Landmarks

Vatican Museums Tickets with Vatican Gardens Open Bus Tour

Name: Vatican Museums Tickets with Vatican Gardens Open Bus Tour
Start: 2025-11-06T12:00:00
End: 2025-11-06T15:00:00
Location: Vatican City

Vatican Museums gallery with classical statues and ornate ceiling.

Laocoön and His Sons sculpture in Vatican Museum.

Visitors exploring the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museum, admiring detailed frescoes.

Vatican Gardens fountain surrounded by flowering arches on open bus tour.

Duration

3 hr

Open today

Audio guide

Enhance your experience with multilingual audio guide

Delight in the soothing ambiance of the Vatican Gardens on an open bus tour. Be captivated by the art in the Vatican Museums and embrace the glory of the Sistine Chapel.

4.1/5

(1,045)

Shane

Oct 2025

Verified booking

4/5

Bought the vatican garden, vatican museums and sistine chapel "skip the queue" tickets. Garden tour is short but nice, museums....too many, but still excellent. The artist rooms leading to the sistine chapel are awe inspiring, you can photo or video everything except the sistine.....DONT QUEUE!!! PREBOOK YOUR TICKETS!!! If you dont prebook you will be standing and queueing for two hours or more in the baking sun amid heavy traffic, being constantly harrassed by on the street tour guides. Be wise and be early and spend your short wait time sitting across from the vatican museum entrance enjoying an ice cream or a cool drink in the shade. The prebooked "skip the queue" ticket price is worth the avoidance of the queues alone.

Wuggonig

Sep 2025

Verified booking

5/5

The tour through the gardens was a wonderful experience and the process was totally uncomplicated. The meeting point is directly to the left of the main entrance to the Vatican Museums and then you just follow the guide. ☺️ Plan enough time for the museum visit itself - we spent 6 hours there 😅 And buying an audio guide is highly recommended, costs 8€ per person and you can listen to information about the halls and exactly the pieces that interest you personally 🤩 you get suitable earphones for this on the bus and can keep them 😉 PS: don't forget to look up, the whole complex has wonderful ceiling designs, e.g. paintings, stucco etc.

Kathrin

Oct 2025

Verified booking

5/5

The Vatican Museums are fantastic, you can't get through everything. The tour through the garden beforehand was interesting. There is no waiting time, you really should arrive 30 minutes in advance, but it's worth it for what you get to see afterwards. However, the instructions for being allowed into the museum were a little unclear, only the soldiers had a white tent. We had to speak to the ticket inspectors to find out which queue we should be in. Once inside, everything was very simple and well organized.

A unique Vatican City experience—start with a scenic open-top bus tour of the lush Vatican Gardens, then explore the historic museums on your own.

Ride through history as you glide past Italian, French, and English-style landscapes covering nearly half of Vatican City, all while tuning into a multilingual audio guide.

Skip the long lines and step straight into the Vatican Museums, home to world-famous treasures like the Raphael Rooms and classical sculptures.

Stand beneath Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel, where the breathtaking Last Judgment and Creation of Adam come to life.

Vatican Gardens tour by open bus with a multilingual audio guide

Entry tickets to the Vatican Museums

Access to Sistine Chapel

Audio guide for Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

Live guide

These tickets can't be cancelled or rescheduled.

