There are so many sights to see and experience in Rome and regardless of how much time you have, there always seem to be compromises to make. On our first trip to Rome we missed out on seeing the Sistine Chapel. It was in the famous Planning Itinerary there in black and white. Indeed we’d even planned on seeing it and the Vatican Museums early in the day. However, due to travel complications on the train we ended up flipping the days agenda and simply ran out of time. We therefore planned our recent trip to Rome with a view to seeing the sights we had missed the first time. Even then, when the flights had been booked we realized that one of the full days in Rome was a Sunday when the Vatican Museums ( of which the Sistine Chapel is part) were closed to the public. As it turned out, the only time when we could squeeze in a tour of the Vatican Museums was on the following Monday morning before making our way to Civitavecchia to board our cruise ship. We therefore opted for the Early Access Tour of Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel booked through the link on the RomeToolKit.com website. For the 49 Euro per person cost we were provided with fast track tickets and entrance to the museums before the official opening time. The “City Wonder” Guide met us at the bottom of the stairs across the street from Museum entrance and provided the early access to the facility. The guide provided some commentary and an explanation of what we were going to see inside the Sistine Chapel as well as a brief summary of the rooms and exhibits that make up the Vatican Museums while we walked through to the Chapel entrance. We were also provided with maps and information so that we could take our time touring the Museum following our Sistine Chapel visit. The time constraint turned into a blessing as the early entrance gave us a chance to soak in the details of Sistine Chapel without the sardine can experience. We had pre-loaded the audio commentary from RickSteves.com onto the Rick Steves Audio Europe app on our iPhones and could spend as much time as we wanted to view the frescoes from various angles.
And no, the photo above is not of the Sistine Chapel. Rather it is an image of the hall of tapestries in the Vatican Museum (on the way to the Sistine Chapel). Photography within the Sistine Chapel itself is prohibited.
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