All gitty to visit the Vatican? Wanna make the best out of your visit? Then turn it into a guided Vatican tour. The basic difference between a mere visit and a tour is planning and sureness. With the mere visit, nothing is sure. You aren’t sure if you will get the tickets.
You won’t be sure for how long you have to stand in the line. No surety of seeing the Vatican the way it should be seen. There are chances of missing out a lot. To avoid a stressful and unsure visit turn it into a tour.
Because the Vatican is Rome’s most popular tourist destination. It would be a shame if you return home from the Vatican with some unpleasant experience. Wondering how a tour can add value to your visit? Check out the following comparison.
Solo visit v/s Guided tour of the Vatican
Tours help you to focus on the most important aspects. With a guided tour, your visit becomes planned. Hence you don’t waste your time wandering aimlessly. The basic difference is illustrated in the following chart.
| Things to consider | Solo visit | Guided Tour |
|---|---|---|
| Planning the visit | No foolproof plan | A picture-perfect plan |
| Skip the line entry | Can’t skip the long waiting lines | A chance of skipping the boring tdnes |
| Having insights | You will be left with guesswork | A guide will give you all the insights |
| access | No special access | Special access |
Not only these there are tons of good sides to a tour. To sum it up, the basic difference between a mere visit and a tour is planning and sophistication. In Vatican city guided tours, everything is pre-planned so the visit becomes hassle-free.
What to see
Vatican Museum
The most hyped-up part of the Vatican tour is its museum. You just can not miss it by any chance. It’s heaven for art lovers. It’s the world’s largest private art collection in existence. And the shocking part is all of its art riches are not on public display yet.
That proves how much enriched it is with art and history. Here you can see masterpieces done by famous Italian artists and sculptors like Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Bernini, and many more.
The legends say more than 250 international artists have shed their blood, sweat, and tears in making each artwork of the museum. It’s a long walk but isn’t a torment if you love art intensely.
The Vatican museum itself is The intense part of the visit. It will take most of your time and energy. If it’s possible then I would suggest not to visit the Vatican museum and St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day. As you will be exhausted after finishing the museum tour.
But if you are left with no other option than the same day then pull up your socks.
History
The Vatican Museums’ origin is documented somewhere near the 16th century. It was discovered on 14 January 1506. Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo examined the venue themselves and worked on its restoration process.
It welcomed public visits only in 1773.
The best time to tours in Vatican city
The Vatican museum is open every day except Sunday. But Tuesday or Thursday can be your best day to visit. As they are not near the weekends it’s expected to be a little less crowded in these two days. It is normal to be a bit busier around a weekend. As most of the people come to the Vatican for the museum.
Another fun fact I want to reveal is that the museum is busier than you expect in the morning. Those days are gone when you could expect that you would be the only clever one to arrive early to avoid the crowd. Now everyone tries to do so resulting in the same crowd that you wanted to avoid in the first place.
So I suggest taking a good morning nap or booking a tour ticket for the best time entrance at the Vatican museum. Vatican Museums are much more crowded than you expected if you go early in the morning, and slightly less crowded in the afternoon.
Wanna know the best season to visit? The Vatican museum is less crowded From April – October. You can book a visit to the Vatican Museums on Friday night to be extra sure.
Highlights
There are a lot of sections of the museum which hold utmost artistic value. If you are an art lover I would advise you to take it slow and savor the walk. The more you walk at the Vatican museum the more you see.
You just can’t rank the arts in any order. Each of them is unique and beautiful in its own way. But if you are in a rush to see the Sistine chapel then at least don’t miss the following sections of the Vatican museum.
- Raphael rooms
- the maps hall
- Apollo del Belvedere
- The Rotunda Room
- Porphyry Basin
- floor-to-ceiling tapestries
- papal apartments
There’s more in the Vatican city. Such as tours of the Vatican Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica.
St. Peter’s Basilica
Image Source: rome.us
Saint Peter’s Basilica is a Renaissance-era church. It’s also one of the world’s largest churches. It is famous for holding a valuable spot in the Christian world. It is also the burial site of Saint Peter. the first Bishop of Rome (Pope).
