Exclusive: Vatican Gardens and Museums and Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museums house the most famous and most visited art collection on Earth. Curated over centuries by the papacy, the Vatican’s attractions include the world’s most beautiful paintings, sculptures, frescoes and archaeological treasures. The collection began with pope Julius II in the early 1500s and has expanded over the centuries to encapsulate more of human history, from antiquity to the modern day.

This exclusive tour will take you through the main museums as well as the breathtaking Vatican gardens. The gardens were conceived in 1279 when Pope Nicholas III had the site made into an orchard. Now, they are 23 hectares (57 acres) of nature at its most beautiful, and with a diverse array of attractions. You will find everything from floral gardens to forests, from sculptures to structures dating back to the Middle Ages, and from orchards to artificial landscaping features dedicated to different saints. The gardens are so massive that they can only be navigated by an accredited guide, lest visitors get lost in the trees.

After your stroll in the gardens, your guide will expertly lead you through the enormous galleries, including the Pio Clementino Museum, the Tapestry and Geographic Maps Galleries, the Candelabra and Raphael’s Rooms. You will see all the best of the artworks and artifacts, from sculptures to the exquisite frescoes on the walls. The grandest of these are to be found in the Sistine Chapel. Its ceiling is lavished in frescoes by Michelangelo and is one of the most famous artworks in human history.