Alone in the Sistine Chapel:
VIP entry at the Vatican’s most exclusive hours
Destination
Vatican, Italy
Duration
2 hours
Tour size
Max 20
Language
English
Overview
The Vatican Museums hold 70,000 works of art. On a typical day, they also hold 30,000 visitors. This VIP Vatican tour takes you inside at the hours when almost no one else is there, with a guide who can speak freely inside the Sistine Chapel.
- •Enter the Vatican Museums at its most peaceful hours with VIP access, before the city wakes or after the doors close for the day
- •Walk through the Raphael Rooms, and the Gallery of Maps in near-total silence with space to stop, look, and breathe
- •Stand beneath Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling with your guide explaining every detail out loud, in a room that is nearly empty
- •Hear the stories behind the frescoes told inside the chapel itself, something that is not permitted on any standard Vatican visit
- •Spend two full hours inside the museums with an expert WalksDevour expert guide, selected for both their knowledge and passion for art history and the Vatican
What's included
- VIP access to the Vatican Museums at exclusive hours
- Skip-the-line entry
- Local English-speaking guide
- Full guided commentary inside the Sistine Chapel
You will visit
- Vatican Museums
- Pinecone Courtyard
- Octagonal Courtyard
- Gallery of the Candelabra
- Gallery of the Tapestries
- Gallery of the Maps
- Raphael Rooms
- The Sistine Chapel with near-private access
Get a taste of Alone in the Sistine Chapel
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What to Expect
The empty galleries: your footsteps and the guide's voice
No crowds. No raised voices echoing off the ceilings. Just your footsteps on marble and your guide's voice carrying clearly through rooms that have been traveled by thousands.. In the Raphael Rooms, step back with enough space to take in the massive frescoe. Your guide decodes the brushstrokes, pointing out all its characters and symbolism. More details the daytime crowds hide start to emerge, likethe gold in the Gallery of Maps ceiling catching the light, and the woven textures in the Tapestries glowing without anyone standing in front of them.
The Sistine Chapel: the ceiling, explained where it was painted
On every other Vatican visit, guides must fall silent when they enter the Sistine Chapel. On this one, your guide walks in with you, points up, and explains. The prophets, the sibyls, the nine Genesis scenes, the tension between Michelangelo and Julius II that nearly ended the project. You hear all of it in a room so quiet you can hear other people breathing.
"The first time I walked into an empty Sistine Chapel and could actually speak, I understood why people cry in that room."
Claudia,
WalksDevour Vatican guide
"Same galleries as every other Vatican tour. But when there's no one else there, it's a completely different place."
Francesco,
WalksDevour Vatican guide
Postcards from Vatican
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Frequently asked questions
Our guides love answering your questions. Here are some things they’d like you to know before you arrive.
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