With your private expert guide, discover some of the most famous paintings and sculptures from western civilization and listen to amusing anecdotes about the former popes and artists represented in the museums. With your very own private tour group, easily maneuver through the crowded museums at a comfortable pace. You can admire views of the terrace over the gardens, make your way through the Renaissance and Octagonal courtyards, and enjoy the impressive Gallery of Maps and Raphael Rooms. You'll also see impressive sculptures of important figures of Greek Mythology such as Aphrodite, among other Nymphs and Graces. You'll even see the the pope's toilet!
Next, learn of Michelangelo's masterpiece from your guide before you enter through a tiny door to admire the majestic Sistine Chapel. Take in its grandeur in contemplative silence. From January 12 through March 31, the Vatican Museums will be carrying out special conservation work on Michelangelo’s Last Judgment inside the Sistine Chapel. During this time, a scaffolding structure will cover the entire Last Judgment wall. The Sistine Chapel will remain open and fully accessible, but this specific artwork will not be visible during the restoration period. Thank you for your understanding as this masterpiece receives important care.
The tour will end with a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica where you will access the church directly through a VIP passage to skip the long line. Enjoy the awe-inspiring visit and be amazed at the size of the beautifully adorned Basilica.
This tour was one of my Rome highlights, Analisa was an incredible guide and explained the history, religion and context behind so many incredible works of art. She made what could be overwhelming easy to understand all while keeping us moving around the crowds. This is a must do tour for us and we highly recommend it!
Fabirizio knew everything about everything at the Vatican. He accommodated our special needs to make it easy for us to
Laura sensi was the best!! Thank you
Massimo was fantastic. I learned a lot and enjoyed the whole 3 hours.
In the same afternoon we had a second private tour booked with Liv Tours. Francesco was also attentive to our condition and pace. He directed us to the facilities and seamlessly obtained the tickets for our special area tour while we refreshed ourselves. Francesco came immaculately prepared with a binder of reference materials! As the Sistine Chapel is a religious place, talking in the room is discouraged, so he armed us with all of the knowledge in advance. Then our special tour of Leonardo da Vinci’s office and the Bramante Staircase blew us away with stunning views and staggering historical significance. One of the more personally meaningful moments of this tour happened in the hall of maps, one of the decorative elements on a map was the Oceanus shell chariot and the hippocamps. Francesco pointed out that it is the very same iconography used in the Trevi Fountain. I had the great fortune to visit the Trevi Fountain on my sixteenth birthday (twenty five years ago) and at the time I had wished very much to share the sights of Rome with a future romantic partner. And here I was, doing just that. To my dismay, I was just so moved that I burst into tears. Francesco was very kind about it. And later in the tour, pointed out another painted detail on a library casement of the fountain itself. He was just so thoughtful in his guidance of the museum, and any time we stopped to examine something in particular, he was able to give us more historical context of the piece. I know that any time we travel to an area that Liv Tours operates we will be looking at their tours! Our guide was a funny and knowledgeable person that helped connect us with the Vatican Museum and the history and art all around us.
We had a fantastic tour with Fabrizio. I’ve toured the Vatican before but experiencing this with a guide was next level.
Elena was very informative and efficient in her information. We had a good overview of the Vatican.
Maria Claudia was fantastic. Very friendly and informative. Highly recommend.
