Early Bird Vatican Tour

Early Bird Vatican Tour

At 7:35 am, we'll meet on Viale Vatican Street in Rome. We'll head straight into Vatican City, without waiting in any queues, through Pineapple Courtyard. Here, we'll have a delicious American breakfast to start our day. 

After breakfast, we'll start our guided tour of the Vatican Museums. This tour will take place before the usual opening time for the public, so we'll avoid the large crowds of tourists.

Among its most important rooms, we'll find the famous Gallery of Maps and Raphael's Rooms, which house the famous fresco of The School of Athens. We'll also stop to admire other works of art such as the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons, which is kept in the Museo Pio-Clementino exhibition.

The next item on our tour will be the interior of the Sistine Chapel: the room where the Popes are elected. Your early bird ticket will allow you to appreciate the details on the frescoes, without any crowds behind you. 

We'll have a leisurely look at the paintings on the vault, where the most important ones are The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti. In addition, we'll admire the murals that show the Temptations of Christ by Sandro Boticelli and The Last Supper by Cosimo Rosselli.

Lastly, we'll visit St. Peter's Basilica. Inside this colossal temple, the largest in Christendom, you'll be amazed by the realism of Michelangelo's Pietà. We'll also see some other outstanding masterpieces such as the funerary monument of Gregory XIII and Bernini's baldachin.

The tour will finish at 11:30 am in St. Peter's Square, the perfect place to snap a photo of the imposing Vatican Basilica and its dome. 

Changes to the timetable

In order to ensure security measures against Covid-19, access to St. Peter's Basilica from the Sistine Chapel is temporarily closed, so we won't visit the Basilica during the tour. However, entrance to the Basilica is free of charge. You'll be able to visit the Basilica on your own after the tour, entering from St. Peter's Square.

Hotel pick up

If you'd prefer, you can also book this tour with pick up from your hotel in Rome. This option is available for accommodation located no more than 5 miles (8 kilometres) away from the Vatican Museums. We'll pick you up between 6:30 am and 7:30 am.

Other activities in the Vatican

You can see more activities in the Vatican on this link.