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Any visit to Rome should definitely include a tour of the Vatican. Once you’ve done that, you will begin to understand the immense wealth and power of the Catholic Church. It is truly an untouchable entity. Vatican City is a country all by itself located in the city of Rome.
At just 109 acres, it has the distinction of being the world’s smallest country. Inside this tiny country, there is a post office, a radio station and a mint and they even have their own currency, the Italian Lira. We were on an early morning tour of the Vatican, once again thanks to the generosity of The Roman Guy. This Vatican and accompanying Sistine Chapel Tour was truly special. Here are three reasons why you should do one when you visit Rome.
7:30am Vatican Tour:
3 Reasons Why Early Access Vatican Tour Rocks:
The history of the Vatican is quite complex. I knew a few facts about it but not much. We’ve been to the Vatican before, but as you might recall, all our images were lost when the computer died on us while we were still living in Malta. I have been slowly trying to duplicate them when we visit his family. When this opportunity came up, I couldn’t resist, even if it meant waking up really early :-). The tour meets up at 7.30AM with entry to the Vatican at 8AM. It’s worth it though in my opinion.
Vatican Early Access Tour: Time Saver:
This is one of the most important reasons for doing an early morning tour. When you are on vacation, you have limited time and if you’re like me, you have an itinerary of things you would like to see. I’m sure nowhere on that list does it say “wait in line 4 hours for entry”. It’s no secret that the crowds, especially at summer are truly ginormous at all the most popular touristy places. You might recall our epic fail in trying to see the palace in Sintra, Portugal and our utter disappointment at the wasted day. Going on an early morning tour of the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel with The Roman Guy eliminates that disappointment.
The cool part of this tour is that you have access to the Vatican a full hour before it opens to the rest of the public. Think about that for a minute. While an hour is not much in terms of time, it is monumental when it comes to the crowds that visit the Vatican. I can not say it is completely empty at this time, that would be a lie as there are of course other companies in line as well. What l can say is that it is as empty as it will ever get unless the Pope himself is giving you a personal tour.
Vatican Morning Tour:
We met our guide Jad just outside the doors of the museum and once everyone in the small group was accounted for (7 of us total). We headed across the street and once in line, Jad went on to give us a little history about the museums and the wonderful works we were about to see from the masters like Michelangelo.
Little tidbits like how it took him 4 years to complete the Sistine Chapel ceiling. You understand the suffering that went into the work, how hard it must have been painting daily while standing on ladders, craning your neck to paint on a ceiling! I admire his work, but yikes.. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it and he was hesitant to do it, but they wanted him. He wasn’t a young man at that point either.
Da Vinci took 4 years also to paint “The Last Supper”. We were given a map on the Sistine Chapel because since it is a place of worship, there is no talking allowed inside. No pictures either (not that people listened!). We were also fitted with earpieces and once the doors opened, we were ushered inside. You can see the advantage of doing the tour. Gives you time to do other things on your list.
Early Morning Vatican Tours Are Less Crowded:
Thanks to reason number one, you actually get a chance to see and admire the art. Since we had a shorter line to go through because The Roman Guy is an accredited Vatican tour operator, we had some time to look, listen and even take pictures before the next set of people appeared. Sometimes when you have tours, you hardly have any time to absorb things before being rushed to the next one. Not so here, so l totally appreciated it. Along with the Sistine Chapel, we also visited the Gallery of the Maps (outstanding tapestry work about all the regions of Italy), Candelabra Gallery, Gallery of the Tapestry and the Raphael Rooms.
Jad told us how one prudish Pope had insisted on covering up the private parts of the sculptures. I suppose walking up and down seeing dangling bits all over the place must have been jarring. Our guide Jad was very entertaining and really knew his history. He is an Archeologist so his appreciation for art was genuine and it was cool his pointing out some of the little things like the artist who put himself in one of his paintings or the artist who depicted a true “asshole boss” in a derogatory way in one of the paintings. Way to be remembered for eternity :-).
Best Vatican Tour: The Roman Guy has friendly guides with useful Information:
This was our second tour with The Roman Guy. Both times, we have had excellent guides who were not only knowledgeable, but friendly and engaging. This alone adds to the experience. There is so much to see and it’s nice to have a bit of hand holding when you tour a place like the Vatican. You get to see and hear about the best bits. It gives the experience more substance, at least to me. My appreciation for the art is enriched even more.
Find the best priced hotels in Rome here.
Early access Vatican small group tour:
Our tour included a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica. Despite the vast size, it became a bit more difficult to get clear pictures because at this point, the general public were also in there and it became a bit more crowded. Nothing overwhelming, but there was definitely a shift in the pace to see and move on. The earpieces worked marvelously though as we were still able to keep up with Jad’s commentaries. We concluded the tour by visiting the crypts of past Popes.
This was once again quiet and we were actually the only group down there at that point. We saw the last resting places of these very influential people of the Catholic religion. My favorite Pope was absent (Pope John Paul II) having being made a saint, but l saw the empty space. The funny thing to us was that the sign specifically said “NO PICTURES” down there, the only ones breaking that rule were nuns in uniforms, all taking cell phone pictures. We all kind of laughed because l guess to them, these Popes must have been like rock stars :-). Imagine being told you couldn’t take a picture at Jim Morrison’s grave! 🙂
Some little known facts about the Vatican:
- There is a secret passage way from the Vatican to the Castel Sant’Angelo. Built in 1277, the Passeto di Borgo is half a mile long and has served as an escape route for some popes, including Pope Clement VII in 1527 during the sack of Rome when the army of Emperor Charles were killing all nuns and priests.
