Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Skip-the-line Tour, Vatican City

This is a classic skip-the-line tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Make it to all the highlights. Leave it up to your expert tour guide to keep things interesting.

Highlights:

• VisitVatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

• Skip-the-line entrance

Includes:

• Skip-the-line access to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

• A guide

• Headsets

The Vatican Museums are the crowning highlight of Vatican City. Together with your guide, set foot inside the smallest country in the world via the fastest possible entrance. The bronze Sphere within a Sphere sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro marries this historic setting with a touch of modern art. One of the first stops inside the Vatican Museums is the Pinecone Courtyard where you will find the Sphere within a Sphere sculpture as well as the Roman fountain, an enormous bronze pinecone, that lends the courtyard its name. In this Gallery of hand-painted maps, you can admire the world how it was seen nearly 5 centuries ago. With the help of your guide, pick out the towns in Italy you have visited, or just enjoy the incredible hand-painted details that make these maps unique.

"Raphael's Rooms" inside the Vatican Museums are a spectacular testament to the talent of the painter Raphael, as well the inspiration of the master Michelangelo. Explore them with your guide. Your guide will prepare you to take in the Sistine Chapel ahead of time, as no speaking is allowed in this sacred place. Admire this monumental work by Michelangelo. The Vatican Museums are made up of multiple museums, forming many "wings". The wing containing the highest concentration of highlights is the Pio Clementino Museum.

Follow your guide from the Octagonal open-air courtyard where you will encounter the Laocoonte and Apollo Belvedere, to the eerily life-like statues in the Room of the Animals. Check out the masterfully painted vaults creating a 3D effect in the Gallery of the Candelabra. Your visit ends at the entrance of the Vatican Museums. From here, you are free to continue to explore on your own within official opening hours.