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Vatican and St. Peter’s tour recommendations please

VacayAddict

By VacayAddict,
in Italy Ports

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VacayAddict

VacayAddict

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We are two couples touring in Rome for a couple of days pre-cruise. We are looking for a tour recommendation for the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, both independent companies and guides or through the Vatican. A small group is preferable. 
 

it all seems so overwhelming!
 

Thank you!

VacayAddict
 

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marazul

marazul

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@VacayAddict

Book the Vatican tour directly from the Vatican museum. They have the best guides and offer a wide variety of tours and admission times.  No need to pay extra for a private operator. Search this board for lots of details.

 

St. Peter's is more complicated. It depends on whether the Vatican is allowing access to StP from the Sistine Chapel. If so, they will offer a combination tour. If not, it is an entirely different visit. Again, do some research on this board.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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I agree the Vatican’s own tours are very good but tend to be larger groups. If you really want an in-depth tour of the Vatican in a small group, you could look at the offerings by Context Travel Rome. I have found their guides to be among the best and their tours are small group only.

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VacayAddict

VacayAddict

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14 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I agree the Vatican’s own tours are very good but tend to be larger groups. If you really want an in-depth tour of the Vatican in a small group, you could look at the offerings by Context Travel Rome. I have found their guides to be among the best and their tours are small group only.

Oh darn, wish I’d have known this before I booked  our tickets direct with the Vatican!!!

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marazul

marazul

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15 minutes ago, VacayAddict said:

Oh darn, wish I’d have known this before I booked  our tickets direct with the Vatican!!!

Which tour did you book? Some of the Vatican tours are for small groups. 

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Silent Penguin Excellent Advice! Rare

Silent Penguin

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21 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I agree the Vatican’s own tours are very good but tend to be larger groups. If you really want an in-depth tour of the Vatican in a small group, you could look at the offerings by Context Travel Rome. I have found their guides to be among the best and their tours are small group only.

We booked our small group tour (max 20)  through the Vatican Museum website. We chose the tour that included an after-hours tour of the Sistine Chapel.  It is my understanding that this particular tour is not offered daily, and it sells out quickly because the number of groups that can be in the chapel during this small window of time is limited.  Our guide told us the maximum is 80 people.  I can't say how far in advance this tour sells out.  I booked early November tickets in the beginning of May and I never checked back to find out when the tour stopped being available on the website.  

 

 

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marazul

marazul

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@Silent Penguin-

You must have booked it in December. This seems to be their "Extra Time" tour that includes a happy hour afterwards.  However, at this moment the Vatican website is not showing their "Prime Experience," "Breakfast at the Museum" and "Extra Time" tours which start before or after closing hours and are limited to 20 persons. The VIP version of these tours would be private just for you and your group of up to 10 persons.  The ones offered by the private companies are a version of those three tours.

 

The Vatican tours had also disappeared around this time last year and were shown again around March.  Maybe they are revamping their offerings again. I would not be surprised if I the same thing happens this year.

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Silent Penguin Excellent Advice! Rare

Silent Penguin

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2 minutes ago, marazul said:

@Silent Penguin-

You must have booked it in December. This seems to be their "Extra Time" tour that includes a happy hour afterwards.  However, at this moment the Vatican website is not showing their "Prime Experience," "Breakfast at the Museum" and "Extra Time" tours which start before or after closing hours and are limited to 20 persons.

 

The Vatican tours had also disappeared around this time last year and were shown again around March.  Maybe they are revamping their offerings again. I would not be surprised if I the same thing happens this year.

I booked it on May 11, 2023.  The tour was on November 3, 2023.  I was just looking up the name of the tour to see if I remembered  the group size right, and like you said, it's not there!  I checked multiple dates for the same excursion on other sites (e.g. Viator, The Rome Guy) as well, so you must be right about the Museum revamping their offerings.  

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marazul

marazul

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30 minutes ago, Silent Penguin said:

I booked it on May 11, 2023.  The tour was on November 3, 2023.  I was just looking up the name of the tour to see if I remembered  the group size right, and like you said, it's not there!  I checked multiple dates for the same excursion on other sites (e.g. Viator, The Rome Guy) as well, so you must be right about the Museum revamping their offerings.  

