Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica - Guided Tour?

[sunfan03]

Spending a week+, post-cruise in Rome with extended family of 11 (DH and DDs (ages 11, 13, 15), my dad and sis/husband/3 yo son + her in-laws) in early October.

 

Want to spend time exploring and soaking up the ART and the FAITH in the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, along with St. Peter's Basilica.

 

Was originally going to book guided tour of Museums/Sistine Chapel/Basilica through Vatican website, but would a private, smaller tour be better?

 

Given the crowds, if we did a daytime tour, sounds like headsets are preferred.

 

We COULD do the night tour - looks like it's only on Friday nights...would you recommend booking Guided Tour (direct on Vatican website) or Audio only, or ???

 

And if we did night tour, could we tour St. Peter's Basilica without a guide? We do have a time slot to enter through the Holy Doors earlier in the week, so shouldn't that allow us into St. Peter's without waiting in line?

 

I'd rather have less people and more time to enjoy things at our own pace, so I guess I'm debating on

 

- Night tour

 

- Smaller tour group/guide during the day

 

Suggestions? Advice?

[cruisemom42]

If you really want to enjoy the experience with fewer people, I would definitely recommend that you book the night tour.

 

If you take a tour during the day, even if you have a small group tour, you will be elbow to elbow with the hundreds of other people in the museum. Even with headseats -- whether your tour is larger or smaller -- you will be having to concentrate on listening and keeping up with the guide. It can be difficult, in those circumstances, to really be able to appreciate what you're seeing.

 

At least if you take the evening tour, there are a lot fewer people sharing the space with you.

 

If you have an appointment to go through the Holy Doors, then you will be entering St. Peters Basilica. If you have a good guidebook with you (or download Rick Steves' podcast), you can do it without a guide.

[sunfan03]

If you really want to enjoy the experience with fewer people, I would definitely recommend that you book the night tour.

 

If you take a tour during the day, even if you have a small group tour, you will be elbow to elbow with the hundreds of other people in the museum. Even with headseats -- whether your tour is larger or smaller -- you will be having to concentrate on listening and keeping up with the guide. It can be difficult, in those circumstances, to really be able to appreciate what you're seeing.

 

At least if you take the evening tour, there are a lot fewer people sharing the space with you.

 

If you have an appointment to go through the Holy Doors, then you will be entering St. Peters Basilica. If you have a good guidebook with you (or download Rick Steves' podcast), you can do it without a guide.

 

Thanks cruisemom42 - I was hoping you'd weigh in ;)

 

Do you think we should do the night tour with or without a tour guide?

[cruisemom42]

With or without a guide? That's hard to advise without knowing you personally. Are you going with the whole extended family? If so, a guide might be good -- I remember when my son was around the ages of your daughters, he listened more to a guide than to me!

 

On the other hand, if you're the type that likes to just wander in a museum and find the things that interest you the most, then you may not want a guide. However, the museum is vast and the layout is confusing. If nothing else you may want to get the audioguide, which lets you decide when you want to hear about a specific piece of art.

[sunfan03]

We'll be with the extended family and having a Tour Guide is not much more than having the Audio Guide, so I think we'll go with a Tour Guide. We do like a little bit of structure and being able to ask impromptu questions :)

 

So after the Night tour guide is done, can we wander back through Museum and Sistine Chapel or do we have to leave?

[Beanb41]

We'll be with the extended family and having a Tour Guide is not much more than having the Audio Guide, so I think we'll go with a Tour Guide. We do like a little bit of structure and being able to ask impromptu questions :)

 

So after the Night tour guide is done, can we wander back through Museum and Sistine Chapel or do we have to leave?

 

Once you leave the Sistine Chapel its a no return policy. The cheapest way of getting a guided tour is through the official Vatican website. Private operators just clip the ticket