Vatican Guide/No Vatican Guide?

[Adamsbeeb]

We have a rome in limo tour planned for Rome and my group is trying to decide if we need the private (additonal cost) guide for the Vatican. We are all planning on pre-purchasing our tickets on line. How long is the guided tour? If we don't use the guide do we just "follow the crowd".. any information will be helpful.

[cruisemom42]

Unless you plan to research the museum in advance and/or have been there before, I'd recommend a guide for most people. The museum is large and there is a lot to see. A good guide will lead you to the key pieces in the huge collections and will put everything in context for you.

[Hlitner]

We have been through the Vatican Museum several times both with and without guides. A guide is fine if you want to get through in a relatively short time and focus on the highlights. However, this is also the negative about guides. We actually enjoy the Vatican more when we are on our own since we can really take our time. There are many excellent guide books for the Vatican as well as audio tours. Since most cruise passengers are trying to see lots of things in a few hours a guide might make more sense (plus some tours can bypass the entry lines). For those staying in Rome that have extra time you might find it more beneficial to do it on your own.

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

We have been through the Vatican Museum several times both with and without guides. A guide is fine if you want to get through in a relatively short time and focus on the highlights. However, this is also the negative about guides. We actually enjoy the Vatican more when we are on our own since we can really take our time. There are many excellent guide books for the Vatican as well as audio tours. Since most cruise passengers are trying to see lots of things in a few hours a guide might make more sense (plus some tours can bypass the entry lines). For those staying in Rome that have extra time you might find it more beneficial to do it on your own.

 

Hank

 

I absolutely agree and have yet to enjoy a museum as much with a guide as on my own. But given that the OP are on a RIL tour, they'll have a short time in the museum and I'm sure will want to see highlights.

[baggal]

We used a guide from RIL and were very happy to have her lead us through the throngs of people at the Vatican. I thought the entire Vatican experience was overwhelming -- a guide helps you make sense of it.

[KirkNC]

We had this debate on our recent trip to the Vatican and opted for the guide. I think if you had been a time or two before it is not necessary but the first time is pretty overwhelming. Given the limited time you have when on a cruise the guide will hit the highlights, otherwise I believe you could end up getting bogged down or lost. Also the guide we choose added a lot of insight into what we were seeing. We selected Angel Tours and ended up in a group of 9 (we were 3) so we were not in a mass of people. My thinking was I was not sure how many times we might visit so I wanted to understand what I was seeing and not miss the truly significant items. Our tour lasted 3.5 hours with a fifteen minute break in the middle. The cost was 50 euros/pp.

 

Kirk

[navigator0709]

I really enjoyed my tour with wheninrome tours. Our guide was very good. I thought the tour was reasonable. They only sticking point was that the tour started much later than I would like.. they had us meet at 11:30 in front of the Vatican, then we walked to cafe so everyone can pay for the tour, then we went in to start the tour. We didn't step into the museum until close to 1:00PM. The guide was VERY good, though, so it was worth the wait. I don't think I would have gotten much out of the Vatican museum and St. Peter's without the tour (as a first time visitor). Next time I will go it alone, now that I'm familiar.

 

By the way, I took my 8 and 11 year olds and the tour guide was VERY good with them. She was very engaging, and I think my 8 year old would have been miserable if it had been me doing a self tour.

 

Sally

[Keith1010]

If you can get a good guide I highly recommend it. It will make the visit so much more (and I do mean so much more) worthwhile. To me, it is a no brainer for this museum. They can explain so many interesting items to you.

 

I highly recommend it.

 

Keith

[Travelin' Mom]

We had an awesome guide through RIL, Julia. We were there 3 hours without a single complaint from my 2 children. With 1400 rooms in the Vatican museum, I can't imagine trying to do it on our own. Julia hit the highlights and pointed out things we never would have noticed. After the tour, she even walked us to the metro and made sure we got on going in the right direction. She spoiled us for any other tour guide.

[Keith1010]

I just wanted to add that you should definitely read up on the Vatican Musuem before your visit because it will make the day all that more special but again I would say this is one of those places that a good tour guide can make this a fascinating experience and one that is significantly better than if you just walk around on your own.

 

Keith

[starwhite2]

With or without a guide, if you've been to the Vatican Museums before or not, I recommend finding in your local library the 3 dvd set "The Vatican Museums" publisher Janson.ISBN:156839232X

I'm on my second time through it and it's very informative. Disc 1 has History of the Vatican Museums, Greek Art, Roman Art, Egyptian Museum, Etruscan Museum. Disc 2 has Origins of Christian Art, Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms and Loggia, Historical Museum of St. John Lateran, Ethnological Museum. Disc 3 has the Picture Gallery, Collection of Modern Religious Art, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City and the Great Basilica.

[lindatram]

Thanks for the information. I will make it to the local library tomorrow and check out the CD's. Thanks again for the tip.