Rome: Complete Early Morning Vatican Tour | Small Group

Our guide was very knowledgeable and showed us things that we would not have seen on our own. We had a really good time.

Elaine was exceptional. She is honestly the best tour guide we’ve ever had. She was incredibly knowledgeable - even providing us with very little known facts that she’s discovered through her own research. Her own commentary and sense of humor made the tour. Thanks Elaine!

Elaine is exceptionally well educated and tries to keep it fun.

Elaine was amazing! Her breadth of knowledge was incredible and her sense of humor was fun.

Elaine was fabulously funny and entertaining. She had secrets of the Vatican, showing us things other tour guides were just passing.

I enjoyed the tour and the knowledgeable tour guide Elaine. Love the additional bits of information not usually disclosed in regular history books.

Elaine was a fantastic tour guide! Showed us a few “secrets” that were fascinating. Recommend!

Wonderful knowledge great personality

I really appreciated What a Life Tours giving advance notice about St Peter’s Basilica being closed in the morning for my booked day (liturgical celebration) as soon as they found out and providing a modified version/partial refund. It was a couple days before the free cancel deadline, giving me flexibility to change my whole schedule with no penalty if I wanted - not many places would have done the same. Not sure if it’s standard for the company or was just my phenomenal guide (Cinzia), but the provided handouts were awesome and a great reference (in fact, when other visitors saw mine they all said wish they had one). The guide also had a book with all the visual aids as she expertly referenced things while telling the stories. The pre tour information provided beforehand was also helpful. My guide Cinzia was amazing - She knew all the historical details and did a masterful job of providing context to set the stage, weaving everything together, and telling the stories in a fun and engaging way. I especially appreciated her thoughtful pace and navigation, walking fast to beat other visitors/ troublesome groups, weaving through crowds, warning us ahead of time of any tricky spots, verbally cueing where she was going, and picking positions so that our whole group was comfortably seeing what there is to see while being out of the way of others. Her experience and practice with the material really shines. Her perspective as an artist and Italian living in Rome was also interesting and valuable. I thoroughly enjoyed this tour and have already recommended it to others, would love to go on other tours with What a Life Tours in the future :)

Elaine was amazing!! Highly recommend this tour.

Elaine was wonderful…very informative and fun!

This was by far the best tour we did in Rome, our guide has so much knowledge and took the time to share everything she could with us, answered all our questions, and made the tour a special one. I highly recommend this tour

Perfect tour. Fun informative and felt like we saw everything we wanted (and didn’t know we wanted) to see.

This was the highlight of our trip. Daniella was our guide a she was extremely knowledgeable. It was educational and fun. Fascinating!

Our early morning Vatican tour with What A Life Tours was truly the highlight of our multi-week trip to Italy, thanks to our extraordinary guide, Tonia! We met at the tour office at 7:30 a.m. and were placed in a small group of ten, including two couples who were lifelong friends traveling with their four school-aged children, along with my husband and me, the seniors of the group. Tonia had the remarkable ability to keep everyone engaged, regardless of age. With her degree in Art History and firsthand experience studying at the Vatican Museums, her knowledge was incredible. But what really set her apart was her warmth, humor, enthusiasm, and ability to bring everything to life. Our three-hour tour included the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and direct access to St. Peter's Basilica. Entering the museums right at 8:00 a.m. was absolutely the way to go! We enjoyed uncrowded galleries, beautiful morning breezes through the windows, and plenty of time to appreciate the artwork and take photos. Tonia seamlessly guided us from room to room, explaining everything in a fascinating and accessible way. She also thoughtfully built a 30-minute break into our visit before the Sistine Chapel, giving everyone time to use the restrooms, grab a snack at the café, and spend time in the chapel before meeting her again for our direct access to St. Peter's Basilica. Her organization and timing were impeccable. By the time our three-hour tour ended, the museums were absolutely packed, making us even more grateful for our early start. Tonia possesses a rare combination of deep knowledge, personal charm, leadership, and humor. She made what could have been an overwhelming experience into a wonderful lifetime memory. What A Life Tours was also exceptionally easy to work with from beginning to end. I cannot recommend Tonia and their early morning Vatican tour highly enough!