4.1
1,045 reviews
How do we collect reviews?
These ratings include verified reviews from both Headout guests and our trusted partners who operate this experience locally. All reviews come from real travelers who've taken this experience.
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Guests from France, Spain, United States and over 10 countries have loved this experience
What our guests say
Shane
Oct 2025
Verified booking
4/5
Bought the vatican garden, vatican museums and sistine chapel "skip the queue" tickets. Garden tour is short but nice, museums....too many, but still excellent. The artist rooms leading to the sistine chapel are awe inspiring, you can photo or video everything except the sistine.....DONT QUEUE!!! PREBOOK YOUR TICKETS!!! If you dont prebook you will be standing and queueing for two hours or more in the baking sun amid heavy traffic, being constantly harrassed by on the street tour guides. Be wise and be early and spend your short wait time sitting across from the vatican museum entrance enjoying an ice cream or a cool drink in the shade. The prebooked "skip the queue" ticket price is worth the avoidance of the queues alone.
Anna
Oct 2025
Verified booking
5/5
The trip through the Vatican Gardens is well worth seeing. The subsequent tour of the museums was somewhat misleading and took a long time. It was very crowded and the museum attendants kept shooing people on with "keep moving".
Kathrin
Oct 2025
Verified booking
5/5
The Vatican Museums are fantastic, you can't get through everything. The tour through the garden beforehand was interesting. There is no waiting time, you really should arrive 30 minutes in advance, but it's worth it for what you get to see afterwards. However, the instructions for being allowed into the museum were a little unclear, only the soldiers had a white tent. We had to speak to the ticket inspectors to find out which queue we should be in. Once inside, everything was very simple and well organized.
Anar
Oct 2025
Verified booking
4/5
The foremost benefit was certainly skipping the queue. We have spent about 4.5-5 hours in total with bus tour and exploring museum. What to improve: 1. Bus tur did not have Russian language audio, so my Mom missed the opportunity to listen and I ended up explaining main sights. 2. It is impossible to get the ticket not downloading the app on phone. This needs to be modified, as email does not have QR code to be scanned, and visitor might not have roaming or enough memory to download app
Janet
Oct 2025
Verified booking
3/5
The bus tour through the gardens gave us a good impression of their beauty and scale. We were also impressed by how the staff organized the crowds. However, the orientation is subterranean. Unfortunately, we were not well prepared and only read after the event that it is best to print out a map beforehand.

As one of the most sought-after attractions in Rome, the Vatican attracts hordes of visitors. With reserved entry tickets, you can be sure you won't be spending your vacation time in the waiting queues. The Vatican Gardens (also Giardini Vaticani) is a green oasis renowned as the pope’s personal garden where he returns to relax and unwind. They cover one-third of Vatican City's 44 hectares. Since 2014, visitors are invited to relish in the same exquisite scenery that was once exclusively available to popes of the past.

At the meeting point, you will receive assistance to board the minibus, after which you can admire the amazing manicured lawns, fountains, sculptures, and buildings. The Fontana dell'Aquilone and Fontana della Galera are among the most striking fountains you will find in the whole garden. Moreover, the historic building of the Governor’s Palace stands out among tourists due to its imposing structure. You can spend some time visiting the Grotta di Lourdes, an artificial cave designed to replicate its famous namesake in France. Another monument to surely catch your attention is the Casino of Pius IV, a 16th-century summer house designed by Pirro Ligorio.

With your ticket, you can also visit the lavish interiors of the Vatican Museum. It boasts one of the most impressive art collections in the world. Lastly, do not leave without seeing Michelangelo’s revered frescoes adorning the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel.

Vatican Museums

Monday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Tuesday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Wednesday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Thursday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Friday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Saturday	08:00am - 08:00pm	last entry 06:00pm
Sunday	Closed

Gardens of Vatican City

Monday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Tuesday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Wednesday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Thursday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Friday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Saturday	09:00am - 06:00pm
Sunday	Closed

What to bring

A valid ID or student card (for reduced-price tickets)

Comfortable shoes for exploring the museums

A printed or digital copy of your booking voucher

What's not allowed

Large bags, backpacks, or luggage (cloakroom available)

Sleeveless tops, short shorts, or hats (strict dress code applies)

Tripods, selfie sticks, or professional camera gear

Food and drinks inside the Museums

Accessibility

The open bus tour is not wheelchair accessible

The Vatican Museums have ramps and elevators for easy accessibility

Additional info

Arrive at least 30 minutes early at the Vatican Museums entrance on Viale Vaticano

After security, head to the 'Open Bus Garden' desk (first on the left) — not the usual Guided Tours desk

The bus tour lasts approx. 45–60 minutes, with no stops along the route

Audio guide available in 7 languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Russian

Entry to the Museums is timed — late arrivals cannot be accommodated

Children under 7 years are not permitted on the Open Bus Tour

Your voucher will be emailed to you shortly.

Display the voucher on your mobile phone with a valid photo ID at the redemption point.

Please arrive at the redemption point 30 minutes before the scheduled time of your visit to avoid any delays.

Ticket redemption point

Please check your final voucher for the redemption point details and specific instructions.