Best of the Vatican: Fast Track Highlights

At the doorway to the Vatican Museum, a well-learned guide will meet you and assist you in bypassing long queues to gain entrance to what many believe is one of the most valuable art collections in the world.

This guide knows all about the fine points of these museums and can lead expertly through over 1,200 galleries.

Main highlights will include the Rooms of Raphael, Ancient Roman, and Greek artifacts located within Belvedere Courtyard as well as the Gallery of Maps with your attention focused on a final destination that is indeed the Sistine Chapel.

Walking through the old homes of popes, your guide will point out key pieces of art from Ancient Greece and Rome.

They will explain how these old works inspired the great art that grew during the Renaissance in Italy.

Much of this journey takes us through the gorgeous Sistine Chapel, from its commissioning to those final details put down by Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Read about the compelling yet tormented story of this interesting artist who always considered himself primarily as a sculptor rather than a painter but spent many years painting frescoes on a ceiling that rises 44 feet above floor level.

Your guide will help separate fact from fiction and Hollywood's fabled versions of this giant work of art, shedding light upon both the physical and psychological toll taken upon its creator.

When you have had your fill of the most famous ceiling in the world, choose if you would like to use priority access to St.

Peter's Basilica or continue inside the museums with another 1,400 art galleries at your disposal.