Elaine was fantastic. Informative, intolerable and energetic. Her stories made history come slive.

If you want an efficient, easy but highly informative tour of the Vatican and St Peter’s, book this tour! Carlotta was an amazing guide. She was organised, reassuring, adaptable and humorous. She knew just how much history and art information to give us without being overloaded and her personal anecdotes added spice to a really interesting tour. One our highlights and highly recommended!

Had a great tour with Elaine! She had a great knowledge of the Vatican museums and so many great fun facts. The tour of the Vatican museums was quite fast paced which is something to keep in mind if you like to take your time to take photos. The meeting spot was convenient to find and we were able to pass through the security checkpoints quickly. Note that you will not be able to enter the museums again after exiting but can explore the Basilica at your own pace after the tour.

I arrived at the Vatican expecting art, history, and perhaps a quiet moment of spiritual reflection. Instead, I met Elaine. Elaine is a tour guide, historian, amateur theologian, military commander, and, I suspect, the actual reason the Pope lives behind walls. Our tour began at 8:30 a.m. By 8:32, Elaine had established that we were behind schedule, that the Vatican was poorly organized, and that several Renaissance artists had made questionable decisions. Armed with a small flag and a microphone that appeared to be connected directly to the international space station, Elaine marched us through 2,000 years of Catholic history at a pace normally reserved for evacuating burning buildings. At one point, an elderly American gentleman stopped to tie his shoe. Elaine declared him lost, presumed him dead, and continued toward the Sistine Chapel. Her knowledge was extraordinary. She knew the names of every pope, every sculptor, every architect, and apparently everyone who had ever disappointed her personally. The Sistine Chapel was particularly memorable. Elaine spent 25 minutes explaining Michelangelo’s ceiling, followed by another 15 explaining why Michelangelo would have done a better job if he’d listened to her. When a tourist asked where the bathrooms were, Elaine replied, “We are standing in the greatest collection of religious art in human history, and you’re thinking about urinating?” Fair point. The highlight came when Elaine attempted to move our group through a crowd of approximately 4,000 tourists by shouting “FOLLOW ME!” with such authority that three Swiss Guards instinctively stood at attention. By the end, we had seen the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and quite possibly the inside of Elaine’s soul. I emerged exhausted, dehydrated, spiritually confused, and with a newfound appreciation for the suffering of the early Christian martyrs. Would I recommend this tour? Absolutely. Elaine is a force of nature. The Vatican has survived the fall of Rome, the Protestant Reformation, two world wars, and centuries of political upheaval. Whether it will survive Elaine remains to be seen. Five stars. Would follow her into battle. Would not ask her where the bathroom is.

A great tour and certainly would recommend it. Elaine was a fantastic tour guide, very knowledgeable and funny, the early morning small group meant we could get in quickly with no long queues and move around before it gets too busy. We had a great time thank you.

Great experience. Some steps. Our guide l, Elaine, was wonderful! She shared her “secret” information clearly gathered with extra research. She went the extra mile to make sure we got the best vantage points and pictures.

Elaine was a fantastic tour guide. She navigated us through the crowds with ease, and was very knowledgeable about what we were looking at. She had so much information and we loved hearing all her stories.

We toured the Vatican with Tonia on a Thursday morning! We hit all the highlights on this tour but honestly could have spent a full day (vs the 3 hours we had to do the museums, Sistine chapel and St peters) exploring the Vatican. I am glad we took the guided tour though just because otherwise it would have been very overwhelming (not to mention having to wait in lines...). Tonia was very engaging and shared a lot of history that brought the artwork and the architecture to life. However at the end of the tour she did give us some misinformation (or perhaps we misunderstood her). She pointed to an area to buy tickets to climb the dome, but that was not where the tickets were. The actual ticket line (I think) was outside in the square - the line was too long and everyone seemed a little uncertain what they were in line for so we ended up skipping the dome climb.

