Vatican Hills Tours — Local services in Rome

Absolute rip off and scam. The only thing your expensive ticket gets you is quicker entry and someone who will rush you through the museums with minimal explanation so that they can get to the next tour.

This was clearly a money grab and an attempt to funnel as many people as possible through their “tours” as they could in a day. Save yourself the exorbitant fee and just book a ticket directly through the Vatican website. You’ll be getting the exact same service as this “tour company” provides with better service and at a fraction of the cost.

From the moment we arrived at the check in we were greeted rudely by the receptionists who rushed us to pay without any price signage and without giving us any time to check our booking to see how much we had already paid.

I would have been willing to look past the rude check in experience had the tour been good and worth the €75 each that we paid. This was not the case. The tour is advertised as 2-3 hours, however our tour guide was with us for barely an hour. Once we were on the tour, he gave minimal information, couldn’t name basic dates, and spent more time explaining regional food than our surroundings. There was no explanation for the paintings in the Sistine Chapel given; rather, as soon as we got there he stood in a corner for 10 minutes and then ushered us out as soon as the 10 minutes were up. Then, the tour ended before we even went inside St. Peter’s Basilica. We saw many other tour guides inside giving their groups helpful and explanatory information, it would have been nice if our tour guide had done that for us even for a few minutes before rushing off to get...

VATICAN HILL TOURS... I was charged €158 euros for 2 of us. Absolute rip off!!!! . We were approached getting off tube by some kind of employee/ salesman telling us he wasn't selling anything. He walked us to travel shop and used a very pressurised sales pitch on the way about skipping over 2 hour queue to get inside vatigan and saying we needed to get tickets urgently as selling out quickly. Basically, in reflection, this was for a two hour quided tour to walk round a museum and see the sistine Chapel. The actual Tour quide was rude and spoke to us like we were children. Initially, we had to queue for approx 10 mins and go through security which felt like gatwick airport. crowded and chaotic. We were ordered to go to toilets by tour quide as this would be only opportunity. Toilets were filthy and stank of urine. After security, we decided to leave our tour group and walk around ourselves. Yes, inside vatican building is spectacular and sistine Chapel amazing. Spoke to a few independent traveler's and they only queued for about one hour hour. Checked price to see sistine Chapel and it was 18 euros each. We did skip the 1 hour wait l guess. But €158 euros??? You make your own minds up??? . Be wary of being ripped off. Saint Peters Square wasn't even in the walled Vatigan. it's free to the general public. It was spectacular. We didn't do our research...

Had someone from "Vatican Hill Tours" dissuade me from joining the long line to get into the museum, warning me it would take 2 hours and offering me a tour of the museum leaving in 15 minutes. He then led me to a sketchy looking office where I paid 55€ (student discount) and waited around with some others for the guide to meet us. We departed from the office about 10 minutes late, long enough to start getting worried I'd been scammed but then we were led over to the museum and through security before being handed over to the actual guide, who may have worked for the museum. They took us on a wonderful and informative tour of the Vatican's gardens (an unexpected but welcome surprise as I wouldn't have been able to do that without a tour group) then led us through the top floor hallway of the museum and dropping us off at the beginning of the Contemporary art exhibit, before you enter the Sistine chapel. Despite my initial apprehension, I think the opportunity to skip waiting in a long line, as well as a friendly and educational tour guide were worth the price I paid (which included admission to the museum) though I would only advise this as a last minute solution. I wish I had booked my ticket in advance with a more trustworthy organization.

Photos attached are the front entrance and logo of the office I entered to pay...