Private Vatican Tour: Vip Experience

This is a long tour and a wonderful tour. Wear comfortable shoes! Make sure to have your passport to enter. Pace yourself, there are huge crowds.

Our guide Paulo was very knowledgeable and a pleasure to listen to. We learned so much and had a wonderful time. Al and Debbie

Brandon is an excellent guide. We loved this tour. He has such a great understanding of the art in the Vatican

This tour was so worth the money. Our private guide, Gracelyn, was a fountain of knowledge. A true historian who loves what she does! The Vatican, and its surrounding buildings of importance, can definitely be overwhelming, but Gracelyn made it much more manageable! Tons of walking and stairs on this tour, so comfortable walking shoes are a must plus a hand-held fan for areas without AC. Highly recommend this tour and guide!

Our private Vatican tour was one of the absolute highlights of Rome. Seeing the Vatican this way completely changes the experience — quieter, more intimate, and with access to spaces most visitors never get to see. The level of access was extraordinary, but what made it memorable was how beautifully the tour was handled. There was time to actually absorb the art, architecture, history, and scale of the Vatican without feeling rushed through it. The private Bramante Staircase was a particular highlight and genuinely felt like stepping into a part of the Vatican that is usually hidden from view. Our guide was knowledgeable without being overly academic, which made the entire experience feel engaging rather than rehearsed. Every detail was handled seamlessly, from the pacing to the access itself. If you are going to visit the Vatican, this is the way to do it. It is a completely different experience from a standard tour and one of those rare things that genuinely feels as special as it sounds.

Our guide was Tatanya and she was excellent. Thoroughly knowledgeable and able to explain so much and to move us around the crowds . It was a private tour 5 hour tour booked through Eternity Tours and we cannot speak highly enough of the service from Eternity Tours from start to finish. in 5 hours, we barely scratched the surface but finished feeling much more knowledgeable and with a good understanding of many aspects of the Vatican.

am writing to formally express my deep disappointment with a portion of our recent tour, specifically the guided visit to the Vatican, which was intended to be the spiritual centerpiece of our trip. My family and I — eight of us in total, including my elderly parents — booked what we believed to be one of the finest tour packages available, in large part because this was likely to be my parents' only opportunity to travel abroad. As a devout Catholic family, visiting the Vatican was the single most anticipated stop on our entire itinerary. Instead, it became our greatest disappointment. Our assigned guide's accent was so heavy that none of the eight of us could reliably follow her explanations, despite our best efforts. When my mother, who struggled most to understand her, asked for clarification, the guide responded in a condescending and dismissive manner, speaking to her as though she were incapable of understanding rather than simply asking a reasonable question. My mother was so discouraged by this treatment that she stopped asking questions altogether and disengaged from the tour entirely. Compounding this, we learned that our guide did not share our Catholic faith. We do not expect every guide to be Catholic, but this tour was, for us, a deeply spiritual experience rather than a purely historical or architectural one. We needed someone who could speak to the significance of the Vatican with reverence and an understanding of what it means to a practicing Catholic family, not simply recite facts we could barely hear. This was not a minor inconvenience. It was the part of the trip we cared about most, and for my parents, this is very likely the only chance they will ever have to experience it. That opportunity cannot be recreated. Given these circumstances, I am requesting a partial refund specific to the Vatican tour portion of our package, in recognition of the service failure we experienced. I would appreciate a written response outlining how you plan to address this. I waited to write for my disappointed to wear off.

Amazing guide, impeccable english and a never-ending depth of knowledge. He could answer any question no matter how random or obscure. Pleasant and enthusuastic, he made the 5 hours engaging and fascinating. He was at the meeting point early and we kept to the schedule without feeling rushed, while also catering to our particular interests. Through Eternity DID change the time we booked two days after--I understand perhaps they couldn't get tickets for the time we wanted, but we had chosen that tour particularly for that time. A warning when you go to book that times are not gauranteed would prevent disappointment. However, I was really happy with the quality of the guide.

This tour exceeded everyone’s expectations. The Vatican is packed with amazing history, art and theology. However, without an expert like Brandon, so much of it would be lost. He was extremely knowledgeable, personable and friendly. He maintained the reverence of the space but still provided light-hearted commentary that was tailored to our group. The skip the line was wonderful especially in the Roman heat. Thank you, Brandon for a truly unique experience!

Our guide Viviana was superb, extremely knowledgeable, considerate and friendly.

Excellent experience! Brandon was great, both informative and entertaining. His knowledge was essential to our journey through the Vatican, and it brought so much more meaning and weight to everything we saw. Comprehending the depth of what can be experienced at the Vatican, both from the art, but also for us, the spiritual experience, is overwhelming, but Brandon did a outstanding job of opening our eyes to that depth and importance. Thank you!

Gracelyn was an extraordinary guide. Amazing knowledge and passion for the Vatican. Enjoyed every minute.