If you’re planning to visit the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica, do yourself a favor and book a tour with Maria Claudia through LivTours. Just make sure you’ve got comfortable shoes, a little stamina, and perhaps a willingness to acknowledge that your daily step count is about to get a serious upgrade! My wife, in-laws and I booked the semi-private tour and were joined by just one other couple, making for a wonderful, personal experience. Six tourists, one incredible guide, and approximately enough history to make my high school history teachers wonder if I was actually paying attention back then. (Spoiler alert: I probably wasn’t.) Maria Claudia was fantastic! She clearly knew her stuff, but what really impressed us was her ability to tailor the experience to our interests and questions. She wasn’t simply reciting dates and facts from some memorized script. She genuinely engaged with us, answered our questions thoughtfully, and brought centuries of art, religion, architecture, and history to life. And then there were the crowds! If you’ve ever visited the Vatican, you know that navigating the crowds can feel like trying to swim upstream during a salmon migration. Fortunately, Maria Claudia navigated the chaos like a seasoned professional. She knew where to go, how to position us, and how to keep our little group together without losing anyone to the masses. I’m fairly certain she could guide six people through a sold-out football stadium without breaking a sweat. We did experience some technical difficulties with our headsets at the beginning of the tour. But here’s where you recognize a great guide. Rather than letting it derail the experience, Maria Claudia simply adjusted, brought our small group closer together, and continued sharing her knowledge. Problem solved! Sometimes the best technology is simply standing close enough to hear someone who knows what they’re talking about. The Vatican and St. Peter’s are absolutely breathtaking, and no amount of photographs can adequately capture the scale, beauty, or historical significance of these places. Having someone like Maria Claudia explain what we were seeing made the experience that much more meaningful. A word of warning: This tour involves a LOT of walking. Wear comfortable shoes, bring some water, and don’t schedule a marathon immediately afterward. Unless, of course, your idea of a marathon involves finding a comfortable chair and ordering a large Italian meal. In that case, you’ll be well prepared. What really sets Maria Claudia apart is her combination of expertise, patience, flexibility, and genuine attentiveness. She made six visitors feel like we were getting our own personal introduction to one of the most remarkable places in the world. Bottom line: The Vatican provides the masterpieces, Michelangelo gets plenty of the credit, and Maria Claudia brings it all together! Five stars for an outstanding guide and a truly memorable experience. Our feet may eventually forgive us, but we’ll remember this tour for a very long time. Grazie Maria Claudia! You were wonderful!
Ribal was an excellent guide. He was extremely knowledgeable, articulate and set a very good pace. I highly recommend.
Marta was a great guide. Such deep knowledge and great explanation! Definitely would recommend her for any tour!
Excellent tour with THE BEST tour guide in all of Rome - Vera is her name and the Vatican is her game. She has been doing guided tours for 20+ years, she tells you the background stories with perfect English speaking and a style/elegance and great humor as well! We loved the tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and we came away from the trip - 6 people in our group - extremely satisfied. Expectations met/exceeded.
Karleta was great best tour guide I’ve ever had definitely worth every dollar. She was very informative, personable, friendly and made the interesting.
Great guide well organised and fun
We had a great time at the Vatican with Lucila. Very knowledgeable and helpful.
Lucy was great! She was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.
Laura was awesome! Would recommend
Laura P was extremely knowledgeable and so very personable. Loved her company as a tour guide
A highlight of our trip! We learned so much from Selenia we couldn’t have researched on our own. The private early morning tour allowed us time to soak in the beauty without the crowds.
Because Ezra was exceptional
Bigmomma Giovanna was incredible. I have been to the museum three times and this was hands-down the best experience, She was so knowledgeable and really made the experience so worthwhile. She made the time feel very valuable and took us to originals only in order to really make the most of the museums. She was so knowledgeable and friendly and the tour flew by—we were sad for it to end! cannot recommend this company and tour enough! If you can you should request big mama!
Laura sensi did a great job. Very knowledgeable and interesting. Wonderful tour highly recommend. Also did the Bramante staircase. Wonderful add on. One of highlights of vacation.
We had a wonderful time with Laura Sensi. It was a highlight of our trip. Saw the Vatican museum early entry. - it was a great experience seeing the sights without the crowds. Laura was knowledgeable and fun.
Laura P was absolutely amazing. Very knowledgeable and explained everything in a way that was interesting to my 8 year old. Really worth it to see the Vatican without the crowds.
We had a great time on our tour. It was ran very smoothly from beginning to end. Martina was a captivating guide with a lot of knowledge and kindness. I would recommend this tour to our friends and family.
We had a fabulous time with Elisabetta, who was a truly wonderful guide. I had previously been to the Vatican but spent too much time in the wrong places - this time, with my parents, I wanted to maximise our time and see all of the truly significant things. Elisabetta’s expert commentary ensured we didn’t just see the important things, but we heard the stories behind them, too. We chose a semi-private tour - there were just six of us, ensuring an intimate group that meant we were able to move more easily around the still-crowded museum and its popular attractions. It was a sensible investment. After the museum tour we were able to access the Basilica without the need to re-enter via St Peter’s Square (with the exceptionally long lines!). Elisabetta then took the time to show us the highlights of the Basilica, and we were able to remain there at the conclusion of our tour. Not having to rejoin the long lunchtime queues in the square was a great outcome. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, found it exceptionally informative and we came away with a great appreciation for the Vatican. Thank you Elisabetta for making our visit an exceptional one - we will recommend this tour to anyone travelling to Rome and keen to see this magnificent collection.
