Hi Frugalistas! Have you visited the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums? It’s very crowded isn’t it? So crowded, it’s hard to hear the guide or even really appreciate the splendid art in the Vatican Museum. In some ways the Vatican Museum is one of the pin ups for over tourism – massive queues, crazy busy inside and just an ordeal. Which is a dreadful shame, because the Vatican Museums are truly wonderful, and the Sistine Chapel is a stunning work of art in its own right. On our recent trip to Rome, Mr Frugalfirstclasstravel and I treated ourselves to the VIP Key Masters Tour: Open the Sistine Chapel tour operated by Take Walks. Yes, it’s a very expensive tour, but at the end I’ll give you some tips on how to allow for this special treat in your Rome vacation budget – it’s classic frugal first class travel.
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How to book the Vatican Keys Tour
The VIP Key Master’s Tour: Open the Sistine Chapel can be easily booked on the Take Walks website.
Take Walks uses dynamic pricing – so it’s worth booking as early as possible, as prices change in response to demand. Similarly, prices can vary between different days of the week, so it’s worth booking this tour before you confirm other plans to lock in the best price.
Frugal first class travel tip
As is always the case, Take Walks will send you a confirmation with detailed instructions on how to join your tour, and where exactly you need to be at what time. There’s even a photo of the door you need to wait at.
Experiencing the VIP Key Masters Tour
Mr Frugalfirstclasstravel and I arrived right on time as requested, and found that we were literally the last guests to arrive. The tour was fully booked – this tour is VERY popular. The Take Walks team arrived shortly after and check off our names, and give us our entry stickers.
Our guide, Gabriella, started the tour by talking about the doors, and what would be happening next……..
Right on 6.00am the doors opened to reveal the Key Master and in we went. Rather than going through the main Vatican Museum entrance we entered the Museum via the doors where visitors will exit – at the bottom of that well photographed spiral staircase.
Rather than climb up all those stairs to start our tour, we took a beautiful wooden lift (elevator) up to the Museum level.
I’d noticed the Key Master wasn’t carrying any keys, but that was OK, because first stop was to fetch the keys. The Key Master came out of his office with bundles, and bundles of keys – his set to use on the tour, plus some other bundles that we were able to hold ourselves. It was fascinating – old keys, newer keys, big keys, small keys, we were able to hold a little piece of the Museum in our hands.
With keys in hand, the Key Master was off – with us in hot pursuit.
Over the next 90minutes we went from gallery to gallery taking turns to open the different gates and doors.
We toured a number of galleries, including some not open to the public. Gabriella’s guiding was very light touch as we kept moving, following the Key Master – it was as if she knew we wanted to take in the experience rather than obsess about individual pieces of art.
When we did stop to learn about a specific piece of art, it was for a reason. And that reason was because we were being treated to something special – such as being allowed into a normally closed area or being taken up close to a sculpture normally only able to be viewed from a distance.
I must admit I spent a lot of time imagining how different our experience would have been if we had been visiting during general admission hours…….
One thing I loved about the tour was the sense of excitement the Key Master created in some of the galleries. After opening the doors we frequently entered a darkened room and waited for the grand unveiling as the Key Master turned the lights on to reveal the treasures inside.
A real highlight of the VIP Key Masters Tour was being taken up a turret normally closed to the public. The turret and its spiral staircase was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci – and I’m sure served as the inspiration for the far more modern spiral staircase we left by. The view from the top was wonderful, and it was thrilling to walk on the original bricks of the staircase.
Having seen arrows pointing to it all tour, finally at around 7.15am it was time to open the Sistine Chapel…..
Highlight of VIP Key Masters Tour: experience the Sistine Chapel without the crowds – time to open the Sistine Chapel
One lucky tour group member was allowed to open the Sistine Chapel for the group, but the Key Master knew exactly what to do. Any group member who wanted to could take a turn and “open the door” for a very special memento photo.
The lights were turned on, and there we were, just us and one of the most famous chapels and pieces of art in the world.
