VIP Key Master's Tour: Open The Sistine Chapel
2 hours
Max 20 people
Commentary: Guide · en
Rome, Italy
About this activity
Unlock the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel alongside the Museum Key Master. Tour the empty museums before they are open to the public.
Highlights
- Join the Vatican’s Key Master to open the Sistine Chapel.
- Take part in the opening of the Vatican Galleries.
- Spend 2 hours inside the Vatican Museums completely alone.
- Explore alongside an Official Vatican Museums Guide.
- Experience the Vatican free of crowds.
Full description
This once in a lifetime tour offers the most incredible Vatican experience imaginable. Enter the Vatican museums before dawn, with the Museums’ Key Master. Join him as he opens the still and silent galleries and breeze through Italy’s most prized gem in luxurious seclusion. For two unique and memorable hours, you’ll glide through the deserted Museums, seeing the most awe-inspiring spaces including the Raphael Rooms and – the height of exclusivity - an empty Sistine Chapel. Walks Tours is proud to be an Accredited Tour Operator with an official ticketing agreement with the Vatican Museums.
Travel with the Vatican’s Key Master as he opens up the Museums, unlocking doors and lighting long, empty galleries for you to explore. On this unprecedented tour, the most exclusive ever offered by the Vatican, your small group enjoy 2 hours inside the Vatican Museums completely alone. The highlight of your tour will be the opening of the Sistine Chapel, where you’ll enter completely alone and watch Michelangelo’s frescoes flicker to life. On this tour, you’ll have the whole Museum to yourself for a full two hours -- an experience usually reserved for the Key Master....and the Pope.
Accompanied by an Official Vatican Tour Guide, you’ll get up close with some of the finest artworks in the world, appreciating every detail of the gallery’s masterpieces. While opening the Sistine Chapel is an unforgettable experience, there’s so much more to the Vatican Museums. The Raphael Rooms are a particular highlight. Often more crowded than the Sistine Chapel, they’re home to a collection of frescoes just as revered by art historians. Visiting alone, you’ll have the space to appreciate them in all their majesty. During your experience, you’ll walk the galleries featured on Vatican tours, like the historic Gallery of the Maps & Gallery of the Tapestries.
Enter the still-closed Pinecone Courtyard and you can choose to stay inside the Museums to explore more on your own, or head off for your next adventure, passing the crowds who are only now getting inside the doors.
Accompanied by an Official Vatican Tour Guide, you’ll get up close with some of the finest artworks in the world, appreciating every detail of the gallery’s masterpieces. While opening the Sistine Chapel is an unforgettable experience, there’s so much more to the Vatican Museums. The Raphael Rooms are a particular highlight. Often more crowded than the Sistine Chapel, they’re home to a collection of frescoes just as revered by art historians. Visiting alone, you’ll have the space to appreciate them in all their majesty. During your experience, you’ll walk the galleries featured on Vatican tours, like the historic Gallery of the Maps & Gallery of the Tapestries.
Enter the still-closed Pinecone Courtyard and you can choose to stay inside the Museums to explore more on your own, or head off for your next adventure, passing the crowds who are only now getting inside the doors.
Included / Excluded
- Official English-speaking Vatican guide
- Expertly guided walking tour
- Entrance ticket to the Vatican Museums
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop Off
- Gratuities
Meeting point
Start Location
Vatican Museums Entrance, Rome, IT
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a green Walks sign. This tour meets at Vatican Museums Entrance. Your guide will be waiting on the short flight of stairs in front of the entrance door. These doors are surrounded by white marble and have "Mvsei Vaticani" engraved above the door in the stone.
Get directions →Important information
Know before you book
- The tour is in English.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- All guests (including children) must bring ID on the day of their tour.
- Due to the religious nature of the Vatican, all individuals regardless of gender must cover their shoulders and knees. Walks cannot be held responsible for those denied entry.
- Walks Tours is an Accredited Tour Operator with an official ticketing agreement with the Vatican Museums.
Know before you go
- Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour start time for check-in. Out of courtesy to other guests, we’re unable to wait for latecomers. No refunds can be provided for late arrivals or no-shows.
- All guests (including children) must bring ID on the day of their tour.
- All guests must pass through security. For useful information/restrictions about your tour in the Vatican Museum, visit https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/visita-i-musei/consigli-utili.html
- Only small backpacks and handbags are allowed inside the Vatican Museums.
- Due to the religious nature of the Vatican, all individuals regardless of gender must cover their shoulders and knees. Walks cannot be held responsible for those denied entry.
- No photography or filming is permitted in the Sistine Chapel.
- Guests are free to stay in the Vatican Museums after the tour ends.
- Tips/gratuities (for your guide) are always appreciated.
- Walks and Devour comply with all local government regulations. Please refer to local government guidelines for the most up to date information.
Cancellation policy
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the activity starts
Cancellations received greater than 24 hours prior to tour commencement are fully refundable. Cancellations received within 24 hours of tour commencement are nonrefundable. Amendment requests are subject to availability and price changes. Late arrivals and no shows are nonrefundable. This is applicable to any tour participant that fails to arrive, or arrives after tour departure.
Additional information
Ticket age ranges:
- Adult (15+)
- Child (2-14)
- Infant (0-1)
- Adult (15+)
- Child (2-14)
- Infant (0-1)