Founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century and enlarged by successive pontiffs, the Vatican Museums boast one of the world's greatest art collections. Exhibits, which are displayed along about 7km of halls and corridors, range from Egyptian mummies and Etruscan bronzes to ancient busts, old masters and modern paintings. Highlights include the spectacular collection of classical statuary in the Museo Pio-Clementino, a suite of rooms frescoed by Raphael, and the Michelangelo-painted Sistine Chapel.

Home to two of the world’s most famous works of art – Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes and his Giudizio Universale (Last Judgment) – the Sistine Chapel is the one part of the Vatican Museums that everyone wants to see, and on a busy day you could find yourself sharing it with up to 2000 people. Michelangelo's ceiling design, which is best viewed from the chapel’s main entrance in the far east wall, covers the entire 800-sq-m surface. At the end of the tour only if the passage to the Basilica (Scala Regia) is open the guide will take the group to the Basilica.

The last part of this tour, a brief guided visit of the biggest church in the world; St. peter's Cathedral