Raphael's Rooms
- Address: Viale Vaticano, Vatican City
- Hours: Open Mon - Sat 9am - 6pm
- Admission: Requires ticket to the Vatican Museums
ATTRACTION Keywords:
Cultural Experience,
Must-Do Experience,
Museum
Raphael's Rooms Reviews
We've found 114 Raphael's Rooms reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Review by Carol, November 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Really enjoyed the tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable, but not to 'stiff'. He made it a very pleasant tour. And, of course, the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and The vatican were FANTASTIC!
Review by Kerry M, November 2012
Doing what: Viator VIP: Sistine Chapel Private Viewing and Small-Group Tour of the Vatican's Secret Rooms
I'm writing this the day after our VIP tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. My head still feels like sensory overload. It was brilliant. But a bit more about where I'm coming from so you'll know why I was so blown away by this tour.
This is my 11th trip to Rome. I come almost every year, for a week, just to walk around and take pictures and sit in cafes and to disconnect from everything. I love this city. I've been to the Vatican Museum 3 times in the past, and honestly, each time felt like torture. God help you if you're trying to get into that museum between March and November: prepare for 2-hour lines and thousands of people. And when you finally get to the Sistine Chapel at the end of your visit, you will be herded in along with the 400, 500, 600 other people in there that are shuffling about shoulder-to-shoulder, while guards hiss "Silencio!" and "No Photos!" I remember my first time in there: I was expecting this miraculous, overwhelming, powerful moment -- and instead I was overcome by a feeling of "oh my god I have to get out of here." I say all of this so you can get a grasp of how special this VIP tour was that my mom and I were on yesterday.
Here's what the website promised: a private tour of secret, closed-to-the-public rooms of the Vatican Museum, ending with 30 minutes spent in the Sistine Chapel, completely alone: just your group of a max of 10 people. And you know what? They delivered, tenfold. It was SPECTACULAR. So, the details:
Our guide Shannon was wonderful. She is an American transplant in Italy and had her degree in art history so she knew this stuff inside out, but her presentation was friendly and informative and never dry or boring: it was the insider scoop. It wasn't "and then Raphael painted this painting in the year ___" -- no, it was the backstory about the rivalries between these famous artists, how they lived, what influenced them -- it was the stuff that you never hear about in stuffy, stodgy old history books. And we had a guard who accompanied us on the tour, unlocking secret rooms along the way, like the Bramante Staircase and one of the pope's private chapels. The tour started around 3:15 as the museum was already emptying out, and by partway through the tour you noticed that the place was empty except for the cleaning people and the guards locking things up. You hit a few of the major attractions in the museum that are open to the public, but by the time you get to them they're empty. The Raphael Rooms? Empty. It was breathtaking. We were literally walking down empty corridors, and if you've ever been to this museum before, you know that it sees a good 15,000 people per day. The other thing I liked: the Vatican Museum is 9 miles of museum. It's filled with amazing things, but not all of these amazing things are significant. Sure, that statue might be 2000 years old and it might be pretty, but it's not "important" -- and you could spend days in this museum -- so Shannon took us to the major things worth seeing, so you know that you leave the VM having seen what you should've seen.
As we approached the finish line - the Sistine Chapel - Shannon told us what to expect: she said there was another private tour group ahead of us but that they would be ushered out as we entered, and then we'd have 30 minutes alone in the chapel. Just our group of 10. If you've been to the Sistine Chapel before, you know what it's like to enter it: it's like Grand Central at rush hour, but worse. So bad, in fact, that when friends have visited Rome and asked if they should see the Vatican Museum, I normally tell them "don't do it, you'll regret it." So I want you to imagine what we saw: we entered a quiet, empty room with a little group standing in the middle chatting as they walked out. There was silence, and the room was empty. THE SISTINE CHAPEL WAS EMPTY. Our guard closed and locked the front door and exit, and it was just us and our tour guide. A completely empty Sistine Chapel. I looked around at our group and we were all staring, slack-jawed, at what was around us. Shannon gave us a few minutes to just sit and take it all in before she started the tour-guide portion of the details of the chapel (which is another great thing, because tour guides aren't allowed to talk in the chapel, but on this VIP tour, they ARE allowed to talk -- and you'll learn more info in this 30 minutes than you will in any history class.) I can't stress enough how amazing a moment that 30 minutes was: that alone was worth the cost of the ticket. For people who appreciate art or beautiful things, this actually delivers that "oh my god" moment that you hope to experience when you see something as beautiful as the Sistine Chapel. As we entered, I think I heard 9 other audible gasps.
So let me just say that if you've never seen the Vatican Museums before -- or even if you have, but were frustrated by the experience -- this is worth the price of admission. SO worth it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience that so few people ever get to have. We were all giddy by the time we left: it felt like we had just shared something really special. On a scale of 1 to 10, this is a 20 and that's not hyperbole: it was A-MA-ZING. Already looking forward to my next Rome trip so I can do it again!!!