- The Swiss Guard provides security for the Pope. They have been serving the Pope since 1506 under the reign of Pope Julius II. They are made up of entirely Swiss citizens
- Mussolini was the one who signed to make Vatican City a country in 1929. The Church was given 92 million dollars (about a billion dollars in today’s currency) for the Papal States and ended the dispute between the Italian government and the Catholic Church.
- St Peter’s Basilica sits on top of a burial ground. After a fire destroyed much of Rome, then Emperor Nero accused Christians of starting the fire and killed as many as he could by burning them at the stake, crucifying them and using wild beasts to tear them apart. Saint Peter was among the dead as the first Bishop of Rome. The Basilica was built over the catacombs and St. Peter’s supposed grave.
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Have you been to the Vatican? If yes, how long was your wait in line or did you opt for an early morning Vatican tour? Would you recommend it as a must visit for others?
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I have recently read an article about these early access tours and decided that they’re the best possible idea. They should have something like this for every super-crowded tourist attraction out there because some things really lose a bit of their beauty after you wait several hours in line 🙂
It was definitely worth waking up early and actually get to see things. I didn’t mention that we had tried it 2 days prior and after being in line, we were put off by the further 2 hour wait. It does tend to take the joy out of things sometimes when you are hot and sticky by the time you get to the actual door. I stopped going to Disneyland because of the super long lines.. :-). That, and the price of entry.
Good idea to save time. Now to what everyone who’s ever been to the Vatican wants to know – why do those Swiss guards wear those clown outfits? Hard to take them seriously…
Haha! Those outfits are super colorful. He actually did mention something about their uniforms, but l didn’t play close attention. I think it was something along the lines that the uniform was pretty common in the 1500’s so it was no big deal. Failing to keep up with fashion however..LOL! Some guy designed a more modest one in the 1920’s (the blue uniform of late) based on the original. Truth be told.. I actually kind of like the yellow clownish one :-).
I’d definitely take the early tour to skip the crowds and I like that the early admission and small size tour group led by The Roman Guy meant that you didn’t feel rushed through your visit. While it’s disheartening to think of any church having so much wealth and power, the undeniable genius and priceless works of art housed within the Vatican is incredible. I especially loved your photo of the Gallery of the Maps. I think that would be a place where I could spend hours! Anita
Yeah. It was wonderful to be able to take in the sights and learn new things. I really enjoyed it. By the time we left…yikes..the crowd was insane. I can only imagine in the summer. It’s been a while since we went last, so memory has faded a bit..but it was definitely crowded. That gallery of maps? I could definitely see you and Richard spending a lot of time. It’s magnificent. Made my day, and the fact that l got to see them uncles?….priceless!
I went one September with a large tour, about 35 of us, and also at 7:30 am. We got right in but it was along with many other large tour groups so it was really crowded from the get go — ha! Having the headset was great to be able to hear our guide but you had to keep track of where she was too, or it could get a little disorienting 🙂 It was all worth, though!
I think you have to be supremely lock to have it near empty when you go. There were other groups but l was happy with the guide. He instructed us what could be on you etc to pass the scanning quickly and we bypassed a few groups because he knew just where to shepherd us. Luckily he was a tall guy, so we had no problems finding him. I really enjoyed it. The headset was definitely great. Glad you enjoyed it.
‘Love the write-up KemKem!
I’ve been to the Vatican and as I mentioned in one of your earlier posts, I was lucky to “befriend” a fellow teacher in a school group, and was able to buy my ticket far quicker, and enter too. I’ve also on occasion, used my press status to get speedy access.
I think going on a guided Vatican tour is an excellent idea, as you really get all the knowledge, and nooks and crannies of the Vatican, and it’s secrets! In the last year or so, I’ve been going on private guided tours, and they’ve been worth every penny!
Thanks Victoria! I remember you mentioning your Vatican adventures. Love the confident moves in getting access..haha!Yeah, there are some places that l think one benefits from a guided tour. It enhances the experience and this was definitely one of those times. The guide was just awesome and really knew his stuff. Combined with the fact that the food tour also had an awesome guide, I can totally recommend The Roman Guy. We had a blast.
I like the idea of a guided tour here since there is just so much to see. I have visited twice and have braved the queues, but next time I will not hesitate to have a guided tour. On my last visit I had my sisters with me, it was so much fun, we managed to see the Pope from a very close range, he come over to where we were standing on his “Pope-mobile”. I am not particularly religious, but I did enjoy that a lot 🙂
We braved the lines the last time too! Haha! It’s definitely worth the guided tour. For sure we wouldn’t have been able to get as uncles as we did to a lot of things. How cool that you got to see the Pope. Now, that is brave. The last time we were there, he was on the balcony and the service had just finished. We didn’t see him though. We were just thrilled to find a parking spot close to the Vatican..and yeah..we certainly thanked God for that despite not being too religious either. We were looking for pizza! :-).