First Entry Detailed Vatican Tour with Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica

Do you want to be amongst the very first people in the Vatican? Do you want a 90 minute head start on the public? Are you interested in incredible areas the majority of tours skip over? The most exclusive early morning Vatican tour available, you will enter the Vatican Museums promptly at 7:30 am. The vast majority of "pre-opening tours" enter at 8:00 am. On this tour your expert guide will take you through the galleries without any crowds. This 3.5-hour tour includes:

• A More Memorable Experience

• Skip the line Vatican tickets

• A highlights visit to the museum's three main galleries

• Exclusive Sistine Chapel tour

• Raphael Rooms, Borgia Apartments and Pio Clementino Museum

• Guided tour of  St. Peter's Basilica & Papal Tombs

• An Expert and Fun Professional English-speaking Guide

 * As of June 23rd, 2021, the Vatican has closed the "licensed guide entrance" to St Peter’s Basilica for all tour companies and tour guides. Don't worry, we still visit the amazing Basilica! However, until this message is removed, we cannot enter St. Peter's Basilica without lines for security. Hopefully, this changes very soon!

Nero's Bath at the Pio-Clementino 

Our first stop is the Pio-Clementino Museum. The location of three of the Vatican's most famous statues, you will see the Apollo Belvedere, Laocoön and his Sons and the Belvedere Torso. Learn the history and mythology of these statues which date back to antiquity.  You will then see one of the Vatican's most valuable pieces, Nero's Bath. Built as a bathtub for Emperor Nero out of marble that can no longer be found, causing this to be the world's most expensive bathtub.

Vatican Galleries

See the incredible main galleries of the Vatican which are the Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of the Tapestries, and The Roman Guy's favorite the Gallery of the Maps. Commissioned by different pope's, the massive tapestries and maps are jaw dropping and a great appetizer to the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel. 

Borgia Apartments

Commissioned as the personal residence for Pope Alexander VI of the Borgia Family, this lavish suite includes the oldest known depiction of Native Americans in Europe. The apartments were frescoed by Pinturicchio who was a co-pupil of Raphael under the master Perugino. Your guide will explain the amazing technique Pinturicchio used to create the effect of three dimensions on the walls. 

Raphael Rooms

Though now famously the namesake of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Raphael was one of the Renaissance's true masters. In the galleries dedicated to the great artist, you will see his most famous painting School of Athens. If you are not yet familiar with the painting, on the day of the tour you will notice it is the painting on your ticket into the Vatican Museums. 

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

The most famous work in the Vatican and one of the most impressive in world history, you will feast your eyes on the immaculate Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's masterpiece depicting Biblical stories including most impressively The Creation of Adam cannot be properly described in words.  As the Chapel is a sacred place, speaking and photography are not permitted in the Sistine Chapel but you will have plenty of time to immerse yourself in its beauty. 

Please note: In order to enter the Sistine Chapel, both men and women must cover their knees and shoulders. Otherwise, you may be refused entry to this portion of your Vatican tour. We understand the summers in Rome are hot - a great alternative is to bring a shawl/scarf/sweater with you. That way, you can cover your knees and shoulders when necessary.

Reserved Entrance St. Peter’s Basilica

From the Sistine Chapel we will take the special VIP door directly to St. Peter's Basilica by skipping the massive security line. You will see Michelangelo's Pietà, Bernini's Baldacchino and the Papal Tombs before your guide will end the tour. After the tour you are welcome to climb the dome of St. Peter's or leave the Basilica for your next adventure in Rome.