Cinzia was a wonderful guide. She navigated the group thru the crowds very effectively. She was knowledgeable about all aspects of the tour and was able to answer all the groups questions

Cinzia was a very knowledgeable guide that expedited the group thru the crowds and was very good at explaining many details during the tour and answering any questions the group had

Elaine was amazing. Made the tour. 11/10 recommend

Julia was our guide. She was amazing. She explained what we were looking at in a way that was interesting

Frederica was an amazing guide. So friendly, funny and incredibly knowledgeable about everything in the Vatican. An amazing tour!!

Elaine was fabulous. Informative and fun

It was great! Elaine was very knowledgeable and fun.

Where comfortable shoes. Frederica was an excellent tour guide. Appreciated her knowledge and background.

It’s an amazing tour of the Vatican. It’s a speed tour that covers so much in a fairly short time. Our guide, Tonio was wonderful! Loved her personality & was very informative. She took time to answer questions.

So great to get into the Vatican before all the crowds! Tonia was an amazing guide and ran a tight ship while telling us about all of the art and history and answering all of our questions.

Elaine was a fantastic guide and so knowledgable. Definitely the best way to see The Vatican.

Our guide Elaine was amazing. So enjoyable, interesting and fun. She showed us all the secrets and we got in and thru easily, avoiding the lines and crowds.

Elaine was a wonderful tour guide. We had a great time!

The early morning tour was the best way to see the Vatican. Crowds can make it difficult to enjoy the Vatican and early morning entrance was a real advantage. We had an excellent guide that knew the best way to see as much as our time allowed. She was knowledgeable and pleasant and would definitely recommend her and this tour.

Elaine was fantastic! Highly recommend this tour!

Best tour so far! Our guide, Marina, was genuinely passionate about the history of Vatican City. She shared fascinating details, pointed out things we might otherwise have missed, and even highlighted some of the humorous moments in its history. The tour was well-paced, engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommend! 5 stars!

ELAINE was amazing. Great tour. Very knowledgeable.

Just know that “ skip the line” only means you bypass the general public line. You still wait about an half hour outside in line with your group before gaining entry. Also know there are 2 coffee shops( 1 either direction) of the initial meeting point. Our guide Lucia was amazing. Not only was she humorous but her knowledge of the Vatican history was solid. She knew where to take us at what point so we avoided some of the crowds early on. It is a lot of stairs and walking so just be prepared and take water with you. It is an incredible place and Lucia never let up for 3 + hours, and always kept tabs on us despite the huge crowds in the Sistine chapel and the Basilica.

Guilia was fantastico!!!! The whole tour was just wonderful and the ONLY way to see the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica on an early morning small group tour. Guilia was knowledgeable and so friendly and really made this tour amazing. Little tidbits as we were looking at the various art and significant areas really made this tour so special. I highly recommend this tour AND Guilia!!! Bravo!!

Elaine was excellent! She was knowledgeable and made the tour excellent

This is a must do!! Even if you are not religious… you cannot mistake the beauty and magnificent minds that created such a place! Artwork, statues, architecture, and all the history that comes with it. I would do it again because there is so much more to see and learn it’s actually pretty overwhelming, but amazing!

We had an amazing experience on our Vatican tour with Elaine. She was incredibly knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about the history, which made the entire experience so much more interesting and memorable. She explained everything in a way that was easy to understand and brought the Vatican’s history to life. We learned so much and were able to appreciate the art, architecture, and history on a whole new level. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Rome!

Elaine was the best guide ever! She is so passionate about what she does and she is so knowledgeable. She kept everyone engaged and her humor is one of a kind. What an amazing tour, book with Elaine!

Elaine was a wealth of knowledge and entertaining. Highly recommend booking with her

Our small group tour of the Vatican was great! Our tour guide Elaine was the best! She was so knowledgeable, moved us quickly through the crowds, and made the tour fun with her humor!!

This was an amazing experience! We were able to see the Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter Basilica. Jeannette, our tour guide, was so knowledgeable! She was able to answer every question and had a very conversational style. She was entertaining while keeping the focus on the chapel and basilica. Please note — this tour doesn’t include the climb to the top of the cupola- that is an extra ticket.