St. Peter's Dome Climb and Sistine Chapel Combo Tour

John Wilson & family

Tour guide was amazing, very knowledgeable and kept the group together well. Did seem a little rushed at times, especially through tapestries but overall outstanding will definitely recommend to future travelers.

St. Peter's Dome Climb and Sistine Chapel combo tour.

Simone was great! The crowds of people, especially in the museums and most notably in Sistine Chapel were horrendous!!!! I couldn't get out of there fast enough and it was very hard too see much as I was mostly focused on not running into people or getting trampled. Sistine Chapel didn't feel sacred or special as guards were yelling at us to move along and there were so many people in the middle of the room there wasnt even anywhere to stand to be able to look at the paintings. I would not recommend anyone spend money on this experience, and rather only watch it on videos. This is not a reflection on your tour company but rather on the Vatican. It seems like they are only concerned about profit and revenue woth no respect for the sanctity and history of this special place. It was very disappointing.

Raffa was an amazing guide with local insight, historic accuracy mixed with a charming sense of humor. 5 hours went by so quickly. I can’t imagine packing in so much on my own while also getting that layer of deeper understanding that she provided. Highly recommend this tour and guide Raffa!

Tour Guide 5 star, Vatican Museum 1 star

St. Peters Dome and Basilica were great. Crowd was large, but reasonable. Tour guide was 5 star - A+. The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel was a zoo. Great collections, but couldn't stop to enjoy anything due to traffic flow. Extremely overcrowded. Crowd size should be reduced by 50% at least for anyone to enjoy this. I would recommend St. Peters at 7:15am to everyone who is in good shape. I would not recommend the Vatican Museum to anyone unless they greatly reduce the crowd size.

Wonderful experience. Valentina was an excellent tour leader. So glad we scheduled this tour even though we had to get up early. It was well worth it.

St. Peter's Dome Climb and Sistine Chapel Combo Tour

We loved this tour. Our guide was so incredibly knowledgable. The whole experience was so professional, organized, and informative. The Dome Climb was the highlight and shouldn't be missed!

Long but worth it

This is a 5 hour tour and tiring due to the dome climb at the beginning but totally worth it because of the experience. Our tour guide, Fabrizio, was very good, very knowledgeable and energetic. We would’ve liked to have seen the papal crypts but it wasn’t included in the tour. There’s only so much that can be seen in 5 hours!! Everyone was very tired but satisfied I think, after the tour. Would highly recommend it but not for those with leg or poor health issues.

St. Peter's Dome Climb and Sistine Chapel Combo Tour

Raffa is a very knowledgeable and informative tour guide. She was superb to all others!

A once in a lifetime adventure

What a great day! Raffa is knowledgeable and personable and very pleasant. She shared all kinds of fun stories and interesting information as we walked all over the Vatican. Climbing the dome was exciting, and the views of Rome were fantastic. Though it was April, the crowds were huge and there was little time to do anything but run through the museums,. Raffa navigated it all with grace and kept us interested. I highly recommend the tour led by Raffa.

Great tour and great guide

Great tour

We were very happy with our tour led by Maria. She was kind and very knowledgeable and provided an appropriate amount of depth about all of the sites we saw. We had a mixed group of kids, teenagers, and adults, and she kept us all engaged. She clearly knew more and could elaborate on any questions asked, but we appreciated that she kept us moving as was necessary with the crowds. The pace and structure of the tour was ideal— a good mix of being guided and having independent time to explore the Dome, the Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. We appreciated that Maria gave us a pictorial guide of the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, so that we knew what we were looking for while we took it all in. The only downside for us, which was unavoidable, were the crowds at the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. It was a bit hard to appreciate the grandeur within these places while being packed close with so many other people/tour groups. We had hoped to avoid some of the crowds by choosing an early tour, and indeed we were pleased to avoid long lines and crowds at the Basilica because our tour started early there. But by the time we finished at the Basilica and walked over to the Vatican Museums for our 11am entry time, there was an entry line to wait in and it was quite crowded inside (and this was not even peak season!). So my advice is to choose a tour that starts early with the site you most want to see. For us, St. Peter’s Basilica was beyond expectations and the Dome experience was quite memorable, so we made the right choice. We look forward to retuning another time to marvel more deeply at the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, as it’s a lot to fully appreciate all of these amazing sites in a single tour.

First Rate Experience

There might be a more informative, efficient and enjoyable way to tour St Peter’s, climb the dome and explore the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, but I can’t imagine how unless you know someone important. What a wonderful day…legs are tired and brain is at capacity, but we so appreciated our tour guide (can’t recall name)…she was amazing. We highly recommend!!