Attend a Papal Audience with Pope Francis I at the Vatican. Tickets may be free but they are extremely hard to come by, so booking in advance is essential. By booking ahead, you're ensuring you won't waste any time trying to get tickets while you're on vacation in the Eternal City.

Papal Audience with Pope Francis I at the Vatican
Make a booking to ensure you don't miss this special opportunity
Short sightseeing tour with live commentary en route to the Vatican

What's Included

Tour Leader
panoramic hop on hop off "One Run"

Gratuities
Food and drinks, unless specified
Seating not guaranteed
Pick up and drop off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Via della Conciliazione, 40, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
the meeting point is in Via della Conciliazione 40 at 7,15 am

Start time

07:15 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Depending on the season and weather conditions and the number of devotees visiting that day, the audience can take place in the Audience Hall, St. Peter's Basilica, or St. Peter's Square.

Start this unique day with a comfortable coach tour that traverses Rome. As you pass by legendary landmarks, learn about the history of the city from your guide. See the ancient Aurelian Walls, the Villa Borghese, and Piazza del Popolo with its twin Baroque churches and the Egyptian obelisk at the center of the public space.

Then cross over the Tiber River and pass by the imposing Castel Sant' Angelo, the tomb of Roman Emperor Hadrian, before arriving in Saint Peter's Square.

Via della Conciliazione

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Obelisco Vaticano

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Square

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Not recommended for pregnant travelers

Most travelers can participate
Tour is suitable for wheelchair users provided passenger is traveling with a companion who can assist them on and off the bus. Wheelchairs will be stored in the luggage area of the bus
A dress code is required to enter places of worships and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops are allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. This dress code is strictly enforced and you will risk refused entry if you fail to comply with requirements
Seats are not guarantee at the Vatican during the Papal Audience
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

3.5

509 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 509 reviews

An upclose experience with Pope Francis

Julie_d, Apr 2024

Seeing the Pope up close and visiting the Sistine Chapel for the 2nd time. The tour guide is great and is very well aware of where to seat.

Would like a refund

Maria_M, Mar 2024

I would like someone to contact us. This was not as stated. My family of four paid for a tour that is free to the general public. We did not get any benefit. We did not skip any line or get any better seating.

Good experience

Emelyn_D, Mar 2024

It would have been better with good weather but overall it’s helpful to have this guide for a first timer like me cause it’s hard to ask around not everyone speaks English . Just recommendation we should go on line to the entrance as early as we can

Don’t

Caroline_M, Mar 2024

Bit of a rip off, you’re really paying for a bus ticket. Go early, queue yourself for a ticket for the audience. This was just daft, total suckers but lesson learned.

Perfect Morning

Angela_B, Mar 2024

Massimo was amazing. He led us to the perfect seats to see The Pope as he ride past in the Pope-Mobile. I highly recommend using this service.

Seeing the Pope

Christine_M, Jan 2024

Seeing the Pope in person! While you don’t always get to get super close to the Pope, this was very worth it. We got great pictures and items blessed.

The pope

Esteban_F, Oct 2023

Seeing the pope very close was the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole life Would recommend this event to everyone

Visit the Vatican

James_V, Oct 2023

It was a magnificent experience, masssimo was good, the only thing he don’t say goodbye and we have some questions. But everything was fine. The bus was a plus!!!

Audience with the Pope

RONALD_W, Oct 2023

Flawless entry into the Vatican with plenty of time to have breakfast and enter into the seating area with our choice of seats

Great tour

Jennifer_S, Sep 2023

Fabulous experience well worth paying for this tour.The guide met us, guided us through the lined quickly and helped get seated where we had good visibility seeing Pope Francis.

AVOID THIS TOUR

Mac_J, Sep 2023

The most memorable part of the tour was seeing Pope Francis. That is about all I can say good about this tour. Once you got to the “meeting point” there was no clear direction as to where you are to meet the group as there were hundreds of people there. When we started walking to the sitting area, the tour guide left the group. I might as well not even purchased this! Why is this even offered. What is the point?!?

Mass was amazing but end of tour was horrible.

Jimmy_L, Sep 2023

Pope Francis mass experience was amazing, tour person Massimo very arrogant and at the end we we're given a hop on hop off tickets which was horrible, the waiting time for the buses was 2 hours, that ending part screwed up the whole tour.

Experienced host

Christine_D, Sep 2023

Massimo was kind and gracious, making everyone feel welcome in their native language. He was funny. He helped us find the clean restrooms and get a drink, then helped us through security and guided us to seats where we had a very close-up view of the Holy Father. Perfecto!

Easy way to go to Pope's audience

Diana_J, Sep 2023

Great way to reduce hassle of securing the free tickets and getting to a popes audience. Seated right by the fence area that the pope passes and unobstructed views of the audience. About an hours waiting around, but got lovely photos of sunrise at St Peter's Square and Basillica while waiting.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Thank you for your helpful review, we appreciate it! Kind regards

Meh

Chuck_C, Sep 2023

The pope was great. This tour? Yeah not so much. The guides are ok I guess, but they really don't do much but lead you to a tourist trap shop. They're the Green tour by the way, it's not super obvious when booking. Go see the pope, find another group to take you

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Kind customer, Thank you for your reply, as you know the focus of this product is the Papal Audience, the guide takes care (assistance , tickets) of the group . Kind regards

Wonderful

KATHLEEN_G, Sep 2023

Was longer than we thought due to lines. But beautiful experience. Very crowded. Climb to dome great- Sistine Chapel was beyond words. Must see

One of my most blessed...

michael_b, Jun 2023

One of my most blessed experiences a dream come true to be present at one of pope Francis audiences his words really hit home and make you think and pray for world peace

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Thank you very much for your kind and helpful feedback! have a good day!

See the Pope!

Roderick_J, Jun 2023

Excellent, multi-lingual guide. Very experienced, very calm and laid back, but got us seats in the centre only a few rows back. Excellent position, many thousands behind us! Popemobile passed only a few metres away! Highly recommended tour.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Thank you so much for your enthusiastic feedback! Kind regards

Visiting the Pope

Jimmy_S, May 2023

The Pope has a mass on Wednesdays. We met our guide at the Vatican. He told us what to expect and then we were able to shop a little before going in. We had to go through security before entering. Once inside the guide told us different places we could go and sit. He told us to go to the back of the first section and recommended the back row. We were in the very corner of this section. He told us that the Pope would be riding in the Popemobile right where we were sitting. You can tell by the pictures that we had a great view as he drove by a couple of times. I have a video but it was too large to upload. It was raining but we had a great time.

Response from Host, May 2023

Kind customer I want to Thank you for your kind and positive feedback of this religious experience . Kind regards

A must do when in Rome

Ritesh_K, Apr 2023

Great way to see the Pope. We had excellent seats, the instructions for entry were clear. No hassles of filling forms to obtain the tickets. Perks include free hop on hop off bus.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Dear Kind customer we want to thank you for your positive feedback Best regards Pina

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