The Sistine Chapel was where the special privilege of this tour was really apparent. Normally, there is no photography allowed in the Sistine Chapel – but we were permitted to take photos as long as we were respectful. Normally there is no guiding permitted inside the Sistine Chapel, however, Gabriella was able to provide guiding to those who wanted to learn more about the art. And because it is normally so crowded, you aren’t allowed to sit on the benches around the walls – but we were allowed to.
We spent a full 30minutes in the Sistine Chapel. A small team of cleaners arrived at 7.30am to prepare the Chapel for the day, but otherwise it was just us and the art. Awe inspiring is an overused term, but this genuinely was.
After taking a few photos, Mr Frugalfirstclasstravel and I spent the rest of our time sitting on the different sides of the Chapel just taking in the detail and the silence. And it was silent – hushed tones were the norm for speaking. Everyone knew they were experiencing something special……..
Our 30minutes over, it was time to leave the Sistine Chapel as it was ready for the general public to arrive. The souvenir stand had opened early just for us, but for me, my memories and some special photos were the only souvenirs I needed.
What to do after the tour
While it was tempting to stay on in the museum and explore a little more before it got too busy, Mr Frugalfirstclasstravel and I decided to leave and head to St Peter’s Basilica.
As we left we saw the massive queues to enter the Vatican Museum that went almost around the block, even just after 8.00am – it was extraordinary.
We were a bit disconcerted to see the length of the queue to enter St Peter’s, but it did seem to be moving. An hour later and we were safely inside, where we spent an hour, taking it in. A group of Cardinals were having Mass, which was a special highlight.
We saw that the queue to enter the Basilica was at least double the length it had been when we joined it, so we felt we had made the right choice to head straight around there.
What we thought of the Vatican Keys Tour
Our tour with the Vatican Key Master was the highlight of our visit to Rome. We were able to see memorable works of art and experience one of the busiest museums in the world in peace and quiet. Being able to enter parts of the Museum not open to normal visitors was special – as was being able to view the city in the dawn light, and watch it come to life through the windows and balconies of the Vatican.
But for both of us, the highlight of tour was undoubtably the 30mins we spent in the Sistine Chapel. Thirty minutes to take photos, sit and really take in the majesty of this magnificent chapel. It was a special privilege to be allowed take photos, to listen to our guide, to sit on the benches and to truly see the detail…..and it was a privilege that only we were going to experience that day.
This exact tour is exclusive to Take Walks and should be booked well in advance.
You can book your VIP Key Masters Tour: Open the Sistine Chapel here >>
If the VIP Key Masters Tour: Open the Sistine Chapel tour is outside your budget, or doesn’t fit with your schedule, Take Walks offer a choice of other Vatican Museum tours at different price points, and with different special features.
Choose your Take Walks Vatican tour here >>
Frugal first class travel tips to budget for this tour
If you have been reading frugal first class travel for any time, you will know that I advocate spending money on the things that are important to you and saving on other things that are less important. A truly special experience like the VIP Key Masters Tour: Open the Sistine Chapel tour was something we decided would be the centre piece of our stay in Rome. So we planned the rest of our 3 night stay in Rome accordingly.
That meant choosing a small guest house, rather than a fancy hotel (it still had a view overlooking the Piazza Navona) – you can book our choice of Rome accommodation here >>
Rather than purchase a tour of the Trastevere area we used the Rick Steves audioguides on our phones, and self guided our way around. We also passed on a tour of St Peter’s Basilica and used Rick’s Italy guidebook to show us the way.
It also meant we walked everywhere and ate at small local restaurants (our favorite turned out to be right next door to our accommodation in a little backstreet behind the Piazza – homely cooking and excellent service). We also passed on souvenirs in Italy – our memories and the special photos we were able to have were our souvenirs on this Roman holiday.
Author’s note: we paid for our own tour of the Vatican Museums. All photos author’s own.
Last update on 2026-09-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API