For the first time ever, City Wonders is proud to offer guests the opportunity to enjoy a banquet breakfast at the Vatican Museums before even the cleaners enter! We gain No Wait Access to the Vatican Museums 1 hour and 30 minutes before other groups so you’ll experience the Vatican as few people have ever seen it.
Your expert, English-speaking guide will lead you through quiet corridors to the beautiful Pinecone Courtyard, where you’ll find a banquet fit for the Pope. Enjoy a huge spread of hot and cold breakfast foods, meats, cheeses and pastries and even order a short stack from our pancake chef! Your breakfast at the Vatican will be relaxed, giving you plenty of time to sit out on the courtyard patio, soaking up the peace and quiet of this tiny state in the early morning.
After breakfast you’ll join your guide for a tour of the Vatican Museums. Thanks to our exclusive entry time, you’ll get started early – just after other tour groups are allowed to enter and before general opening time. Inside the Museums already, you’ll have a good head start on everyone else and will stay ahead of the crowds for much of your journey.
As an expert in art history, your guide will be the perfect host for your journey through the Vatican. Using a carefully crafted route, they’ll lead you through all the highlights of the Museums without having to walk the whopping nine miles covered by the Papal palaces. You’ll see ancient sculpture galleries, stunning tapestries, precious relics and intricate tapestries.
Of course we won’t miss out on the big-name sights like the Raphael Rooms, where your guide will point out the famous characters modeled in the School of Athens. We’ll visit the Sistine Chapel too, where you’ll be well prepared for the masterpieces that await. You’ll understand the techniques Michelangelo used to create these stunning frescoes (believe it or not, he didn’t actually lie on his back at all) and spot the incredible details and private jokes that he painted into the world’s most iconic artwork, getting the most from your time here.
Special access means we’ll gain direct entry from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter’s Basilica without having to leave the Museums, walk 20 minutes to St. Peter’s Square and queue up for an hour. With all that extra time to spare, you’ll have plenty of time to explore the Basilica* with your guide. They’ll explain the incredible work that went into the dome here (and how Bernini almost split the Basilica in half), point out incredible artworks within such as Michelangelo’s sculpture ‘Pietà’ and introduce to you what is probably the world’s most impressive altar.
Starting the day with an exclusive breakfast at the Vatican and continuing on in a small group tour through the Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica, your Vatican experience will be memorable and intimate. With audio headsets for every guest and only 20 people or less per group, your guide will be easy to hear and interact with, ensuring that you get the very best from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
