While planning our trip to Italy, one of my biggest questions was about a Vatican tour: how to visit the Vatican with kids? Should we visit the Vatican first thing in the morning? Late in the afternoon? Pay extra for early morning entry? Should we take a Vatican tour, or try to navigate it by ourselves? What rooms of the Vatican are an absolute must, and what parts of the museum can we skip?
We ended up having an excellent experience, so today I’m sharing with you our tips for visiting the Vatican with kids or without.
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The challenges of visiting the Vatican Museums
The new reality of visiting the Vatican Museums is that it’s packed almost year round now. And it’s not just the number of people visiting; it’s also the space. This is not the Louvre or even the Uffizi, where large gallery rooms are connected to wide hallways.
The Vatican Museums were never designed as a museum for the public. This was the pope’s private space, so visitors have to make their way through one room after another after another, squeezed through small doorways and up and down occasional stairways. With the huge number of people packed into these spaces, it’s not an easy place to visit.
Another challenge is finding the art that you want to see. You can’t see it all; there’s simply way too much! And because of how crowded the rooms can be, it’s a challenge to find the art you’re most interested in. To make matters worse, much of the art is not labeled. That’s why, even for someone like me who has a degree in art history and has been to the Vatican before, it’s just overwhelming!
For these reasons, I recommend a tour. (If you decide to go on your own, scroll down for tips for visiting.)
What are the advantages of taking a Vatican tour?
Knowing that the Vatican Museums would be packed, we wanted to plan carefully but felt overwhelmed by all the options. After hours of research on the various tour companies, we chose a private Vatican tour with LivItaly Tours, and it was exactly what we hoped for.
My kids are ages 11 and 8, so they’re pretty good at absorbing new information and paying attention, but they do have their limits. While some kids may enjoy going through a museum at a snail’s pace (my preferred pace!), my kids start to complain after an hour or two. And after a few busy days in Italy, we knew they might already have a bit of travel/museum fatigue.
The Vatican tour made it so much easier with kids! Not only did our guide make our visit to the museums smooth and worry-free, but she made it fun for all of us. She even gave them chocolate candies toward the end when they needed a little boost.
Skip the line with Vatican tours: Another advantage of a tour is that they take care of the tickets. We didn’t need to worry about choosing the best time or figuring out how to buy tickets and make reservations online.
Because LivItaly offers small group and private tours, the guides can accommodate your preferences. Because my mother-in-law has slightly limited mobility, our guide asked for our preference regarding the Raphael Rooms, which are reached by stairs (we did visit them).
Last but definitely not least, the tour guide took what can be a very overwhelming experience and made it accessible and interesting. Here’s how she did that…
How does a Vatican tour work?
Before our tour, LivItaly sent us a confirmation via email with exact instructions for meeting our guide, dress code tips, and an emergency number in case we had any problem or cancellation.
Our tour began at 3:00 and was about three hours total in length, ending in the basilica close to 6 p.m. The tour can be roughly divided into four parts: meeting the guide, touring the rooms, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica.
First, we met our guide, Jade, outside the main entrance to the museums. After brief introductions, she gave us an overview of what we would do and then led us inside where she gave us our tickets and offered for us to use the restrooms before entering. Despite the crowd, we entered quickly and began the tour with a mini-lesson that would guide our entire visit.
In the courtyard, where we were treated to a view of the St. Peter’s dome overlooking the garden, she explained the theme of our tour: understanding Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. This made our Vatican tour interesting and accessible for our kids.
During this mini-lesson, she explained that Michelangelo visited Rome and was inspired by the ancient Roman sculptures that he saw in the Vatican Museums. She showed us images on her iPad of Michelangelo’s frescoes and ancient Roman sculptures, such as the Laocoön, to illustrate how the ancient Roman ideal human form influenced the way Michelangelo painted the human body in his frescoes.
I found this focus of the tour to be very clever. By crafting our itinerary around this culminating experience of seeing Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling, Jade created a kind of puzzle for us to piece together during our Vatican tour.
After this mini-lesson, we made our way into the museum rooms where we saw the Laocoön Courtyard, the Belvedere Torso, the ancient sculptures in the Round Room, the Constantine coffins, the Gallery of Tapestries, the Gallery of Maps, and the Raphael Rooms before entering the Sistine Chapel. Along the way, Jade explained how the ancient Roman images influenced Michelangelo and his contemporaries.
