Vatican/Sistine Chapel Tour

[delaware32]

Hi there. We will taking our first Mediterranean Cruise next March 18(2015 ). It's a 21 day sailing from Rome. At this point NCL is not offering an excursion on" turn around day"(we come in to port before going out for the eastern section of the cruise ).I would love some recommendations for tours. We are considering flying in a few days before we sail so a tour at that time is a good possibility. Thanks for the help.

[CruiserBruce]

Just look down the board. MANY recommendations, including one that has over 2600 positive comments on it.

[Ron98GT]

Hi there. We will taking our first Mediterranean Cruise next March 18(2015 ). It's a 21 day sailing from Rome. At this point NCL is not offering an excursion on" turn around day"(we come in to port before going out for the eastern section of the cruise ).I would love some recommendations for tours. We are considering flying in a few days before we sail so a tour at that time is a good possibility. Thanks for the help.

We'll be visiting the Vatican next month (May) and I'll be booking my tour directly with the Vatican. Since March 18, 2015, is a Wednesday, that option is not available to you. If it was me, I'd book a tour with one of the following:

 

http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_listing/6/6

 

http://www.darkrome.com/tours/vatican-tours/18/03/2015/19/03/2015

 

One note: even with a tour you may still encounter some problems, because it's a Wednesday.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Ron98GT

[jannandjohn]

One note: even with a tour you may still encounter some problems, because it's a Wednesday.

WHY is it different on WED?

 

also..has anybody read this stickie?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1020622

surely we can pass on research, even if not having done the tour.?.

Edited March 27, 2014 by jannandjohn

[euro cruiser]

Wednesday is certainly an option, the poster is probably confused because the basilica is closed on Wednesday mornings when there is a Papal audience. The museums are open, however.

[Ron98GT]

WHY is it different on WED?

 

also..has anybody read this stickie?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1020622

surely we can pass on research, even if not having done the tour.?.

1. Vatican offices are close on Wednesdays.

2. A Papal audience is held on Wednesdays.

3. The Vatican does not schedule any tours for Wednesdays, which would include the Vatican museums, St Peters, & the Sistine Chapel. But they do sell tickets to the Vatican Museums, but no tour.

4. Looking at some of the tour companies, it looks like Wednesdays are hit-or-miss.

5. If you do go to the Vatican museums on Wednesday, it could be very crowded, more than normal.

[Ron98GT]

Wednesday is certainly an option, the poster is probably confused because the basilica is closed on Wednesday mornings when there is a Papal audience. The museums are open, however.

If the OP "only" wants to visit the museums, that's do-able, but crowded. It's recommended to go early.

 

But the Vatican does not offer tours (St Peters, Basilica, & museums) on Wednesdays, because of the Papal audience, as stated.

[euro cruiser]

3. The Vatican does not schedule any tours for Wednesdays, which would include the Vatican museums, St Peters, & the Sistine Chapel. But they do sell tickets to the Vatican Museums, but no tour.

This is incorrect.

 

But the Vatican does not offer tours (St Peters, Basilica, & museums) on Wednesdays, because of the Papal audience, as stated.

True, but tours of the museums and the Sistine chapel are offered, just not the tours that include the basilica.

Edited March 27, 2014 by euro cruiser

[delaware32]

Our cruise sails On Mar.18 for the first leg. We come back into port on Mar.28 before sailing the second port .So we would most likely do Vatican on Tues. Mar.17,which is pre-cruise or on Mar.28 on turn around day .Sorry if my original question timeline was confusing .

[euro cruiser]

Given the time required for a Vatican tour, I think I'd do it before the cruise rather than during a port day. That way you can schedule the 8:30 AM tour if you want to.

[MeHeartCruising]

I'd probably try to keep the "turnaround day" as flexible as possible with your planning. I did a back-to-back with Rome as the turnaround port a couple years ago. Granted this was not on NCL, but rather Royal Caribbean. As it turned out, on turnaround day, they had some issues that took a couple hours longer than they anticipated to get the 8 passengers turned around for the next cruise. We ended up having to sit in a lounge area while they tracked down a few security issues in clearing the first set of passengers before they could process us back on for the second leg. By the time they were done doing this, it was about 10:30 am. At that point, I had my sea-pass card for the second cruise and could do what I wanted to come and go from the ship. But had I wanted to leave at 8am, I would have had to be processed in the terminal and I didn't want to do that because all my paperwork and possessions were already on board. You may not have the same with NCL, but still, I think being flexible with that turnaround day would be to your advantage.

