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Walking tours

Attractions & guided tours

Museums

Excursions & day trips

Culture & history

Vatican Museums’s Key Master early entrance tour with Sistine Chapel

Free cancellation

Place: Rome

Duration: 2 hours

Language: English

Mobile voucher accepted

Instant confirmation

Do this because

Experience 2 hours inside the Vatican Museums completely alone with a small group of a maximum of 20 people
Join the Vatican’s Key Master to open the Sistine Chapel and admire all the other priceless artwork up close!
Walk through the historic Gallery of the Maps & Gallery of the Tapestries

What to expect

Join a once-in-a-lifetime tour that gives you access to the Vatican museums before dawn! Enter the empty Museum with the Key Master and enjoy with your small group 2 hours inside the Vatican Museums before crowds flood in. The highlight of your tour will be the opening of the Sistine Chapel, where you’ll enter completely alone and watch Michelangelo’s frescoes flicker to life.

Accompanied by an official Vatican tour guide, you’ll get up close with some of the finest artworks in the world. While opening the Sistine Chapel is an unforgettable experience, there’s so much more to the Vatican Museums. The Raphael Rooms are a particular highlight. Often more crowded than the Sistine Chapel, they’re home to a collection of frescoes just as revered by art historians. Visiting alone, you’ll have the space to appreciate them in all their majesty. During your experience, you’ll walk the galleries featured on Vatican tours, like the historic Gallery of the Maps & Gallery of the Tapestries.

Enter the still-closed Pinecone Courtyard and stay inside the Museums to explore more on your own, or head off for your next adventure, passing the crowds who are only now getting inside the doors.

Sites Visited

Sistine Chapel
Raphael Rooms
Gallery of the Maps
Gallery of the Tapestries
Gallery of the Candelabra
Vatican Museums
Pinecone Courtyard
Octagonal Courtyard (Apollo Belvedere & Laocoön)

Please ensure that all members of your party have a valid ID on them on the day of the visit. This is particularly important for guests who have qualified for child reduction
The Sistine Chapel is a holy place, and attire must be appropriate for the visit. Both men and women are asked to wear clothing that covers at least the shoulders and knees
You may only carry small handbags inside the Vatican Museums. Larger backpacks and big pointy umbrellas etc must be left at the cloakroom. It is your responsibility to return to the Vatican Museums entrance to collect these after the tour
Unfortunately, this tour is not wheelchair accessible
The tour ends inside the Vatican Museums
Participants must show up at the meeting point at least 15 minutes before starting time chosen as no refunds or re-bookings can be allowed for latecomers or no-shows

What’s included

Exclusive entrance to the Vatican Museums 2 hours before opening

Fully guided tour of the Vatican Museums

Fully guided tour of the Sistine Chapel

Official English-speaking Vatican guide

What’s not included

Tips (optional)

Hotel pick-up/drop-off

Cancellation policy

Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 24 hours before the experience begins.

Booking fee

Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.

Location

Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano

Meeting point:

Please meet your guide 15 minutes prior to the start time in front of the Vatican Museums. There are two doors, one less noticeable tucked into the corner and one surrounded by white marble with a short flight of stairs. You will be entering via the door surrounded by marble and the guide will be waiting at those stairs