Rome: Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel Skip-the-Line Tour

Begin your tour by skipping the usually long lines for tickets to get in and go straight to the galleries where some of the most famous works of art are kept.

This carefully planned mƹnu includes all the must-see masterpieces but also throws in some hidden gems that will grab your attention.

Your savvy escort, well-spoken in English, will grant you deep intel and setting sense with catching tales as you go through the Raphael Rooms, the Belvedere yard showing 'Apollo Belvedere' and the Laocoön band, the Pinecone Yard, the Hall of the Candelabra, the Hall of the Maps, and the Hall of the Rugs.

The Sistine Chapel shall definitely be considered as the heart of this journey.

Before going inside, the guide shares with you all those stories about how the famous frescoes came into being and what their meanings are.

When you finally walk in, you'll be able to take on fully appreciating the magnificence of the place by picking up such details as Michelangelo's self-portrait and the rather torturous punishment he designed for that particular assistant to the Pope who was not exactly his most ardent supporter.

The guide will take you through a special groups door that goes straight from the Sistine Chapel into St.

Peter's Basilica, letting you skip the long line outside (Basilica is not part of the 4 pm and 4:15 pm tours).

Once inside St.

Peter's, your guide will share with you all the priceless art and treasure there while telling the story of its building that lasted for 120 years.

The Vatican goes far beyond being a simple museum.

It is where the Pope lives, and the center of Catholicism.

It is one of the smallest but most powerful states in the world.

On this special tour, your guide will talk about everything from problems with Popes to Renaissance art to how Vatican City runs day-to-day.

Places visited: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms, Apollo Belvedere, Laocoön and His Sons, Pinecone Courtyard, Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of the Maps, Gallery of the Tapestries, St.

Peter's Basilica.

(For tours starting at 4:00 PM or 4:15 PM, St.

Peter's Basilica will not be included.)