Sistine Chapel, Vatican gardens & much more: why you can’t miss joining a Vatican guided tour

The Vatican City is simultaneously the smallest nation on planet earth, and the home of one of the largest collections of art and monuments in the world. That makes its ratio of things to see to space and time absolutely incredible! There is so much worth visiting in the Vatican, and some things just simply cannot be missed including: the Sistine Chapel; Saint Peter’s Basilica; and the Vatican Museum. But because it’s such a tiny place and so full of stuff to see it is usually crowded, with long queues to get in to most of the sites. So, it is a very good idea to organise a tour guide to help you get the most out of your trip to the Vatican so that you can enjoy one of the best Vatican tours possible!

Things included on the best Vatican tours

1. The Sistine Chapel ranks among one of the most famous pieces of artwork full stop. Michelangelo’s iconic paintings of creation scenes will be recogniseable to everyone, but there is nothing quite like seeing it for yourself, in the flesh. The Sistine Chapel is emblematic of the Vatican’s artwork. It is as famous as the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, but, once inside, you can drink in the glory of the Sistine Chapel all at once – and it’s always crowded.

2. Saint Peter’s Basilica is such an impressive church many people mistakenly believe it to be the cathedral of Rome, and of course, it’s also a must see on any tour of the Vatican. The interior of this operational church is crammed with statues, sculptures, monuments, and frescoes. However, the views from the exterior, after you have climbed to the dome, which was also designed by Michelangelo, are arguably, equally breathtaking. There is so much more to say about Saint Peter’s Basilica that you could write a book about it . . .

3. The Vatican Museum is home to one of the largest collections of art in the world, and is also one of the oldest museums in the world. The museum, in fact, has too much art and too little space, so it cannot even display all of the artworks in its possession at any one time!

Why the best Vatican tours are guided tours

There are several very good reasons why the best Vatican tours are guided tours.

First of all, if you decide to go on a guided Vatican tour you will save a lot of time. Visitors on guided tours do not have to queue for entry into any of the sites as their tickets will have been purchased in advance, and guided tours are given precedence. As already alluded to in this post, the Vatican is always crowded with tourists and visitors so the queues can be really long and incredibly time consuming. And, as most visitors to the Vatican will only be spending one day there, time is of the essence, because there is just so much to see.

Furthermore, getting around the Vatican for a tourist can be confusing, even for seasoned museum goers with fluent Italian, so having a guide can save a lot of time in this respect too.

Finally, a professional tour guide will have read many, many books, and could probably write one themselves and so are extremely knowledgeable regarding all things Vatican and will therefore be in a position to answer any questions you have and deepen the value of your tourist experience.

For these reasons, a guided tour of the Vatican provides the best tour of the Vatican.

Best guided tours of the Vatican available at You Local Rome

We hope we have convinced you that the best way to visit the Vatican is with a guided tour, because we are passionate about visitors having the best experience possible when coming to Rome. To find out more about our guided Vatican tours, both for small groups, and private tours which can be designed to fit the exact needs and desires of each particular group, please visit us at YouLocalRome.com!