The Beautiful Vatican City!
The Vatican city was a must see in our journey through Rome! in case you are unaware, the Vatican City, is the smallest country in the world, spanning just around 0.17 of a square mile. While it may seem like it would be easy to traverse this tiny nation, it is most definitely not!
Depending on your choice of when to go, you may be dealing with very large crowds and massive wait times. We were informed there were people waiting over 6 hours to get in when we visited! Luckily for us, we booked a fantastic tour!
What’s Included in This Experience:
This tour (run by Crown Tours) is an English speaking tour, and let me just say it was perfect!
The tour is very easy to meetup with at the starting point, and from there you are literally walked right into the Vatican, bypassing long lines. Your tour guide has an assistant that simply brings over your Vatican museum tickets (included in the cost of the tour) and you are checked in through security, and provided a earphone to listen to your guide throughout the tour. Why an earphone? I thought this was an English speaking tour?? Well, it was so beyond crowded you would not have hear the dude unless he had a microphone. The guide then walks you through the entire museum, they do keep you moving the whole time, apart for some big pieces he invites you to stop and learn more of. You cannot truly see everything, as if you stopped at each piece for a minute, you would actually be there for 10 years until you saw everything… um no thanks!
Not sure if this is for every tour, but our guide had printed pages of the sistine chapel fresco paintings done by the great Michelangelo, as you are not allowed to talk in the chapel, or take photos. So he briefs you on what each part is, before you go in so you know what you are seeing. That was extremely helpful, as they are very strict about talking in the sistine chapel.
After the museum tour is complete, the guide ushers you to walk you through a backdoor that leads directly to the St. Peter’s Basilica. While the tour does end there, your tour did cover the cost of entry to the basilica and allows you to skip the massive line for St. Peters as well, which was amazing! Felt like the lightning lane at Disney world!
The Basilica is amazingly beautiful, and it was quite lovely after a tour, to then proceed at your own pace through the church. Here you will also find the Pieta, one of Michelangelo’s first masterpieces, it has been protected with a glass barrier after a recent attempted vandalism, but still an amazing piece by the G.O.A.T
All in all, this is a highly recommended tour to book if you have any interest in seeing the Vatican Museums and St. Peter Basilica.
