Papal Audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City

Badge of ExcellenceRome, Italy

From $38.29

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

5 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Make your visit to Vatican City truly unforgettable with this once-in-a-lifetime papal audience ticket. Join Pope Francis either outdoors in in St Peter's Square or in the nearby Nervi Hall, depending on the weather, during his papal audience in Vatican City.

Half-day papal audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City
Get assistance from a host, including with help locating your seats
Hear Cardinals and pilgrims reading from the stage in various languages through a provided headset
Meet your guide at a central Vatican location

What's Included

Assistant coordinator of the event
Professional Guide
headsets
Public Audience of the Holy Father

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Hotel drop-off
Hotel Pick-up

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Piazza del Risorgimento, Roma RM, Italy
07:15 am Piazza del Risorgimento just at the center of the square at the bar l'Ottagono-look for our staff with our pink logo I love Rome.

Start time

07:30 AM

End point

Via della Conciliazione, 48, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
Tour ends in via della Coincillazione 48

What To Expect

St. Peter's Basilica

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Square (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult
A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
Accommodation in St. Peter's Square is not guaranteed: seats cannot be booked.
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
Admission tickets to the Papal Audience are free but we’d like to highlight that it’s mandatory to reserve tickets at least two months in advance. With our tours you don’t need the reservation: the price includes a booking service to the public audience and a professional guide. Accommodation in St. Peter’s Square is not guaranteed, as seats cannot be booked
In case of missing audio devices, an additional charge of 80,00€ net to us will be applied for each missing device
The meeting point is at Piazza del Risorgimento, just at the center of the square at the Bar L’Ottagono - Look for our Staff with our pink logo I Love Rome
Tour ends after approximately 5 hours in Via della Conciliazione, 48
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

135 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 135 reviews

Well worth it!!

Jill_K, May 2024

Our guide Laura was excellent! Full of interesting tidbits of history and workings of the Vatican. Entering the auditorium was hectic but not anyone’s fault. I highly recommend this tour!!

Great experience despite rainy weather

Deb_B, May 2024

Laura did a great job. Lots of time waiting in lines, as expected. The weather was bad, so the audience was indoors instead of outside. Still a marvelous experience. I would recommend booking a private audience if possible. Laura went above and beyond for us, even helped with shopping afterwards.

Great experience - a must do while visiting Rome - Use a guide

Michael_R, Apr 2024

Our guide was fantastic - she guided successful thru the crowds and brought us to strategic viewing point. We were inches from the pope as he traveled thru the crowd in his vehicle. She was also very informative about the historical significance of the square as well

Once in a lifetime moment witnessing the Pope

Brendan_V, Apr 2024

Me and my wife had a wonderful experience, especially Laura the tour guide was an amazing person.She told us alot about the history and also made sure we find a perfect spot to witness the Pope.Highly recommend this tour.Thank you so much

Could almost touch the Pope as he came past in his Popemobile.

Ann_M, Apr 2024

The Pope came in his Popemobile and slowly passed in front of us. We were so close that we could almost reach out and touch him. Our guide was excellent. She explained everything about the visit and knew exactly where we should sit and then stand to be as close as possible to his Holiness the Pope. Thank you.

A special moment

Patricia_C, Apr 2024

Very special moment to be in the company of people from around the world and to receive the Pope's blessing Very well organised visit with seats near the front

Invaluable

LuzElena_Z, Apr 2024

The knowledge shared by the guide was very appropriate, interesting, and invaluable. We were instructed where to sit to get the best view of the papa. I strongly recommend this guided tour.

Great once in a lifetime experience!

MAYUMI_V, Apr 2024

Our tour guide gave us one of the best seats in the Square. We would not have a great view of Pope Francis without her! She also shared a lot of her knowledge about the basilica and Vatican museum. I would recommend this company again and again. Thanks so much!

Excellent experience

Elaine_C, Mar 2024

A very special moment, we were able to see the Pope so close, the tour guide told us where to sit and where to stand to see him. It was great!

A Great Guide Makes All the Difference

Norma_D, Mar 2024

Definitely worth the price! Yes, tickets through the Vatican are free (though not easy to get) but then you have to find the right lines and entrances. Monica was a great guide who made sure we were in the right places at the right times. Her experience showed in getting us through security and making sure we were up close to Pope Francis. We couldn't have done it without her. Highly recommend!

Seeing the Pope

Diana_M, Mar 2024

The Pope being blessed by him and for our friends and family. It was a beautiful sunny day. Meet several people from different cultures.

Papal Audience

EmeldaTuzon_M, Mar 2024

This is the highlight of our trip, a very memorable one. We had a good spot to see Pope Francis. Thank you to Laura, our friendly and knowledgable tour guide. She’s able to give us in a nutshell about St Peter’s Basicila and very interesting to know where to find the image of the Mother Mary in the St Peter’s Sq.

Highlight of our trip to Rome

John_B, Mar 2024

This was one of the highlights of our trip! While we hoped to see the Pope, we did not expect to see him up close. Our tour guide was able to position us in the front row by a pathway the Pope traveled in the Popemobile. We got some great pictures. It was really worth getting up early. Her knowledge and execution was great.

Great experience

benilda_l, Mar 2024

The best thing is we have our invitation on hand. A lot of sweat and patience just to obtain it if you’ll obtain it yourself. Never seen a long line just to see the Pope. Our tour leader I guess knew people around , can see her signaling, we were able to go through security fast. Because of the very long line , we almost not made it.

Perfect for first timers!

Elga_C, Dec 2023

This tour is perfect for first timers who are clueless about the systems and processes at Vatican City. We learned that this event takes place indoors during the colder months and outdoors (the square) during the warmer months. Being there in December was perfect. We got 6th row seats and when the pope came down from the stage to greet the audience, we were close to the aisle where he passed very close to our group. Laura was our guide and aside from taking us to the perfect spot in the auditorium, she explained other historical facts about St. Peter’s square. We were so lucky because the rest of our group dispersed and my husband and I had Laura with us for a good half an hour and she happily shared information she knew and readily answered any questions we had.

The experience and knowledge of their guide made this a great experience.

Adam_A, Dec 2023

Grace was the best part of the experience. Her attentiveness, knowledge , and kindness made the tour very enjoyable.

Papal audience- Amazing!

jdavidstewart, Oct 2023

We met our tour guide, Laura, at the designated location at 7:15am Wednesday for the Papal audience. She explained the security process & guided us through the huge crowd. It took over an hour of standing & SLOWLY moving in TIGHT quarters to make it through security. Once in St Peter’s Square she showed us where to sit so we could get close to the Pope when he was driven through. A couple in our group was lucky enough to have the Pope stop & bless their baby. We had to sit in the back section but many people had to stand in the section behind us. There are 4 large viewing screens & I think everyone can see with these. I know the tickets are free but I think it would be a hassle waiting in line & hoping to get a ticket ahead of time. Plus we only arrived the day before & were so jet lagged that it would have been an ordeal. We did walk to the designated area the day before to be sure we understood exactly where to meet. Laura was easy to understand & shared some interesting information as we waited in line. I think the ticket price was well worth it. Such an amazing experience.

Worth it

Melanie_M, Oct 2023

Although our guide was late, she was able to sit us in a good area and we were able to get a good glimpse of the Pope when he went around. It was worth it.

An experience to remember

Brenda_C, Oct 2023

Seeing the pope up close qwas most memorable. Also the care that Laura took to make sure everyone was able to keep up and went looking for some who had difficulty

Papal audience

ANNE_M, Oct 2023

Seeing the Pope. I would suggest the tour stay 15-30 minutes earlier so we could have gotten better seats.

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