Vatican City tours in Rome - Descriptions

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Vatican City Tours Your private guide will lead you through the labyrinth of the Vatican Museums to reveal the stunning history of the rebirth of culture and ideas in the age of the Renaissance. Let us bring to life the stories and symbolism of this world famous collection, culminating with the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of St. Peter. Note: If you like we can pre-book Vatican Museums tickets at 30euro per person. We recommend it for peak days (Sat/Mon) and peak seasons (Xmas/Easter, May/June/July/Sep/Oct). Though the museums recently lengthened their opening hours and we time our tours for the quietest moment of the day when there is generally no line, peak times can be problematic.
Complete Vatican City This 5 hour tour begins with the Vatican Museums. We will follow the dramatic progression of painting from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, focusing on a handful of masterpieces by Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Caravaggio. We'll stroll through the lovely Courtyard of the Pinecone and learn about the Sistine Chapel, unveiling the secrets within Michelangelo's evocative, symbol-laden frescos. From here we visit the Hall of Busts for the marble portraits of ancient Roman citizens. The portrait bust was the great Roman contribution to ancient art, and these uncannily realistic works pull us into their world for a unique glimpse of the ancient Romans themselves. From here we enter the beautiful Belvedere Courtyard and Hall of the Muses to see some of the most prized sculptures of ancient Rome and Greece: the Laocoon, the Belvedere Torso and the Apollo Belvedere, pieces which stimulated the genius of artists such as Bernini and Michelangelo. On to the Sala Rotonda with its stunning mosaic floor, the porphyry bath of Nero and the 1st century BCE colossal bronze Hercules. In the Sala della Croce Greca we will see the two enormous porphyry sarcophagi made for Constantine and the twin Egyptian Sphinx sculptures. From here we visit the Hall of the Candelabra with many masterpieces of ancient sculpture including the God of Wine Bacchus. In the Hall of the Tapestries we will see the work of the School of Raphael and the beautiful trompe-l'oeil ceiling, followed by the amazing Hall of Maps with its stunning 16th century frescoes. In the Sobieski Room a painting portrays monks hung by the church for supporting Galileo and in the Room of the Immaculate Conception are frescoes celebrating the controversial dogma of 1854. We then arrive at the Raphael Rooms: the grand apartments of Julius II, to witness Raphael's innovative and delicate frescoes and the hidden clues to the Papal world of the 1500's Renaissance. Finally we arrive at the Sistine Chapel where you can take in the overwhelming sight of Michelangelo's truly phenomenal masterpieces- the Wall of the Last Judgement and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Onto the otherworldly Basilica of St. Peter where your guide will recount the stories of the artists and rulers who brought about its existence and reveal the hidden symbolism in its monuments and the wonders of its architecture and decoration. Learn the secrets of Michelangelo's first masterpiece, the Pietà and his last- the great dome. The theatrical Baroque art and architecture will be explained as you take in the culmination of over 120 years of construction and decades of decoration. Witness the symbolic monuments to the Popes and some unlikely others. Mathematics and creativity drove Bernini's elaborate plans both inside and outside the Basilica, full of symbolism and drama: Piazza San Pietro, the Cathedra Petri, the Baldacchino, and the Monument to Alexander the VII. The bodies of the Incorruptibles also lay on display in glass coffins, including the body of Pope John XXIII. Not to be missed are the story of why St. Peter's Basilica is here, its meaning to the Catholic world and the many legends that surround it. Cost of this tour is 300 Euros* Entrance fees (Vatican)** note: Your guide will meet you at 1:00pm at your hotel (Wednesdays at 9:30 in case of Papal audience). Vatican City Express This tour covers the same sites as the Complete Vatican City above, minus the Vatican Museums Pinacoteca and the Tombs of the Popes under St. Peter's Basilica. Perfect for those who want to see it all, but are short on time. Cost of this tour is 260 Euros* Entrance fees (Vatican)**	Priapus, Vatican Museums Vatican arena during the Renaissance The school of Athens, Raphael, Vatican Museums Fresco, Castel Sant Angelo Raphael, Vatican Museums	Vatican/Castel St. Angelo During this tour we visit the fascinating Castel St. Angelo, otherwise know as the "Papal Pleasure Palace" built over the Mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian. Inside we will give you an overview of the original mausoleum built by Hadrian as the tomb for himself and his family as we wind up through the internal spiral of the ancient interior, visit the intriguing "grotesque" frescoes from the early 1500's, the Room of Apollo, the bedroom of Alexander VI with its erotic paintings, the room of the papal treasure with its enormous treasure box, and the splendid terrace with the best view of St. Peter's Basilica and the city of Rome. We will then stop for a nice lunch at a delicious Italian family run restaurant on a characteristic street in the Vatican Borgo for lunch and then on to the Vatican City where we will view the Vatican Museums and Basilica as listed in the Complete Vatican City. Cost of this tour is 400 Euros* Entrance fees (Vatican, Castel St. Angelo)** Castel St. Angelo closed Mondays! Vatican/Fab Fountains and Piazzas This tour combines the highlights of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's with the "must see" fabulous piazzas, fountains, and winding streets of Baroque Rome. Your guide will take you through the heart of Rome to visit Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. You will begin to see the city as a continuous story, one that radiates from the hearts and minds of the greatest Renaissance and Baroque artists, their vision inextricably binding the twin stories of Rome and the Vatican. As part of this full day tour you will stop for a delicious Italian meal in a restaurant selected by our staff for its authentic Roman cuisine. Cost of this tour is 400 Euros* Entrance fees (Vatican)** Vatican/Ancient Rome This unique tour is for those who want to expand their understanding of how our culture came to be as it is today. Digging back through the layers of both ancient and modern Christian tradition, your guide will unearth for you our pagan roots. Rome is perhaps the only place on earth in which one can simultaneously view the religious and spiritual traditions of the last 2800 years stacked one atop another. The Roman Empire in the first centuries after Christ was a place in which hundreds of faiths competed for the hearts and minds of the people. In the end, the Christians won this spiritual battle, or did they? Discover how the pagan mind returned to medieval Rome, gave birth to the Renaissance, and shook the Church's very foundations. Your guide will take you around the city in a highly specialized and enthralling tour of religious traditions starting with the Vatican City and then exploring the Ancient City, examining how the soul of man still speaks through its art and architecture across the centuries. This tour will leave you with a more profound view of the culture that we have today as you come to understand the pagan mind, and how it was forever altered by the great rise of the eastern religions and mystery cults, from whence comes Christianity. Mid-day we will stop for a delicious Italian meal in a restaurant selected by our staff for its authentic Roman cuisine. Cost of this tour is 400 Euros* Entrance fees (Vatican, Coliseum)**

