Rome : Happy Travel Vatican Tour

The Vatican

We didn't have long in Rome and wanted to see a few different things, so after checking into our hotel, we headed into a taxi and over to the Vatican.  As we exited the taxi in front of the Vatican, we were besieged by tour group organisers, trying to get us to join their tour.  Hubby chose at random, a guy from Happy Travel, and he hustled us over to an office to sign us up, get our audio tour radios and walk us over to the guide, who had just started his informative spiel.

We ended up with a group of 29 over the half hour or so Simon spent with us in sunny St Peters Square.  He gave us a bunch of information on Rome and the Vatican, and then we wandered off to pay at their ticket office, before hustling us all inside the Vatican (avoiding all the lines, it's worth paying extra just for that!).

We were with him for nearly 3 hours, with lots of information sinking in as he walked (mostly backwards so he could address us all) through the amazing buildings which are absolutely groaning with fabulous artwork.

You can book online in advance here, or try your luck with the organisers on the ground when you arrive.  We ended up paying E49/person, but it was well worth it for 3 hours of information and missing those famous lines.

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - absolutely breath-taking.