This is the Untold Italy travel podcast and you're listening to episode number 98.

Ciao at all and benvenuti to Untold Italy, the travel podcast where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes, hills and coastlines of

Bella Italia. Each week your host, Katie Clark, takes you on a journey in search of magical

landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course, a whole lot of pasta. If you're

dreaming of Italy and planning future adventures there,

you've come to the right place.

Ciao, Benvenuti. Hi, everyone. Hope you've had a wonderful week so far and are ready to take a peek

inside one of the world's largest and most beautiful collections of art and antiquities. It is, of course,

the Vatican Museums. This immense series of galleries, in fact, houses 22 separate collections

each on its own are priceless,

but as a collective, they are almost mind-blowing in importance and value. Of course, they

culminate in the incomparable Sistine Chapel that's adorned with frescoes painted by

Michelangelo and acknowledges among the greatest pieces of art ever created. I thought we'd take this virtual visit to the

museums because they are one of the most important and most visited attractions in Rome. In fact,

in 2019, almost 6.9 million people walk through those corridors and I was one of them. It's a rare

visit to Rome that occurs without me paying a visit to this site because,

as you will learn, there is a lifetime of exploring to be done inside the museums, and you really

need to have a plan and allocate at least half a day to exploring them if you have even a passing

interest in art and history. So let's find out the best ways to experience the Vatican

museums when you go there in person.

Joining us today on the podcast is Stephen Otto, former licensed tour guide and co-founder of

walks of Italy, an online travel company for visitors to Italy focusing on unique and intimate

...