Main sites visited in the Vatican Museums: The Courtyard of the Pinecone, the Belvedere Courtyard, the Laocoon, the Apollo Belvedere, the Hall of Portrait Busts, the Round Room, the Hall of the Muses, the Room of the Greek Cross, the Hall of Tapestries, the Hall of the Candelabra, the Hall of Maps, the King Sobieski Room, the Room of the Immaculate Conception, the Raphael Rooms, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and Last Judgment wall, Pinacoteca (not on the Vatican City Express tour).
Main sites visited at the Basilica of St. Peter: Carlo Maderno's facade and portico, Bernini's Chair of St. Peter, the High Altar, the Baldachino and Monument to Pope Alexander VII, Michelangelo's Pieta and Dome of St. Peter; the Cherub Holy Fonts, Monument to Gregory XIII, body of John XXIII, Chapel of the Very Holy Sacrament, Monument to Pius VII, the markers of the central nave, Tombs of the Popes (not on the Vatican City Express tour).

**Vatican Museums: 14 Euros per adult, 8 Euros per child over 5/student with ID (dress code); Coliseum 11 Euros per person; Castel St. Angelo: 8 Euros per person (closed Mondays).

*Your guide will meet you at your hotel. Prices listed are per tour (not per person), for one to six people. Please note that meals, taxis and entrance fees are not included in the tour price.

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