You don’t want to leave Rome without seeing or experiencing greatness of this magnitude. Let me start by saying, you have options. You don’t have to spend half of your day waiting in line. You can take an early morning tour (an hour or so before it opens to the general public) of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica. If your going to Rome, you need to see these buildings. It’s also possible to utilize credit card points to help pay for this specific tour. And because of this tour, I was able to stand in the middle of the Sistine Chapel with maybe twenty other people, which I’m told is very rare.

We did the early morning tour with a company that specializes in small group tours. Our group consisted of Chris and I, a lady from Chicago, and our native Roman tour guide, Luca. The whole experience was seamless. We learned tons of incredible information during our tour. The company we used was The Roman Guy. Our tour guide was an absolute gem; a total joy to be around and extremely knowledgable and passionate about Rome’s art and history. He went above and beyond to ensure that our tour and trip was unforgettable. Afterwards, he added us on Instagram and told us that if we had any questions during our stay in Rome, we could contact him and ask.

And even if you can’t afford an early morning small group tour, I still advise that you see these buildings. They’re popular for a reason, not at all overrated. And if you do one “touristy” thing in Rome, visit St. Peters Basilica.

Below are photographs from our tour: