• CONTACT US if you have any problems registering for the forums.

Wake Up the Vatican Tour

Paul Chebator

10+ Posts
Has anyone done this? It seems outrageously expensive, over $500 per person. However, it does seem that the price drops if they don’t sell out with advance bookings.
 
I have not done that one but I did one of the first after hours tours more than a decade ago. Even then it was expensive, around $350 per person I think, but I've never regretted it. Almost every previous visit to the Sistine Chapel was so crowded, hot and noisy that it was nearly impossible to appreciate the place. With the after hours tour we (15 of us) had the entire chapel to ourselves for about a half hour. It was amazing.

There are several different vendors allowed to offer before or after hours tours, I suspect you can find better pricing. We went with Italy with Us, I just pulled up their web site and the tour we took is now priced at 350 euro, so not much different than what we paid all those years ago.

https://italywithus.com/vatican-tours
 
We did the Breakfast in the Vatican event a few yrs ago and it was just what we wanted - an excellent buffet breakfast (including made to order omlettes, pancakes, etc) in the 'pine cone' courtyard at 7:15 a.m. followed by very early access to the museum -think it was around 8 - 8:30am but in any case we were the only people in the Raphael room and the Caravaggio room, and when we entered the chapel there were far fewer than 20 people. We took our time in these spaces without a problem. This is not a tour, though they do include a self guided audio tour as part of the breakfast package (we bypassed this short line for signing out headphones and went straight into the museum since we had a few specific sights in mind). Cost was something like $70/person, and tickets were sold directly through the vatcan museum website. If you like an independent experience, I think it a much better value than the very richly priced after hours guided tours.
Of course, all of these details may have changed significantly since we did the breakfast.
 
In May 2012, we visited in the Friday night opening, without an audio or personal guide. With a price that wasn't so high, we went straight to the Sistine Chapel and it was nearly empty. I don't know if that continues to be the case.
 
Hi Andrew.
We booked the timed entry for Fri eve a couple of times over the years and agree that crowd size is much much reduced then. I forget the exact details but I think the Fri eve time slots are available for purchase directly through the Vatican museum website for standard entry fee something like 2 months in advance. The only relatively minor downside for us was that the pinacoteca was not accessible on Fri eve. So there are good and much less expensive alternatives to the $350 after hour small group tour tickets.
 
The Wake Up tour sounds wonderful...walking with the keeper of the keys to unlock the Vatican. That must be something to remember. But, as you say, the price is steep and when looking online, the Vatican website says that tour is not available for booking right now. BUT, the Breakfast at the Vatican tour is available and much more reasonably priced. http://www.museivaticani.va/content...ingresso-anticipato-ai-musei---colazione.html
We did the Context evening tour of the Vatican several years ago and it was absolutely packed with people. Maybe we just hit a popular night for our tour but we were very surprised at how crowded it was.
Has anyone done a tour of the Vatican gardens?
 
That is very pricey! I know, because it is a service (or maybe something similar) that we offer, as well as many other colleagues in Rome offer and none of us charge that much. Do you have a link for me to check out to see what exactly is included in this? I would be really interested to see what the price is so high.
 
The after hours is always expensive! Especially if done privately.

I think you are right, I think the OP is talking about that "good morning tour" that is directly through the Vatican itself. That probably would be VERY expensive. I also see what you are saying about it not currently being available to be booked. This is not something that outside tour companies can even offer! It is something exclusively through the Vatican. Us outside companies can only offer 8:30 am entrances, 8:00 am entrances and there are just 3 companies that have exclusive rights to the 7:45 am entrance slot. All of these get you in the doors before the general public which is allowed to enter at 9:00 am. All of these are a fraction of the cost that the OP was talking about.
 

How to Find Information

Search using the search button in the upper right. Search all forums or current forum by keyword or member. Advanced search gives you more options.

Filter forum threads using the filter pulldown above the threads. Filter by prefix, member, date. Or click on a thread title prefix to see all threads with that prefix.

Sponsors

Booking.com Hotels in Europe
AutoEurope.com Car Rentals

Recommended Guides, Apps and Books

52 Things to See and Do in Basilicata by Valerie Fortney
Italian Food & Life Rules by Ann Reavis
Italian Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
French Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
She Left No Note, Lake Iseo Italy Mystery 1 by J L Crellina

Share this page

Back
Top