You will meet with your guide outside the Vatican Museum and with skip-the-line entry you begin your tour away from the bustling tourist crowds and busy galleries.  This is truly an alternative experience of the Vatican Museums where you can immerse yourself in the history of the Catholic Church and the lives of the Popes.

On the tour you have the opportunity to discover some of the lesser-known parts of the museums like the Gallery of Paintings where you will see wonderful masterpieces by Raphael, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Tiziano and many more! Then it is on to the Carriage Pavilion where the many vehicles used over the centuries by the various Popes are displayed.  There is the Grand Gala Berlin made in Rome in 1826 for Pope Leo XII, the Fiat Campagnola, the car in which Pope John Paul II was standing when an assassination attempt was made in 1981 in St. Peter’s Square.  There are also three Popemobiles on show (Land Rover, Toyota and Mercedes 230 GE) and the Renault 4 donated by Pope Francis in 2013.

At this point on the tour your guide will give you a detailed overview of the Sistine Chapel (talking inside is strictly forbidden).  You will then be free to enjoy the rest of the museums and once you enter the Sistine Chapel you will have some background knowledge of the works displayed so that you can more fully appreciate its beauty and artistry.

It is then time for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica where you will explore the numerous side chapels with their hidden crypts. You will see Michelangelo’s Pietà and your guide will explain why this is the only work that he signed. You will gain an appreciation of the mastery that went into the creation of Bernini’s altarpiece and learn how Michelangelo triumphed over his contemporaries for the honour to paint St. Peter’s magnificent dome.