With skip-the-line access you miss the queues and have more time to see the impressive artworks like Raphael’s famous masterpieces, the Parnassus and The School of Athens, the marvelous frescoes by Michelangelo, Botticelli and other Renaissance painters.
As this is a private tour you go at your own pace and gain access to some of the smaller rooms not available to the large groups.
Departure Point: Vatican Museums Entrance, at the stairs under the big white monumental door with statues. Your guide will be holding a sign with your name on it.
You meet your guide for either a 9.00 am or 2.00 pm start and head directly for the Belvedere Courtyard. Then it is on to the largest collection of ancient Roman and Greek statues in the Pio-Clementino Museums. As you meander through the collections your guide will share the history and many anecdotes about the wonderful treasures to be seen. Hear about the tapestries in the Gallery of Tapestries and the largest collection of Renaissance Maps in the world housed in the Gallery of Maps. See the largest canvas in the Vatican in the Sobiesky Room and learn about the frescoes in the Immaculate Conception Rooms.
You will also see Raphael’s famous masterpieces, the Parnassus and The School of Athens. These are displaced in the rooms painted for Pope Julius II by the young Raphael and are considered some of his very best works.
Before you enter the Sistine Chapel (no talking is allowed inside) your guide will tell you about the marvelous frescoes by Michelangelo, Botticelli and other Renaissance painter of the day. The chapel is also where the conclave is held to elect a new Pope. Hear all about this as well as many other interest facts and anecdotes.
It is then time for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica where you will explore the numerous side chapels with their hidden crypts. You will see Michelangelo’s Pietà and your guide will explain why this is the only work that he signed. You will gain an appreciation of the mastery that went into the creation of Bernini’s altarpiece and learn how Michelangelo triumphed over his contemporaries for the honour to paint St. Peter’s magnificent dome.
The tour will end in the magnificent Saint Peter's Square
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
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This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
You will not receive a refund if you cancel.
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