The basilica was built after the burial of the first pope as a tribute.
History
The basilica is built over the small shrine believed to mark the burial place of Saint Peter. Pope Julius II built the St. Peter’s Basilica. The work started in 1506 and was completed in 1615. Paul V governed the finishing of this artistic church.
Not actually a history lesson but I wanna share a fun fact about St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo’s magnificent pietà is inside St. Peter’s Basilica. It is considered to be one of Michelangelo’s first works ever. At that time he was only 22.
As being this young he wasn’t sure he would get recognition for his work. So he sneaked in at night and carved his name (Michelangelo Buonarroti) on mother Mary’s sash. Isn’t that adorable? You can still see it. It is the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed.
Best time to visit
St. Peter’s Basilica is free for entrance. The only hassle is getting in. waiting in the long line of the entrance can get boring. And if it’s a Wednesday then expect it to be crazy crowdy. Usually, Wednesday is the Papal Audience day. The day when the pope addresses a large amount of audience at the St. Peter’s Basilica square.
So Saint Peter’s Basilica will be closed until the papal audience is over. Which ends around 12-1 pm.
As it’s still functioning as a church it’s crowded on Saturdays. So you might like to avoid that if you don’t have any religious purpose. In my opinion winter, low season months are best if you want to be more relaxed. As at that time you will find smaller crowds.
Keeping all the logic behind wanna know which ones are the best time to visit basilica? Either early morning or late afternoon. When the sunray comes through all the stained glass. That hour is magical inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
Highlights
Though you don’t need to rush your visit at the St. Peter’s Basilica like the Vatican museum tour, there are a few details that I would like you to pay attention to. For instance,
- Michelangelo’s pietà – (mother Mary’s face)
- St. Peter’s dome – ( done by Michelangelo )
- Vatican Grottoes – The Tombs of the popes
Sistine chapel
Now the climax of the whole tour. The Sistine chapel. The hype is real. You will never experience something like the Sistine chapel. It’s a ceiling full of history, mythology, art, emotions, and psychology.
Excited? But there’s no shortcut to visiting the Sistine chapel only. You must go through the entire Vatican Museums to reach the Sistine chapel. Even if you promise yourself not to look at any other art piece except the Sistine chapel.
In my opinion, the Vatican museum builds the perfect ambiance for the Sistine chapel. And when you reach it it’s like reaching a climax. Like every multi-course meal, the dessert is served at the last. Can’t have dessert without main course meals, huh?
Similarly, you can not visit the Sistine chapel without crossing the Vatican museum. It’s situated at the very end of the museum.
Image Source: visitvatican.info
History
The work of the Sistine chapel Started in 1508. It took Michelangelo and his fellow artist over 4 years to complete the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. It is also known as the papal chapel. The credit of its marvelous architecture goes to Giovanni dei Dolci.
The work started on the governance of Pope Sixtus IV. It is famous for its Renaissance frescoes by Michelangelo. They tried to recreate the Temple of Jerusalem with the same dimensions as in the Bible. And it couldn’t have done better in any other human hands.
Vest time to visit Sistine chapel
to visit the Sistine chapel as early as possible. Preferably at 7 am with a VIP entrance. Many tours will help you with this privilege. You should spend at least 2 hours at the Sistine chapel. Cause at a glance there’s so much going on it will take some time for your mind to settle.
And when the magnitude of the art starts to hit you you will get the fact why the Sistine chapel is loved by many tourists and art lovers.
Highlights
The Sistine Chapel is the highlight of the Vatican tour itself. But if you want me to point out some artistic phenomenon of the Sistine chapel then I’ll refer to,
- The Adams creation
- Sistine Chapel Ceiling
- The Last Judgement
- The Southern Wall
- The Northern Wall
Making the visit a tour and including the top three spots of the Vatican as a priority is the best thing you can do to save your holiday. The Vatican tour is an experience of a lifetime. You should plan it well or drop that work on the shoulders of experts.
Image Source: getyourguide.com
There are local tour companies happy to help you make your mere visit to the Vatican a mind-boggling tour. As there is a story behind every brick of the Vatican you need to hear them all.