Review by Geoffrey V, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Efficient check-in process
The guide was friendly,interesting and knowledgable. She went through all the main points of the Sistine chapel using the display boards in the courtyard, which was a good idea as we then able to look at the chapel itself in silence. The Raphael rooms were very interesting with murals on all the walls in every room and the Basilica is magnificent.
A very good worthwhile vist.
Definitely worth booking in advance as the queues to buy tickets on the day are very long.
Review by jgreg, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Best tour we had in Rome, Fransesca was extremely knowledgable. One thing we liked was the pacing. We weren't rushed through any of the rooms, and she explained a lot f things about the paintings etc but didn't give too much info. It was perfect. Other people we know who toured the Vatican with other companies, found their guides gave way too much information, and also walked right through places like Raphael's rooms. This tour included everything. Like the Colosseum, you are foolish NOT to buy at least a skip the line ticket; the line ups to get in are astoundingly long, even in a low season such as October when we were there.
Review by Donna C, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Our tour guide Sabrina was excellent! She made the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St. Peter's come to life with her lively and very knowledgeable commentary
Review by Kara S, September 2012
Doing what: Viator VIP: Sistine Chapel Private Viewing and Small-Group Tour of the Vatican's Secret Rooms
Amazing tour and one thing you will appreciate after a few days in Rome, a tour away from the crowds. I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to sit in The Sistine Chapel for an hour with eight other people admiring the artwork. Also enjoyed relaxed viewings of the other amazing displays in the Museums such as the Hall of maps and Raphael Rooms. Expensive but absolutely worth it.
Review by Ryan N, September 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Small-Group Tour including Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica
This was the most amazing tour of our entire trip. We had the BEST tour guide - her name was Tiffany and she was with the Dark Rome tour company! The depth of her knowledge about the history of the church and all the paintings was just phenomenal! Getting to pass all the long lines was worth the price of the tour alone. The Sistine Chapel is a breathtaking experience, especially once you understand all the history behind it. The paintings in the Raphael Rooms are also amazing and St Peters is awesome. Highly recommend this tour, even if you are not catholic!
Review by Lisa D, August 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
The tour was wonderful! Our guide was very knowledgeable and made our first trip to the Vatican a enjoyable tour! I highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to visit the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St. Peter's.
Review by Anonymous, July 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Small-Group Tour including Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica
Would really recommend this tour! The Vatican is pretty busy with some companies offering tours for 30-40 people. You look at these large tours and no one can hear or see the guide!! The small group tour is excellent as everyone can ask lots of questions whilst the group as a whole moves quicker. Tiffany was a great guide, really knowledgeable, enthusiastic and helpful. The Raphael rooms and the Sistine chapel were amazing, had no idea of the level of detail of the fresco paintings!
Review by Stephoz, Australia, July 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
David was a great tour guide, very knowledgeable and kept it interesting with facts and a few jokes. The Vatican Museums are incredible as well as Raphael's rooms, Sistine Chapel and St Peters. Couldn't photograph in the Sistine Chapel because of filming rights being owned by the Japanese, anyway the tour was fantastic, one of my favourites.
Review by Geoffrey H, June 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
We were met by a lady called Allessandra Who whisked us by the hoardes of people who hadn't prebooked so that we entered the Vaticam Museum right on the dot of 10am
We were then taken around the museum, The Sistine Chapel,The Raphael rooms and finally St Peter's Basillica. What a tour.Allesandra was a fountain of knowledge and showed great enthusiasm for her job.The 3 hour tour seemed to fly by and like all the tours we went on with Viator was seamlessly organised. Thank you
Review by Hui-shan H, May 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
This tour was really informative and i learnt alot about the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms as well as St. Peter's. Skipping the line was definitely a great thing as it saved alot of precious time! However, the only unfortunate thing was that no guided tour was allowed inside the St. Peter's Basillica. The tour guide had to explain and tell us what were the must-sees outside St. Peter's.
Review by M Ryan M, May 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Fantastic tour of the museums and the Raphael rooms. The guide was great. I'm not really a fan of art, but this was very interesting. Some of it was long winded, but overall it was great. I think that one of the best parts was being able to skip the 3 hour line up to get in!
Review by Brian M M, May 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
This was a wonderful tour! Our tour guide was humorous, very knowledgeable and very informative. We didn't have to wait in the very long lines that everyone else was in. We learned a lot about the Vatican Museums, Raphael's Rooms and St. Peter's. The Sistine Chapel was AMAZING! My wife and I would strongly recommend this tour!
Review by George A. T, May 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Very good, you don't get to see the Vatican Museums but I understand their point, which is taking you through all the Raphael rooms and then to the Sistine Chapel which, by the way, looked like Times Square on New Year's Eve, disrespectful tourists taking flash pictures and pushing to take them too, pretty gross. But the services of the company itself were very good, well organized and punctual, the tour guide was a real charmer.
