(thanks for other answer earlier )

Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica:
Do we get to see the map room etc or is it a beeline straight for the Sistine Chapel?

Will there be enought time (for energetic people in their 30s!) to climb St Peter's dome during our trip to the Vatican?

The reason I ask is that we may have a bit of free time BEFORE the tour starts, and I wonder whether we should see the Museums and climb the dome before the official tour start?


Pisa:
Generally how long do we stop in Pisa for?


Florence and the Uffizi:
I know that the queues for the Uffizi (and every other museum/gallery) are very long. Generally, will we have enough time during our 'free time' to see the Uffizi?



Thank you so very much for your time!


(PS - will Insight consider a tour which includes the Cinque Terre at a later date?)

Dear Nell,
We have one of our Italian TDs in tomorrow so we'll ask them to give you chapter and verse!
Sue and Paul

Hi, just heard back from Italian TD.
Comments as follows:
The Sistine Chapel is clearly an extremely popular place to visit for any visitor to Rome and the queues are pretty horrendous, usually many hours. Fortunately, because we have special arrangements with the Vatican our groups will avoid most of the waiting and
go straight to the Sistine Chapel but will not have time to visit the map room, etc.
In regards to climbing St Peter's Dome, again this takes time and would
make things quite tight, time wise. If you find you do have free time in Rome prior to the tour starting then you should definitely climb the Dome at that point.

Usually the stop in Pisa is for about an hour, there is not usually time to climb the tower as this normally has to be pre-booked in advance and only 15 people can go up at one time for safety reasons.

Some TDS do sell the Uffizi as an optional. In the summer, queues can take 2 hours to get to the front so it is worth taking the tour if offered. If you do want to go to the Uffizi and the TD does not sell it as an optional then you should advise the TD at the start of the tour and the TD can then try and make a pre-booking for you which will hopefully ensure you do not have to queue.

Hope this helps.
Signing off now and handing over to my colleagues, Paul.

thnx!