Enjoy a rare bird’s-eye view over Rome with this tour of St. Peter’s Basilica that includes a climb to the top of its dome. Visit St. Peter’s Square and church with an art historian guide to marvel at its Renaissance art and architecture. Then head underground to see the grottoes and St. Peter's tomb before climbing the dome to admire the church interiors and the surrounding city from above.

A complete St. Peter’s Basilica tour from underground grottoes to dome top
A guide for insights into the art and architecture of the square and church
Tickets to the top of the dome included
Headsets to follow the guide’s commentary inside and outside the basilica

What's Included

Professional art-historian guide
Entry fees to the top of the Dome
Guided tour of St. Peter Dome
Thorough guided tour of St. Peter's Basilica
Sterilized headsets to hear clearly your guide
Full on-site assistance

The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are not part of this tour
This tour does not skip the line (neither the security checks one nor the dome's elevator one)

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Largo del Colonnato, 5
Largo del Colonnato, 5, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
Meet your guide at Largo del Colonnato, 5, by the first columns of the Colonnade. Look for a yellow label with TOURIKS written on it. Please be at the meeting point 20 minutes before the starting time. The meeting point is outside the Basilica before entering St. Peter's square.

End point

Saint Peter's Square
Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

What To Expect

St. Peter's Square

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Basilica

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Vatican Grottoes

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Cupola di San Pietro

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
The dome's terrace might not be accessible during bad weather conditions. In that case, you can either ask for a partial refund and visit the Basilica and the grottoes or decide to cancel the tour for a full refund
An appropriate dress-code is required in order to enter the churches: knees and shoulders should be covered
Please take into consideration that the lines to clear security checks at the entrance of the square might take 15-120 minutes
We recommend to wear comfortable walking shoes
Please note that you will be required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance of the square
The meeting point is outside the Basilica before entering St. Peter's square and the security checks

The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are not part of this tour
The Vatican Necropoli is not part of this tour
We might not be able to accommodate, refund or reschedule late arrivals
Strollers are not allowed in the Basilica. There is a luggage deposit at the entrance of the basilica where you can leave the stroller
Please note that this is not a skip-the-line tour
Not recommended for travellers with claustrophobia
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Not recommended for travellers with vertigo
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 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 good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

1,099 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 1,099 reviews

Average

Maria_A, Jun 2023

It was not good organized. You need to do a long line to start the tour. It is not described in the details of the tour.

Ok but rushed

Tabitha_S, Jun 2023

Book the early morning tour because you don’t skip the security queue and it can take up to 2 hours in the afternoon. We did the first tour in the morning and it took around 40 minutes to get through security. You’re very rushed around the inside to be taken to the top so didn’t feel like we got all the information we could have had on this tour.

Mostly on your own

ncdevlin, May 2023

The guided tour part is very brief with only a few sights described. For the grotto, dome climb and much of the basilica, you're on your own. No skip-the-line access.

Excellent guide

Jeff_M, May 2023

Guide was excellent. Give her a raise. Tutto bene. Narration excellent. Services good. Very knowledgeable

Such an amazing place

Kellina_G, May 2023

The stairs to the dome and the view from the top. So much to see, and the detail is amazing. Take the trip to the top you won’t be disappointed.

Bascillica dome tour

Elaine_S, May 2023

Tour guide was great. Bascillica was stunning. Loved the sights from.the dome. It was a hard climb though. Not for the faint hearted.

Excellent

akhenshaw, May 2023

Sonja our guide is very knowledgeable. She is an archaeologist. She is awesome! Very enjoyable trip!

Excellent

delroyziadie, May 2023

Excellent tour guide. Very polite and pleasing. Would definitely recommend this tour to everyone. Loved it

A must see with great commentary.

Robert_R, May 2023

The guide was excellent. She was a last minute fill in and made the tour very interesting. Her commentary brought a most beautiful building to life.

Was a great...

Barbara_D, May 2023

Was a great opportunity…unfortunately we had gone on the Vatican museum tour earlier in the day so we were too weary to wait in the line again to enter St. Peter’s Basilica…we were able to see it at the end of the Sistine Chapel tour:-)

Must see

Judie_d, May 2023

Beautiful experience. Our guide was amazing. Crowds weren’t bad at all. Would highly recommend going.

Great tour

Bill_L, May 2023

We’ve been to St. Peter’s a couple times but this was our first tour. Valentino was very knowledgeable and answered any questions we had with ease. We would recommend this tour especially with Valentino as he was fun and personable.

Roma

Ricardo_R, May 2023

Amazing tour, patient and knowledgeable. Bit pricey but compared to the other tour i had with a different company then it's 10000% better.

Marco was a wonderful guide. He was charming, funny, and informative.

Aviva_D, May 2023

In addition to giving interesting information of what we saw, Marco kept us entertained during the long wait on line.

Fantastic tour with Frederica!

David_J, May 2023

Superb small group tour with the lovely Frederica - she was so insightful, gave us lots of the history and was motivating on the cupola climb! High recommend

Lots of information!

Martin_P, May 2023

Very nice tour with lots of information. Take the tour as early as possible to have a short line at the security check.

Climbing the Dome is an...

Dianne_D, May 2023

Climbing the Dome is an amazing experience! The stairs are a little tight in places. But, the view is worth the climb. St. Peter’s Basilica is beautiful and we learned a lot with a guided tour.

Tour guide rock star

Terri_S, May 2023

Our tour guide Ting was amazing, she was so knowledgeable and kept us engaged throughout the tour. Highly recommend booking with her.

A tour sell worth the time and purchase price

James_N, May 2023

Our guide Sara was the best an art historian with great knowledge of the Basilica. Well worth it her tour added so much to visiting St Peter's well worth it. Better than trying to navigate everything by yourself. Climbed the dome and had beautiful views.

Was hard to understand...

Krystle_V, May 2023

Was hard to understand our tour guide unfortunately. Seeing the grotto's was interesting and was climbing the Dome

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