ONLINE TICKET RESERVATION FOR TOURS OF THE VATICAN, ROME - ST. PETERS, THE VATICAN MUSEUMS, THE SISTINE CHAPEL

VATICAN GUIDED TOURS - PRIVATE OR GROUP TOURS?

In January 2007 the Vatican Museums announced sweeping and controversial changes to their admission policies. Prices increased, entrance times were given a makeover (emerging looking worse than they did before), the independent traveler was given hurdle after hurdle to vault, and only officially registered and fully-paid-up agencies were allowed to sell tickets.

This last point is, in theory at least, a good thing, but there are early stories of some rather shady schemes emerging (involving the use of so-called 'gatherers' who attempt to round up ad hoc groups immediately outside the Vatican and hustle them inside under the guise of a pre-arranged tour). This is forbidden, and the police will stop it happening. When they see it.

So, moving on from the unbelievable fact that there is no standard booking system for one of the most visited tourist destinations on the planet, what, then, are the options?

To be frank, unless you are incredibly tenacious and have a great deal of time to spare, the only way you are going to get to see around the Vatican is as part of a guided tour. At this point things become much plainer. Tickitaly (again, allow us to stress that we are an officially registered ticket agency) sell two categories of tour - private or group tours:

Option one - Private Vatican tours will consist of the people in your group (anywhere from 2 to 20 people) and nobody else. You will have your own dedicated tour guide and there will not be any other people taking part. Your own personal tour, quite simply - click here for details on these tours.

Option two - Group Vatican tours will be made up of between 10 and 25 people (never more) and you'll be touring the Vatican with other people who have booked the same tour. We have pre-booked these tours, so availability is guaranteed (at least until the tour is full). Click here for details on these tours.

One last link - if you are still to finalise your Rome lodging, we are happy to steer you towards ahotelinitaly.com and their extensive range of hotels in Rome, Italy.