A Must See While In Rome: The Vatican

The Vatican City. Revered, written about in books, seen on television and movies.  No visit to Rome could be considered complete without a peek inside the world of the Vatican. But where to start when you go?  It’s overwhelming.  Our choice, to take the guided tour titled The Vatican Highlights Tour: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel with Walks of Italy.

I couldn’t wait to see what lay beyond those walls.

We met our excited group of 10 on a hot and humid morning, we were handed our ear buds, and got started.  First, we entered through security.  A simple process where we walked through a medal detector and bags were quickly checked.  Even so, I was thankful to have our guide with us to to lead the way.  It was crowded, hot a bit disorienting.  Then thanks to our “skip the line access” included in the tour, we immediately got started with our excursion.

We filled up our water bottles at  the water fountains.

(fresh spring water and very safe to drink)

Then settled in as Andrea, our tour guide, crammed his 4 years of art history education into a 15 minute lesson for us before we entered the Vatican.  We sat in the famous Pinecone court yard, took some pictures, and had a lesson on some of the great artists who’s works are housed inside Vatican City.

As we wandered thorough these hallowed halls we were inspired by priceless works of art.  A few unique pieces and rooms that left me in awe included;

The Gallery Of The Maps.  It was spectacular.

The statue of Hercules.

The Gallery of the Tapestries.  The stories that these tapestries told were each rich and unique.  My picture can’t begin to do it justice.

The oohing and aweing went on and on as we ventured from room to astonishing room.  All leading up to the masterpiece that is the Sistine Chapel.  Seeing the Creation of Adam on the celling of the Sistine Chapel….it took my breath away.

*This picture courtesy of Walks Of Italy as you are not allowed to take photos inside the chapel.

A guided tour of this nature allowed us to be sure we saw the highlights of the Vatican, giving us a deeper insight into the Vatican City.  This was so much more than I could have ever accomplished on my own, or with simply a book to guide me.  Once the tour was completed we were left at St. Peter’s Basilica terrace, encouraged to explore on our own for as long as we wished either there or back to some of the galleries we had skipped over earlier.  We chose to venture on into St. Peter’s Basilica and wander the expansive grounds of the Vatican.

The tour was a nice pace and length for my family of four.  Not too long for teen girls, and the tour helped us all to grasp an understanding of the scope of the artwork and history enclosed within the Vatican’s walls.  The crowds were predictably large in the summer but Andrea expertly guided us through the chaos and helped us find the beauty hidden around every corner.   A sweet and succinct tour.

What I Learned:
-To enter the Sistine Chapel your shoulders and knees must be covered. This is but one small part of the tour and doesn’t need to be overthought. For men; a pair of light weight dress pants and Golf Shirt or T-shirt is perfect. Women have many choices. Maxi dress & scarf for the shoulders, Shorts & T-shirt, then add a long scarf as a sarong before you enter. Or of course a dress that will cover the shoulders and knees is perfect.
-Silence is requested, actually demanded, in the Sistine Chapel.
-No pictures are allowed in the Sistine Chapel.
-The “skip the line” access was invaluable, we heard from other guests that lines often stretch for hours just for entrance.

Thanks to Walks of Italy for the incredible and educational tour, it was exactly what I’d hoped it would be.
Disclosure:  I was provided with tours in order to facilitate my review.  As always opinions reflected in this blog are my own.