Vatican Museum Sistine Chapel: Inside the Sistine Chapel, Jade gave us as much time as we needed to view the frescoes. Because it’s a sacred religious space, silence is expected, but we were able to point things out to each other and ask Jade questions by whispering. When we were ready to leave, we left via the right side exit and Jade led us directly to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Inside the basilica, Jade continued the tour with many interesting details about the history and the architecture. We viewed the highlights: the dome, Michelangelo’s Pietà , Bernini’s high altar and 96-foot tall canopy.
Jade then took us to see two things that our kids loved: the mummified corpse of Pope Pius X, and an altarpiece that looks like a painting but is actually a mosaic. I learned that all the “paintings” in St. Peter’s are actually mosaics!
How much does a Vatican tour cost?
A small group Vatican tour with 2 adults and 2 kids costs 326 Euros, or $365, which is 89 Euros per adult and 74 Euros per child. The tours are offered daily except Sundays at 10:30 and 2:30. A small group tour can have up to 6 people, so if you are a family of 4, there may be 1-2 other people in your group.
A private Vatican tour with 2 adults and 2 kids costs 387 Euros, of $434. The base price is 299 Euros for 2 adults, and each additional participant is added to this cost: 44 Euros per child, 49 per teen (13+), 54 for students 18 and over w/ ID, and 59 per adult 18 and over. The tours are offered daily except Sunday starting at 9:00 a.m. — when you book, you can choose the starting time that you prefer. The benefit of this tour is that the guide is completely yours because no one else will be in your group.
Vatican Museums – Sistine Chapel to St Peter’s Basilica? All of these Vatican tours take you from the Vatican Museum to the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica.
These tours are also offered as part of a discounted combo pack of 3 tours in Rome, Florence, and/or Venice. Small group and private tours are offered in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. See more about the tours offered at LivItaly Tours.
Tips for visiting the Vatican Museums
Tips for visiting the Vatican without a tour:
If you decide to visit the Vatican Museums on your own, you must research your options before going. If possible, enter at 3:00 when crowds may be starting to disperse. And be careful if you have only one day in Rome — that’s not much time, but if the Vatican Museums are really important to you, you could visit them in the late afternoon or evening.
Don’t go first thing in the morning — that’s when all the tour buses have already arrived (they get to enter one hour early). An exception is Wednesday mornings when many visitors are in St. Peter’s Square for the Pope’s (usually) weekly mass. And always reserve your ticket online well in advance. You can do this at the Vatican website for € 17.00 + 4.00 to skip the line with reduced prices for kids, students, etc.
What’s the best time of year to visit the Vatican Museums?
The Vatican Museums are crowded year-round. After all, the world’s greatest collection of art is housed inside, and as mentioned above, the museums were never intended to accommodate huge crowds of people.
If you can come in early spring, between mid-January and late March, or late fall in November, you’ll find the museums to be overall less crowded than at busier times of the year. If possible, come on a Tuesday or Thursday around 3:00, or try a Wednesday morning when the Pope is holding mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Is there a dress code at the Vatican/St. Peter’s Basilica?
Because the Vatican is an important, sacred place for the Catholic Church, certain clothing is expected. Shoulders and knees must be covered for men and women. Sleeveless shirts, shorts, skirts/dresses that stop above the knee, and hats are not allowed. If necessary, bring along a wrap or sweater to cover yourself.
Can I bring food and drinks into the Vatican Museums?
You are allowed to bring drinks as long as they are not in glass or can containers. Snacks such as granola bars and wrapped candy are permitted, but you are not allowed to bring unwrapped food (such as panini or ice cream).
Can I bring a backpack inside the Vatican Museums?
Yes, you can bring a small bag (no larger than 15.7″ x 13.7″ x 6″). If you choose to bring a larger bag, you’ll need to check it in at the entrance. The same rule applies to umbrellas, metal tools of any kind, and large camera tripods. It’s best to avoid checking in items because you’ll exit through the front of the church, which is about a 10-minute walk from the museum entrance. After walking through the whole museum, you’ll probably be tired and won’t want to do so much backtracking.
Can we skip the lines with a Vatican tour?
Yes! As you approach the Vatican Museums entrance, you’ll notice a line of people that snakes alongside the walls of Vatican City. In the high season, visitors wait up to three hours in this line because they haven’t reserved their ticket online with the additional 4 euro “skip the line” fee! But with a tour, the guide will have already arranged a reserved time slot, so yes, you can skip the line and be taken inside right away.
What tips or questions do you have about a Vatican tour with kids or without?
Disclosure: We received a discount on our private Vatican tour.
