Climb to the top of the highest point in the Vatican City, the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, and get panoramic views over historic Rome and the Vatican state from this Renaissance masterpiece. Along with getting fast access inside the basilica after your ascent, you can experience and explore the basilica treasures and the Vatican Crypts with your expert English-speaking guide.

Climb the iconic Dome of St. Peter’s for magnificent panoramas over Rome and the Vatican City
Guided tour of St. Peter's Basilica, including Michelangelo’s Pietà and the famous Baldachin
Visit the tombs of the most important Popes in a special crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica
Hear enlightening commentary from a local Vatican expert guide throughout the tour

What's Included

Entrance into St. Peter’s Dome by lift
Entrance into St. Peter’s Basilica & Underground Crypts with the Pope Tombs
Expert, English-speaking tour guide
Headsets when appropriate

Food/Beverage
Hotel pick-up/drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Piazza della Città Leonina
Piazza della Città Leonina, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
Meet at Piazza della Città Leonina, near the arches, where the square meets via di Porta Angelica. Facing the Arches, our meeting point is located at the corner of the square, on the left-hand side, next to the kiosk stand.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Vatican City

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Square

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Cupola di San Pietro

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

St. Peter's Basilica

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Vatican Grottoes

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Not recommended for travellers with back problems
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travellers should have a strong physical fitness level

Not recommended for those who suffer from claustrophobia and/or vertigo
Please note that the dome’s elevator only takes you to the first terrace. In order to climb to the top of the dome you will have to use stairs (320 steps). Please allow yourself approximately 20 extra minutes if you wish to climb up to the dome of St Peters from there.
We may experience delays in getting through mandatory security checks when entering these venues
Only small bags are allowed
Tickets for the dome cannot be pre-bought. The group will have to queue for the guide to acquire them on the day of the tour.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travellers

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.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

4.0

113 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 113 reviews

The guide didn't seem to...

Sharon_B, Sept 2023

The guide didn't seem to care if we enjoyed the tour or even stayed with him. It was crowded and he was hard to keep up with

Response from Host, Sept 2023

Hi Sharon_B, We're sorry to hear that your experience on the St. Peter's Basilica Dome, Basilica & Underground Grottoes Guided Tour didn't meet your expectations due to difficulties with the guide. This is not the level of service we aim to provide, and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have encountered. Your feedback is important to us, and we will use it to improve our tours and ensure that our guides are attentive to our travelers' needs. If you have any further comments or would like to discuss your experience in more detail, please feel free to reach out to us. We appreciate your feedback and hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future. Kind regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders

The crypt and the view...

Gregory_J, Sept 2023

The crypt and the view from the cupola was breathtaking. The guide was very knowledgeable and explained the information very well.

Nice tour and enjoyed the...

John_D, Aug 2023

Nice tour and enjoyed the Dome climb. The views where amazing. Our guide was good, but because the crypts were not open the tour ended abruptly. We had to do the crypts by ourselves when they opened.

Incredible scale and opulence

Jane_G, July 2023

The inside of the basilica is incredible and the view from the top of the dome well worth the climb - but if you are claustrophobic you might want to avoid as the steps are very narrow with sloping ceilings. One thing to note, there are no “skip the line” tickets - all tour groups must queue in the same line as everyone else so the wait can be very long, but we had the guide filling the time with lots of history and interesting facts about the Vatican and Rome itself.

Did not go in too crowed. Can’t imagine what peak season will be like.

Debra_M, May 2023

Unfair to give any star rating, as the museum was so ridiculously crowded with large guided tours you could barely move, let alone see anything. Then we came to St. Peter’s and the lines outside made it clear it was going to be the same thing in there, so we did not attend our tour. Not Viator’s fault. They should not allow so many people in at one time.

Response from Host, May 2023

Hello Debra_M, We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience with the St. Peter's Basilica Dome, Basilica & Underground Grottoes Guided Tour. We understand your frustration with the overcrowding and long lines at the attractions. While we strive to provide the best possible experience for our customers, the management of crowd sizes and entry regulations are ultimately controlled by the respective sites. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the overcrowding, as it can detract from the overall enjoyment of the tour. Your comments have been duly noted, and we will continue to work closely with the sites to address these issues and improve the tour experience for our customers. We value your feedback and would like to make it up to you. If you are open to giving us another opportunity, we would be delighted to offer you a special discount on a future tour. Please contact us directly, and we will be happy to assist you further. Thank you for your understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. We hope to have the chance to provide you with a more positive experience in the future at City Wonders. Best regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders

Beautiful!

