- Category
- Art and Museums, History, Vatican, Small Group Tours, Context Classics
- Duration
- 4 hours
- Location
- Rome
Sites Visited
- Vatican Palace
- Sistine Chapel
- St. Peter's Basilica
Included
- Advance entry tickets
- 4 hours with a PhD or MA-level guide
Itinerary Details
At the end of our Vatican Tour, we will have a more complete understanding of the history, importance, and artistic legacy from this expansive complex. We will have learned from our guide new ways of seeing art and thinking about history—a contextualized approach that blends history, art, architecture, politics, philosophy and theology, connecting all of this with the city of Rome.
Our Arte Vaticana tour is one of a few approaches we take at the Vatican. If you are a family with children under 12 we highly recommend that you book our Vatican Tour for Kids.
FAQ
How crowded are the Vatican sites?
Please be aware that during the summer travel period, the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica can be subject to extremely high levels of visitor traffic. It’s important to anticipate slower movement, limited visibility, and potential restrictions on accessing certain areas due to the density of crowds. Our experienced guides are adept at navigating through these challenging conditions and will strive to optimize your tour experience.
Are both the Private and Small Group tour options wheelchair accessible?
The Vatican has a specific route for folks with mobility concerns so we are unable to bring an entire group tour on that route and, are only able to use it for private tours. While it is possible to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel in a wheelchair, there is no wheelchair access from the Sistine Chapel to St Peter's Basilica. If you have mobility concerns, please contact us to discuss the best tour option for you.
Do we visit St Peter's Dome during this tour?
This tour doesn't include the Dome, only the Basilica. However, you are free to visit the Dome after the tour. You will need to purchase your own tickets on-site.

Cecilia is an art historian and a native Roman with a Master's degree in Medieval and Renaissance art from the Sapienza University of Rome. Although her specialty is painting and decorative arts, she has a broad knowledge of the history of Rome and a personal passion for ancient history, which she shares on many antiquity-themed itineraries. Cecilia has worked actively in the past as a lecturer, teacher, and curator of exhibitions. She had been a staff member of the didactive service of the Vatican Museums, the Galleria Doria Pamphili and the Galleria Colonna where she still frequently consults. As a licensed guide for Rome and Florence and with a specialized teaching degree, she has more than 20 years of experience in leading highly-qualified tours.

Olivia is a Rome licensed guide and an expert art historian who has worked as a main contributor to the award-winning Eyewitness Guide to Rome. She combines this role with her job as a professor, teaching a course at the Lorenzo de Medici School in Rome on Roman civilization. In addition she has contributed to the National Geographic Lost Cities of the Ancient World. Olivia infuses her discussion of Rome with a sense of what it's like to grow up in the city and be Roman.

Patrizia holds a Master's degree in Medieval Archaeology and has studied at the Vatican and at the University of Aix-en-Provence. Her experience excavating in Rome is extensive, including major work at the Crypta Balbi in the 1990s, arguably the most significant archaeological excavation in central Rome in the last century. She worked for FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (Italian National Trust) as Rome's cultural attache for over 20 years. Patrizia is the author of the guidebook to Villa Gregoriana (Tivoli). She is an accomplished teacher and guide whose knowledge of (and passion for) the city of Rome is boundless.
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See the Vatican with Context
Get to know one of the art historians leading this tour
