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Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
Culture

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

location_on Rome, Italy schedule 3.5 hours

Overview

Follow a licensed guide through the Vatican Museums, past classical sculpture, the Gallery of Maps and Raphael’s Rooms, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at the end of the route. Your guide sets the scene before you go in, so you know what you are looking at.

Highlights

  • Classical sculpture: The Laocoön in the Octagonal Court and the Belvedere Torso in the Pio-Clementino Museum.
  • Gallery of Maps: A long corridor of painted topographical maps of Italy.
  • Raphael’s Rooms: Frescoes by Raphael and his workshop, including The School of Athens.
  • Sistine Chapel: Michelangelo’s ceiling and Last Judgement.

Good to know

  • Time on site: About 3½ hours with the guide.
  • Activity level: A long walk on hard floors through often crowded galleries, with stairs along the route.
  • Pairs well with: The Colosseum & Roman Forum Tour or the Guided City Tour of Rome.

Facts

History

  • Pope Julius II founded the museums; their first classical sculptures went on display in the Cortile delle Statue in 1506.
  • The Laocoön group, unearthed in Rome on 14 January 1506, was among those first works.
  • The Sistine Chapel was built between 1473 and 1481 and is named after Pope Sixtus IV.

Did you know?

  • Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512, then returned to paint the Last Judgement from 1535 to 1541.
  • The chapel is still where cardinals gather in conclave to elect a new pope.

Tour manager tips

  • Shoulders and knees must be covered – check before leaving the hotel.
  • Photography is not allowed in the Sistine Chapel; brief everyone before going in.
  • The Sistine Chapel is the last room, so agree a regroup point for afterwards.

Included in the price

Included

  • Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel entry ticket
  • Licensed English-speaking guide
  • Audio headsets
  • All taxes and booking fees

Not included: St Peter’s Basilica dome climb, hotel transfers, food and drinks, gratuities, personal expenses.

Please note: Access depends on the ticket type booked and on the attraction being open on the day of your visit. Shoulders and knees must be covered.

Meeting point

Vatican Museums entrance
Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome, Italy

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Entry fees for museums, monuments and civic sites are set by the authority that runs each one and can change without notice. Figures here are a guide; your final quote confirms them.

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