Edited March 28, 2014 by MeHeartCruising

[delaware32]

We are leaning toward the pre-cruise tour .The idea of some problem when we come back to Rome is definitely what we want to avoid .We're checking out tour companies. I'm finding we're still a little too far out to book since it's still too early to book the flight. I appreciate everyone's input .

[euro cruiser]

If the Sistine Chapel is important to you, and you're willing to "go for your lungs" to see it without crowds, you might consider one of the after hours tours. I did one and was amazed at the difference - there were only about twelve of us in the chapel for a half hour.

[Ron98GT]

This is incorrect.

 

 

True, but tours of the museums and the Sistine chapel are offered, just not the tours that include the basilica. That's what I said, so why are you saying that I'm incorrect?

 

I suggest that you check the Vatican web site:

 

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

 

No "Vatican" tours on Wednesdays, by the Vatican. Hit or miss with tour companies. Museum do able but crowded.

 

If the OP can do an early morning small group tour, which starts before the Vatican opens, that would be a good idea. You beat the crowds and would be out before the Papal audience.

 

http://www.darkrome.com/tours/vatican-tours/sistine-chapel-tickets-early-access

Edited March 28, 2014 by Ron98GT

[cruisemom42]

I think there is some confusion going on here....

 

You CAN book a guided tour of the Vatican museum + Sistine chapel on a Wednesday morning through the official Vatican site. I just went to the website to check. On Wednesday, May 21, for example, there are both 8:30 and 10:30 tours available.

 

You CANNOT book a guided tour that includes St. Peter's Basilica for the reasons stated above (e.g., the regular Papal audience).

 

However, if you were to be in Rome on a Wednesday with no Papal audience, you presumably could book a tour that would include the basilica.

[euro cruiser]

Okay, so now we're all saying the same thing. Ron, perhaps I was the only one who found your post confusing.

 

3. The Vatican does not schedule any tours for Wednesdays, which would include the Vatican museums, St Peters, & the Sistine Chapel.

But they do sell tickets to the Vatican Museums, but no tour.

 

I read your post to mean no tours, which is untrue. The first sentence is true as written but could be misleading on its own, the second sentence compounds the confusion by implying that there are no tours available.

[sunluva7]

A few companies do tours of Vatican/Sistine Chapel Early morning before opening to the general public. I just scheduled one for 7:30 am on a Saturday morning in August with a "Through Eternity Tours".

[delaware32]

Thank you .I will check them out .So far I've looked at Dark Rome Tours, who incidentally has changed their name to City Wonders. I found that out when I clicked on a CC link and then their facebook page as well . I also looked at Viator .So I welcome suggestions as the research continues .:)

[euro cruiser]

Several years ago (8?) when they were first offered I took an after hours tour with Italy With Us; it was wonderful. Our guide was a Vatican archivist.

 

http://italywithus.com/

[Cretia]

Since this is a relatively recent post with discussions on the Vatican Museums on a Wednesday, I was hoping I could jump in here with a couple of questions instead of starting my own. Apologies to the OP if this is considered hijacking.

 

My situation: After scheduling a private Vatican tour prior to our cruise, I was lucky enough to first convince my husband to stay an extra day in Rome after the cruise and then to get confirmation of a Scavi tour on that day, which happens to be a Wednesday in November, at 1:30pm.

 

I was looking for something to fill in the time between getting off the boat in Civitavecchia and our Scavi tour. To be honest, while I do not regret hiring a private guide for our initial Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel tour, I was regretting that expediency took precedence over my preferred method of visiting museums, which is just to wander (obviously, since the paths in the Vatican Museums are very well-defined, I'm using wander in the widest possible definition here). At first I thought it was a great way to address the lapse, until I remembered the day in question is generally a papal audience day.

 

Is it even possible to make our way through the crowds to get to the Museums on a Wednesday morning?

 

If the answer to that first question is affirmative, how crowded is it likely to be? I'm expecting crowded, but is it likely to be shoulder-to-shoulder with several thousand of my new closest friends and can smell deodorant failure crowded, or is it likely to be free-flowing enough to dodge slower moving groups and linger without being too annoying to others at some of the less popular areas? Since we are doing the main exhibits and Sistine Chapel on a guided tour earlier on our trip, I would probably be moving past those to see other things.

 

Finally, to my annoyance and frustration, the Vatican's online shop does not sell guide books over the internet (really?!?! - there are no possible reasons why people would want them before visiting?), so if anyone has a recommendation for a good guide book in regards to the layout and permanent exhibits of the Vatican Museums, I would greatly appreciate it. I found one by Rick Steves, but I have only found it in a kindle (electronic) format and would love something to actually hold.

