Discover one of the largest art collections in the world with over 65,000 masterpieces, spanning from Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian antiquities to contemporary art on this morning tour of the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. Lose yourself in the history of the famous Popes of Rome, their love for art, and their glamorous lives in one of the most enlightened periods in Italian history, the Renaissance.
To start your morning tour of the Vatican Museums, you'll take a coach tour across Rome. Your city tour includes a live commentary and offers a brief introduction to Rome as you travel by bus to the Vatican City. Highlights en route include Piazza della Repubblica, following the ancient Aurelian Walls, the famous Villa Borghese gardens and the northern gate of Rome leading into Piazza del Popolo.
Upon arrival, your guide will lead you into the museums. You'll see the beautiful spiral stairway and continue through the Gallery of Tapestries and Gallery of Geographical Maps, before arriving at the famous Sistine Chapel with its magnificent fresco of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo.
Enjoy lunch in a typical Italian restaurant. In the afternoon discover the Catacombs – enter the burial chambers and marvel at the Classical and Christian scenes. Rome has 120 kilometres of catacombs. Visit Cecilia Metella’s Tomb, built for the noblewoman Cecilia and renowned as the most famous along the Appian way.