Skip-the-line Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel tour for Americans

you meet with your guide at the entrance to the museums, pass the tourists in the long queues and head for the cloakrooms.  Deposit your belonging, have a toilet break and then it is on with the tour. Starting in the Pio-Clementino Museum you see the wonderful ancient Roman and Greek Statues.  When the Popes ruled Central Italy the findings from the various excavations of ancient Rome were bought to the Vatican.   Your guide will tell you all about the wonderful artwork as you pass through the myriad of rooms and galleries; the Belvedere Apollo, the Torso, the busts of Claudius and Hadrian and the sarcophagi of Helen and Constance the mother and daughter of the Emperor Constantine. The visit continues to the Room of Animals and the Gallery of Candelabra; there is so much to see.  Look down at the wonderful floor mosaics and look up towards the statues of Diana of Ephesus, the Muses and famous Greek philosophers. Next are the Galleries of Tapestries and Maps and the Sobieski Room with its vast canvas, the largest in the Vatican.  Then on to the Raphael Rooms painted for Pope Julius II by the young Raphael and where you can see his famous Parnassus and School Athens.   Finally to the most visited site in the whole of Italy the Sistine Chapel.  It is interesting to learn about the famous frescoes painted by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Perugino and other Renaissance artists.  What to look for when you enter the chapel and see the Last Judgment, the Creation of Adam, the Genesis and the Stories  of Moses and Jesus.  Your guide will bring the frescoes to life. The chapel holds many secrets and your guide will tell you some interesting facts about the conclave that is held to elect a new Pope.  Next it is into the most famous and grandest of all Catholic churches, Saint Peter’s Basilica.  You will visit the tombs of past Popes including Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.  Your guide will tell you about the building of this magnificent edifice and the rituals and symbols that make it such a fascinating place.  See another of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, his Pietà and Bernini’s altarpiece. You end your tour in you meet with your guide at the entrance to the museums, pass the tourists in the long queues and head for the cloakrooms. Deposit your belonging, have a toilet break and then it is on with the tour. Starting in the Pio-Clementino Museum you see the wonderful ancient Roman and Greek Statues. When the Popes ruled Central Italy the findings from the various excavations of ancient Rome were bought to the Vatican. Your guide will tell you all about the wonderful artwork as you pass through the myriad of rooms and galleries; the Belvedere Apollo, the Torso, the busts of Claudius and Hadrian and the sarcophagi of Helen and Constance the mother and daughter of the Emperor Constantine. The visit continues to the Room of Animals and the Gallery of Candelabra; there is so much to see. Look down at the wonderful floor mosaics and look up towards the statues of Diana of Ephesus, the Muses and famous Greek philosophers. Next are the Galleries of Tapestries and Maps and the Sobieski Room with its vast canvas, the largest in the Vatican. Then on to the Raphael Rooms painted for Pope Julius II by the young Raphael and where you can see his famous Parnassus and School Athens.

It is interesting to learn about the famous frescoes painted by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Perugino and other Renaissance artists. What to look for when you enter the chapel and see the Last Judgment, the Creation of Adam, the Genesis and the Stories of Moses and Jesus. Your guide will bring the frescoes to life. The chapel holds many secrets and your guide will tell you some interesting facts about the conclave that is held to elect a new Pope.

Next it is into the most famous and grandest of all Catholic churches, Saint Peter’s Basilica. You will visit the tombs of past Popes including Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. Your guide will tell you about the building of this magnificent edifice and the rituals and symbols that make it such a fascinating place. See another of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, his Pietà and Bernini’s altarpiece.

You end your tour in Saint Peter’s Square where your guide will leave you with some curious facts about Bernini’s statues that surround this great square. Don’t forget to look to the balcony where the white smoke tells of a new Pope and take a picture of the colorful Swiss Guards.