Teresa_S, May 2023

This was a beautiful place to see and a well informed guide. I assumed that we were going to be able to skip the line to enter but that was not the case and we stood in line for at least an hour. By all accounts that is not a long line for this attraction but you should be aware that you will stand in line depending the crowds.

The tour guide was very...

Shari_S, May 2023

The tour guide was very informative. She explained the tour sequence, which really helped navigating through such a crowded venue.

Beautiful basilica with important history

Susan_O, Apr 2023

St. Peter’s tomb and the beautiful marble floors and columns. The guide was very knowledgeable and helpful.

Mind blowing.

Lynette_B, Jan 2023

Sal was a fantastic, knowledgeable guide. The tour wasn’t rushed and you could take your time climbing the stairs. The view was worth it.

Amazing tour

Gavin_J, Nov 2022

Had a great time on this tour. The guide was very knowledgeable, really friendly, engaging and had a good sense of humour.

Wait time is disappointing

Samuel_W, Oct 2022

Saint Peters was remarkable, but the fact that we had to wait in line for over an hour and half to go up to the dome was unacceptable. If we had know we had to wait in line just like everyone else going up to the dome we would not have booked this tour.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Hey Samuel, We apologize that the wait times were longer than expected on your tour of St. Peter's Basilica with us. Recently, the Vatican has been allowing an increased number of visitors to enter the Basilica. However, our guides do their best to maneuver our groups so that these long lines are avoided. Our sincere apologies as this was not the case with your group. We know how frustrating that can be. Thank you for taking the time to leave us an honest review on Viator. Your feedback will only help us improve. All the best, Edgar J. City Wonders

We had an amazing time...

Marta_M, Oct 2022

We had an amazing time climbing the Dome and exploring the Basilica and the Crypts. The guide (Salvadore) was exceptional and had answers to all our questions and was very interesting.

San Pedro Basilic and Dome

Maria_M, July 2022

It was imposible to found the guide. We ask every where and nobody now about them. Finally lost the tour.

Don't use Viator!

Kristin_D, June 2022

We booked a tour through Viator with CityWonders to visit St. Peter's Dome. Our tour was canceled only 2 hours before it was scheduled to depart. It was extremely disappointing as we were only in Rome a few days and it was impossible to reschedule. I spoke with another traveler that said CityWonders did the same thing to them on a tour in Florence. CityWonders cancels people that booked through third party companies first. Your best bet is to book directly through the tour company. I will never book another tour with Viator again.

our tour guide was nice....

Joan_P, June 2022

our tour guide was nice. But he smells, maybe because of the weather, it was hot that day. We didn’t really understand what he was saying,. after climbing the dome with my family, we returned the device and did the tour on our own. Paying that much isn’t worth it.

Save you money anD do it on your own

Scott_T, June 2022

Bad, guide basically got us tickets and provided a SMALL amount of info, could not answer the 3 simple question I asked. Was not expensive but wasn’t even worth that.

Unfortunately we were...

Scott_A, June 2022

Unfortunately we were unable to locate the meeting point and missed our tour. This was part user error and part lack of help by Vatican staff to help point us in the right direction. We even arrived a half hour before the meeting time. A Viator employee called but I missed the call. My point is, it may be helpful to be very sure of the meeting point before your visit.

View of the Entire Vatican

Darryl_R, May 2022

Very accommodating tour guide who gave the honest expectations of the climb. The climb is worth it in my opinion in order to get a once in a life time view of Rome the external city. A very well planned tour, highly recommended.

Brilliant

Margaret_H, Apr 2022

Amazing views from the top of the dome. Tour guide “big mama” Joanna was amazing and very knowledgeable, would definitely recommend

Not flexible.

Colleen_A, Apr 2022

I missed this tour because I had hurt my knee and stairs to the Dome or down to the Crypt were not going to be possible. I asked for a refund for this unexpected medical occurrence but was denied.