[euro cruiser]

I just went to Amazon and put in "guide to vatican museums" and a couple of books came up. To be fair, only one was relatively recent (2005) but the permanent collection hasn't changed much so it should be pretty accurate.

 

As to crowds, it will be crowded inside the museums but the only place that you're really packed in is the Sistine Chapel.

 

I have two suggestions for your port day to fill the time before your scavi tour.

 

Villa Farnesina is about a mile and a half walk from the Roma S. Pietro train station - and a wonderful site that is often overlooked by the hordes marching from one "must see" site to another. If you don't want to walk that far you can take the #64 bus from the S. Pietro station for four stops to Piazza della Rovere and walk a half mile from there.

 

Villa Farnesina info: http://www.villafarnesina.it/?lang=en

 

#64 bus info: http://viaggiacon.atac.roma.it/?service=trovalinea&linea=64&percorso=64R

 

Alternatively, you go visit Castle Sant'Angelo. It's a one mile walk from the train station, or you could take the same bus for five stops to Acciaioli and walk back across the river using the pedestrian bridge with the Bernini angels. This is only a 2/10ths of a mile walk.

 

Castel Sant'Angelo: http://castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it/

Edited April 2, 2014 by euro cruiser

[cruisemom42]

Since this is a relatively recent post with discussions on the Vatican Museums on a Wednesday, I was hoping I could jump in here with a couple of questions instead of starting my own. Apologies to the OP if this is considered hijacking.

 

My situation: After scheduling a private Vatican tour prior to our cruise, I was lucky enough to first convince my husband to stay an extra day in Rome after the cruise and then to get confirmation of a Scavi tour on that day, which happens to be a Wednesday in November, at 1:30pm.

 

I was looking for something to fill in the time between getting off the boat in Civitavecchia and our Scavi tour. To be honest, while I do not regret hiring a private guide for our initial Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel tour, I was regretting that expediency took precedence over my preferred method of visiting museums, which is just to wander (obviously, since the paths in the Vatican Museums are very well-defined, I'm using wander in the widest possible definition here). At first I thought it was a great way to address the lapse, until I remembered the day in question is generally a papal audience day.

 

Is it even possible to make our way through the crowds to get to the Museums on a Wednesday morning?

 

If the answer to that first question is affirmative, how crowded is it likely to be? I'm expecting crowded, but is it likely to be shoulder-to-shoulder with several thousand of my new closest friends and can smell deodorant failure crowded, or is it likely to be free-flowing enough to dodge slower moving groups and linger without being too annoying to others at some of the less popular areas? Since we are doing the main exhibits and Sistine Chapel on a guided tour earlier on our trip, I would probably be moving past those to see other things.

 

Finally, to my annoyance and frustration, the Vatican's online shop does not sell guide books over the internet (really?!?! - there are no possible reasons why people would want them before visiting?), so if anyone has a recommendation for a good guide book in regards to the layout and permanent exhibits of the Vatican Museums, I would greatly appreciate it. I found one by Rick Steves, but I have only found it in a kindle (electronic) format and would love something to actually hold.

 

The museum is always crowded -- I haven't been on a Wednesday morning but conventional wisdom suggests it's not a bad time, as many people are attending the Papal audience. Just be aware that when the audience ends, the museum is often the next destination....

 

Keeping in mind that my area of interest is in the Vatican's ancient collections (e.g., I'm not interested in the tapestries, map rooms, frescoes, etc.), I have found one of the better descriptions to be in the Vatican museum section of the Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome. If you can get your hands on one (e.g., through a library), you can just copy off the Vatican pages and take them with you. Either the current edition or the previous one is fine; as eurocruiser said, the Vatican exhibits don't change that much...

 

(Of course, the full Oxford guide is invaluable if, like me, you're also interested in other archaeological sites in Rome.)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Archaeological-Guides-Amanda-Claridge-ebook/dp/B00A7LN36K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396445376&sr=8-1&keywords=oxford+archaeological+guide+to+rome

 

 

Speaking of the Vatican collections not changing much over time, a funny story:

 

I was looking, like you, for a really in-depth good guide to the Vatican collections on my last visit to Rome, a month ago. I couldn't find one that looked promising, so I decided I would just put together my own notes.

 

I first went to the Vatican site, which does have some brief descriptions of key pieces: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MPC/MPC_Main.html

 

But I wanted a greater listing of pieces --having been to the Vatican a number of times, I wanted to focus on some "lesser known" things that were of interest to me based on what they represented or where they were found.

 

So....via Google books I located a really old document (from the 1800s) cataloging all the pieces that were in the ancient collections AT THAT TIME, with some description of each piece, where it was located, etc.