Same happened to me last year. I started looking in january and they weren't there. A few weeks later the tours came back. 

I should also have replied to  @Vacay Addict

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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As I said above, the Vatican offerings TEND to be larger groups. Yes, they offer some smaller group tours but they are limited and the timing doesn’t work for everyone. Their most frequent tours can be in the range of 35 to 40 folks, with earbuds making it possible to hear and follow the guide. That said, the guides do a good job of navigating their groups through the main areas.

 

Truthfully I feel the Vatican needs to be more proactive about limiting the crowds of tourists admitted during regular hours. It is approaching a level I’d consider dangerous. 

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marazul

marazul

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13 hours ago, Alatraveler1 said:

Asked and was told the breakfast time tours, with meal in courtyard before or after tour were not going to be offered this year.  This came directly from Vatican office.  I guess anything can change though.

 

Interesting.  That means the offerings from private companies could also change since they mirrored the Vatican tours, such as early admission and food at the Vatican. It would be interesting to see how they change the description of their tours on their websites.  Right now the new Vatican tours are for up to 20 persons and for 11 to 40.  No mention of early or private tours. 

 

13 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Truthfully I feel the Vatican needs to be more proactive about limiting the crowds of tourists admitted during regular hours. It is approaching a level I’d consider dangerous. 

I agree.  Last time we took the VIP Prime Experience and the museums were blissfully uncrowded.  After breakfast I went by myself to the Octagonal Courtyard to say hello to Apollo.  It was a claustrophobic mass of humanity going down the corridor.  After a quick look, I tried to get back to the Cortile della Pigna and it was like swimming upstream in the crowd. It took me about 15 minutes to walk back that short distance.  

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kctwinmommy

kctwinmommy

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On 1/20/2024 at 10:14 AM, FlaMariner said:

We are using them....

 

https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/civitavecchia-rome-shore-excursions/rome-shore-excursion/

Ohh... this is what I'm looking for! Have you used them before? I'd love to hear some reviews.

 

I actually just looked up reviews and they're really good according to Trip Advisor. Thanks for sharing this. I just sent them an email for some more info on that tour for the day we're in Rome.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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14 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

Ohh... this is what I'm looking for! Have you used them before? I'd love to hear some reviews.

 

I actually just looked up reviews and they're really good according to Trip Advisor. Thanks for sharing this. I just sent them an email for some more info on that tour for the day we're in Rome.

 

There's quite a long post with many reviews on it just a couple of posts down from this one:

 

 

I used them for a tour from Naples a couple of years ago and found them to be "okay" but nothing out of the ordinary for the tour we did (classic Amalfi coast).

 

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alpencoolcruiser Great Review Rare

alpencoolcruiser

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On 12/15/2023 at 6:49 PM, VacayAddict said:

We are two couples touring in Rome for a couple of days pre-cruise. We are looking for a tour recommendation for the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, both independent companies and guides or through the Vatican. A small group is preferable. 
 

it all seems so overwhelming!
 

Thank you!

VacayAddict
 

There are a lot of options : I went through many of them but I lean towards doing it independently. However I have collected my research into a blog post. Perhaps it will help you to decide 

 

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VacayAddict

VacayAddict

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8 hours ago, alpencoolcruiser said:

There are a lot of options : I went through many of them but I lean towards doing it independently. However I have collected my research into a blog post. Perhaps it will help you to decide 

 

Thanks Alpencoolcruiser. I would love to read your blog but message says I don’t have permission to see it. 

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alpencoolcruiser Great Review Rare

alpencoolcruiser

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2 hours ago, VacayAddict said:

Thanks Alpencoolcruiser. I would love to read your blog but message says I don’t have permission to see it. 

Hello,  it seems that the post was removed by admin - at the risk of it getting removed again here is the link https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/vatican-city/tips-for-an-efficient-day-at-vatican-city/  . Do let me know if you have questions.

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VacayAddict

VacayAddict

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7 hours ago, alpencoolcruiser said:

Hello,  it seems that the post was removed by admin - at the risk of it getting removed again here is the link https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/vatican-city/tips-for-an-efficient-day-at-vatican-city/  . Do let me know if you have questions.

Thank you! Your blog is great!

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