Very knowledgeable guide. Would highly recommend
Sam was awesome! He was a great guide filled with tons of knowledge. It was an amazing tour.
Laura Sensi was very knowledgeable, was fantastic at guiding us to the most special spots, took excellent pictures and was great at answering questions and giving us special insights. I would highly recommend live tours, 6 person semi private and Laura as a guide. Cheers.
Laura Sensi was knowledgeable and fun. She made our visit one we will look back on fondly. And we got to see so much without waiting in line!! It was like having a backstage pass. Thank you so much Laura!!
Laura Sensi was amazing. Being in a small group made it easy to hear and see everything
Laura was excellent, engaging and funny.
Our guide Marco was just absolutely superb! Very easy to understand, very energetic, personable, funny and just all round one of the top notch guides I’ve ever had. I would highly recommend. We we were also running 5 minutes late as we were stuck in traffic and our tour coordinator Tommy went the extra mile for us and waited for us to arrive. All round I would rate this tour company with A+!!
Chiara was an excellent tour guide. She took photos for my boyfriend and I on our trip and shared amazing historical information about each site. I would recommend her to anyone traveling to Rome and wanted an exceptional tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. She was so knowledgeable and a pleasure to be with all day. I would have not done anything differently. The fee was well worth this experience. She knew how to avoid the crowds and created a one in a lifetime experience for us. Truly I would recommend Chiara specifically for this tour and any others. She even recommended some restaurants for us after the tour. She also took great pictures of us. The amount of knowledge and the way she explained things was unmatched.
FANTASTICO!!!! This was everything I expected and more!
Caterina was a wonderful guide! Very friendly and knowledgeable
We did a private Vatican Guided Tour/Sistine Chapel with Laura Sensi. She was absolutely amazing. It was a semi-private tour with 4 other people. Her knowledge of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel was incredible. Would highly recommend, you won’t be sorry!
Laura Sensi was amazing and made this semi private tour personal and enjoyable. She was knowledgeable. Grazie!
Laura Sensi was amazing!! She is full of wonderful amazing information. I would recommend her as a tour guide!!
Maria Claudia was amazing and super informative. Her energy and charisma was incredible.
It was an amazing tour with Selenia! She was very knowledgeable, and we are lucky to have our tour with her! Highly recommended!
We had a semi private tour with Guilia. What a great experience and a great guide. So many things to see and Guilia was able to navigate us through it, provide information to help us understand and learn about it. It was great and would highly recommend. We requested Guilia for our tour of the Colosseum the next day
Had a fabulous semi private tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica with Liv Tours. Our guide Fabrizio was so well informed on the history of the Vatican and very knowledgeable and friendly. The tour of 6 people was well managed and was a delight from start to finish and a special thank you to Fabrizio for sharing such a memorable experience with us.
Instructions were clear. Meet up point was easy. We had a wonderful tour, Lucy was great. She even accommodated a slightly left of field request which was very much appreciated. Thanks Lucy
Laura Sensi is AMAZING! She made our experience touring the Vatican very special. She is so knowledgeable and you can tell how passionate she is making every moment special.
We were fortunate enough to have Lucy as our guide again, this time at the Vatican, and somehow she managed to exceed our already high expectations! Her knowledge of the history, art, and people is absolutely incredible, but what really sets her apart is her ability to bring it all to life. Rather than simply reciting facts and dates, she weaves fascinating stories throughout the tour that make you feel connected to the history unfolding around you. Lucy is personable, engaging, funny, and genuinely passionate about what she does. She has a gift for making even the most complex history accessible and captivating. After two tours with Lucy, I can confidently say she is the best guide we’ve ever had. If you’re lucky enough to have her as your guide, you’re in for an unforgettable experience. We cannot recommend her highly enough!
Claudia was knowledgable and charismatic. Loved learning about the history and art of such a special place.
Really enjoyed our tour with Patrick. So many insights to share, and some unique things to point out that we would never have seen without a guide. An informative and educational tour at a relaxed pace. Patrick’s knowledge of art a definite plus and he takes great pictures!
Sylvia was wonderful! I have never enjoyed an experience so much!! I highly recommend LivTours as well as Sylvia. She was so informative and able to answer every question-and we had a lot!! Humor, grace and knowledge in a delightfully efficient and organized person!
Ferrari was fantastic. Knowledgeable, English was near perfect and told good stories I highly recommend LivTours and ask for Ferrari
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