 

I annotated that list, took it with me, and guess what -- many of the pieces are still in the exact same spot now that they occupied more than a hundred years ago. :D

 

One final tip -- don't expect every room to be open. Each time I go, it seems at least one major room that I was hoping to visit is closed. Last time, it was the room of the animals. The inscriptions room is almost always closed. Some areas are mostly closed to the public but can be seen via some of the Vatican guided tours...

[Cretia]

Villa Farnesina is about a mile and a half walk from the Roma S. Pietro train station - and a wonderful site that is often overlooked by the hordes marching from one "must see" site to another. If you don't want to walk that far you can take the #64 bus from the S. Pietro station for four stops to Piazza della Rovere and walk a half mile from there.

 

Villa Farnesina info: http://www.villafarnesina.it/?lang=en

 

#64 bus info: http://viaggiacon.atac.roma.it/?service=trovalinea&linea=64&percorso=64R

 

Alternatively, you go visit Castle Sant'Angelo. It's a one mile walk from the train station, or you could take the same bus for five stops to Acciaioli and walk back across the river using the pedestrian bridge with the Bernini angels. This is only a 2/10ths of a mile walk.

 

Castel Sant'Angelo: http://castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it/

 

Thanks for the info! Both before and after the cruise, we'll be staying in a hotel a few blocks from the Vatican, so we'll probably hit Castel Sant'Angelo at some point in the trip, but as we have the directional sense of blind, deaf lemmings (we'd probably make it off the cliff with everyone else - but I wouldn't exactly bet my life savings on it...) while the Villa Farnesina is gorgeous, it might be a little beyond our capabilities to find it.

 

The museum is always crowded -- I haven't been on a Wednesday morning but conventional wisdom suggests it's not a bad time, as many people are attending the Papal audience. Just be aware that when the audience ends, the museum is often the next destination....

 

You bring up a good point in that I should probably do some research on when the audience ends. That will probably determine whether it's a good idea for us or not.

 

Keeping in mind that my area of interest is in the Vatican's ancient collections (e.g., I'm not interested in the tapestries, map rooms, frescoes, etc.), I have found one of the better descriptions to be in the Vatican museum section of the Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome. If you can get your hands on one (e.g., through a library), you can just copy off the Vatican pages and take them with you. Either the current edition or the previous one is fine; as eurocruiser said, the Vatican exhibits don't change that much...

 

(Of course, the full Oxford guide is invaluable if, like me, you're also interested in other archaeological sites in Rome.)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Archaeological-Guides-Amanda-Claridge-ebook/dp/B00A7LN36K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396445376&sr=8-1&keywords=oxford+archaeological+guide+to+rome

 

Picked up this one and a couple that I found using euro cruiser's Amazon search. I'm not sure why I thought the ones I was getting on Amazon was more specific than what I was looking for, but maybe my reading comprehension was just off.

 

Thanks to you both!

 

Speaking of the Vatican collections not changing much over time, a funny story:

 

I was looking, like you, for a really in-depth good guide to the Vatican collections on my last visit to Rome, a month ago. I couldn't find one that looked promising, so I decided I would just put together my own notes.

 

I first went to the Vatican site, which does have some brief descriptions of key pieces: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MPC/MPC_Main.html

 

But I wanted a greater listing of pieces --having been to the Vatican a number of times, I wanted to focus on some "lesser known" things that were of interest to me based on what they represented or where they were found.

 

So....via Google books I located a really old document (from the 1800s) cataloging all the pieces that were in the ancient collections AT THAT TIME, with some description of each piece, where it was located, etc.

 

I annotated that list, took it with me, and guess what -- many of the pieces are still in the exact same spot now that they occupied more than a hundred years ago. :D

 

That story got a good chuckle out of me. I guess I probably should have come to the logical conclusion that with the inventory the Vatican Museums boasts, moving items would be a logisitcal nightmare, but the Smithsonian will up and move things around for what seems to be no other purpose than annoying the locals, so it wasn't as obvious of a conclusion as it should have been.

 

One final tip -- don't expect every room to be open. Each time I go, it seems at least one major room that I was hoping to visit is closed. Last time, it was the room of the animals. The inscriptions room is almost always closed. Some areas are mostly closed to the public but can be seen via some of the Vatican guided tours...

 

I thank you for the warning, but closed areas are par for course on travelling and I seem to have worse luck than most. I'm still irritated that on the only trip I've been able to take to Budapest St. Stephen's Basilica was completely closed for renovations and I couldn't even get a decent photo of the outside as it was so covered in scaffolding. Hopefully, nothing in Rome will be *that* bad, but it won't exactly be a surprise if it is...grumble, grumble, grumble...