A wonderful experience, time really flies when a guide has engaging presentation skills. I’ve learnt many new things. Highly recommend

Eugenia was the best private tour guide. Knowledgeable, patient, and willing to go the extra mile. Our group of 6 met Eugenia at the designated spot to start our tour. Unfortunately one of our family members was not as mobile as planned and began having some difficulty navigating the stairs mid way through our tour. Eugenia found a way to make it work. (literally took one of our family back to the entrance and got a wheel chair for us, and then returned us all back to our group.) When we got to a point we could not progress with the wheelchair any further, Eugenia spent time with our group explaining how we could split up with part of our group continuing the full tour, and the other half using her directions, spent a generous amount of time seeing what we could. Her hospitality, patience and willingness to help us figure out an unexpected situation mid tour made the experience a memorable tour for all the right reasons. Definitely would book again and ask for her specifically. Thank you Eugenia, you are truly an angel of the Vatican.

Our guide, Maria Rosario, was exceptional! Her knowledge of the Vatican was extensive and we learned so much. Anyone would have liked how she handled the tour. Her English was excellent and she answered all of our questions! This tour was worth every penny. If you are only coming here once or twice, do it with this tour!! What an experience!!

My wife had this experience on her bucket list. Our guide Brandon is a PhD graduate student at Princeton university and also works for The Vatican. I don’t think we could have had a better experience. His knowledge of the history, and art was way beyond our expectations. We learned so much. Highly recommend the private tours experience. It’s crowded, and there’s no way to get the best out of this experience unless you can have a more personalized experience.

VIP 5 hour private tour. Francisco our guide was excellent, friendly and very knowledgeable. We visited the same day as King Charles so were initially told the Sistine Chapel was closed all day which was a major bummer. Francisco used all his experience and contacts to position us in the right place when the chapel unexpectedly opened 1 hour before our tour ended. We ended up seeing the chapel, museums in detail and the Basilica, Outstanding work by Francisco and 3 very happy customers with lots of memories.

Absolutely amazing and worth every penny! Our tour guide, Maria was exceptionally informative, sweet, personable, attentive to every detail and really loaded our minds with so much that we can't thank her enough!

Georgia met us at the coffee shop and she was very knowledgeable about everything thing Vatican. Her English was very clear. It was a fantastic tour.

We had Brandon as our private guide. He was amazing! Very knowledgeable in the arts of history. Absolutely recommend

Guia, our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the entire Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter’s Basilica. My wife & I felt that the tour was very intimate. You also get to skip the lines into the Vatican which is a major plus.

This was a great tour with amazing things to see. The tour guide was knowledgeable and made it a great experience. Overall we really enjoyed this tour and would do it again. Was not aware that most of the tour was in areas without A/C so if you go in the summer be prepared for the heat. Only a minor issue.

Ricardo was incredibly knowledgeable about all of Vatican City and its history. Was truly enjoyable.

Excellent tour. Went the year before and both were worth the investment. This is one tour worth doing with a guide.

We had a private 2 person tour and our guide was absolutely wonderful. Fredrick was so knowledgeable and really gave us a new prospective based on the time in which each pope lived. The art was essential to understand the times. Even though we were unable to see the Sistine chapel due to the Conclave our 5 hour tour was spectacular! We highly recommend!

Guia Grandi was an incredible guide. We opted for the private tour and it was perfect. Guide is an art history major and gave us so many details. She was able to answer every question and was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about providing answers. 10 out 10 recommendation!

Our guide, Gracelynn, was fantastic. She explained so much and was informative about art and history. Our tour was detoured and we had to walk around the Vatican to enter the Basilica from the main entrance. She stayed with us until we reached the Basilica doors, a good 2 hours after our tour was to end.

Franchesco was an amazing guide and knew all the history within the Vatican. Highly recommend if your looking for an in-depth understanding of St Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican, highly recommend doing this tour.

Meeting our guide Giuseppe was easy and quick. Giuseppe took a moment and explained the skip-the-line process and we entered the Vatican. Once inside he explained all of the different collections and must-see areas and timings so that we could tailor our experience. Giuseppe is very knowledgeable and tailors his information to our interests and let us move at our pace. Giuseppe quickly adapted as conditions changed. We enjoyed our tour and we enjoyed Giuseppe.

It was very crowded, and my partner & I still had to follow the crowds on this private VIP tour. Having a guide, helped us by providing important information along the way, and a quicker access to St. Peter's Basilica.

We booked this tour less than a week in advance because, incredibly, our first private tour operator cancelled on us last-minute. To make it happen we had to schedule for our last day in Rome. To be sure this would go forward, we called and emailed and even were required to pay extra to book the tour, in violation of Viator policies. We paid because it was so important to see the Vatican on our honeymoon and we received multiple confirmations and assurances. Well, morning of the tour, they bring us all the way down to the Vatican entrance to tell us they don’t have entrance tickets for us. This was the most ridiculous hang up I have ever seen and we wasted our last morning in Rome waiting around for them to somehow not be able to scrounge up entrance tickets for our $1,600 private tour. Unbelievably bad experience that put a damper on our honeymoon.

Phenomenal experience led by a guide Gui whose passion and depth of knowledge made for an extraordinary historical journey, chronicled in a perfect manner. I would booked another private tour in a second!

While we appreciated the guide's enthusiasm and kindness toward our family, we were not impressed overall. Many visitors are now making their way to the Sistine Chapel first to avoid the crowds, but Through Eternity Tours was not willing to honor that request. Instead, we wasted 30 minutes outside listening to partially erroneous information (Michelangelo did not pack the Sistine on his back..) and the tour ended 20 minutes early. Our objective was to enjoy as much of the museums as possible, including the often missed Pinacoteca, but there was no reason for 50 minutes of our five hour tour to be wasted.

Our Vatican VIP Experience with ALBERTO was, in a word AMAZING. Alberto's knowledge of art and history, his passion for his Faith and his home City and his vast experience as a professor and guide was evident from the first moment. His insights into the time period, the artists, the painting styles, the political temperament of the Popes and the times and his overall passion for the subject matter made our 5+ hours with him absolutely fly by! If I could give 10 stars out of 5 it wouldn't be enough. He was informative, funny, insightful, charismatic and above all, genuinely kind. We ALL loved him, learned so much from him and truly appreciate the treasure he is to anyone lucky enough to have him as a guide, teacher and tutor. Thank you, Alberto!! You were MAGNIFICO!! Grazie mille!

Our tour guide was fantastic - very knowledgeable, courteous and flexible to meet our needs for the day.

Skipping the lines alone makes this worth it. Our guide was also really great! She was very knowledgeable and make this a fantastic experience.

Exceptional guide. Unbelievable depth of knowledge and kept it interesting and relevant. He also helped make the experience feel efficient and smooth — even in the midst of a massive number of people and the chaos that can bring! We loved how he handled the Sistine Chapel — spoke about it before we went in, then let us experience it mostly on our own. We also enjoyed his stories of the politics around the papacy.

The Sistine Chapel. We were disappointed about the Pieta being closed. My only complaint would be the fact that Viator did not make us aware of what was close. Our tour guide, Guilio(Julie) was excellent.

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and was great with my grand kids. Everyone was impressed with her knowledge. Unfortunately we forgot her name.

Guia is an amazing person to see the Vatican with - she has a remarkable wealth of knowledge that she made super fun for both the adults and teens. Thank you for such a wonderful day!!

The excursion was amazing and wonderfully comprehensive. I studied archeology for 7 years; the details he provided were detailed and up to date. All the small stories were captivating, giving us context of the bigger historical picture. Highly recommended, one of the best tour guides I’ve had, after visiting almost all of the main European touristic attractions.

It was awesome!!! Guide was so knowledgeable and informative!! Best tour we did. Alberto was the best guide we have ever had.

Maria Letizia was a wonderful guide. It was great to be able to "skip the lines" which were incredibly long when we were there. It was terribly crowded, which made the experience less than ideal- but Maria guided us through with lots of important information. It was nice to meet other people on our tour.

Fantastic guide! Beautiful works of art. Wonderful experience. Many people but this was the fast track to every coveted area.

Absolutely incredible tour! First time travelers to Italy and we wanted a thorough and in depth tour of the Vatican. It was a long 5 hour tour, but we came prepared! (Bring water!) If you wish to see the Raphael rooms and some of the hidden gems of the Vatican, this is for you. Valerio was an expert guide and truly brought the history and the story to life. After learning a little about us, he also personalized the tour to our specific interests and backgrounds. We learned politics and context behind the amazing art and sculptures and interesting stories that we have continued to tell others. Valerio was also attentive to our personal needs. One member of our group had health issues and needed to stop for breaks, and he was very caring and thoughtful. One of the highlights of our trip! The Vatican was overwhelming and beautiful and Valerio made it even better. Highly recommend.

What a great tour! Very much enjoyed the one on one and all the details our tour guide was able to give us. We would definitely recommend this tour.

The Vatican is an experience all by itself, but it was brought to life by our guide Francesco. He was passionate about the history and sharing it with us. He matched our pace and particular needs, all the while teaching us about the place. He not only knew the Vatican, but what was occurring through the Roman / Italian history, the artwork and sculptures, and in European politics at the time. We'd recommend this to friends!

Wow!!!! What a wealth of knowledge Frank was. I visited the Vatican last year and honestly had no clue what all I was seeing. Using a tour guide is the way to go for sure! You learn so much that you just miss out on if you do it yourself. HIGHLY recommend.

We did a 5 hour private tour. Just me, my spouse and son. Our tour guide Eugenia was great in telling us the history in a story telling way and making it interesting even for our 12 year old son. We had a fantastic time experiencing the Vatican with Eugenia.