St. Peter’s Basilica Tour: History, Architecture, Views

Immerse yourself in the history, architecture, and lore of St. Peter’s Basilica with this all-access tour. Avoid long lines and climb up into the titanic dome for amazing views of Rome.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • St. Peter’s Square - Your guide meets you just outside the entrance to St. Peter’s Square and whisks you past the crowds for your trip to the grand Renaissance-era elegance of the basilica. An elevator carries you to the dome’s first terrace, where you’re surrounded by its beautiful artwork, and then 320 steps lead you up to one of the best views…
What's Included
  • Pre-reserved tickets to climb St Peter’s Basilica Dome with elevator access
  • Groups of max 20 people
  • Expert English local guide
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
Additional Information

Engage in an exploration of St. Peter’s Basilica’s rich past, grand architecture, and captivating folklore with this comprehensive tour. Besides a thorough guided navigation of the Basilica and the Papal Crypt (typically not incorporated in Basilica and Vatican tours), led by a seasoned guide, you’ll avert extensive queues to ascend the colossal dome…

Location
Piazza della Città Leonina
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a green Walks sign. This tour meets at Caffè Leonina, Piazza della Città Leonina, 5. The closest metro stop is Ottaviano.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(290 Ratings)
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Venti1228
Oct 11, 2024
Book earliest Tour for best experience - Very good guide. She kept us interested the entire time. I highly recommend booking an early tour since the dome climb line gets crowded fast.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Karen
Oct 2, 2024
Great tour guide, small walking group= amazing experience - Maria Laura S was our awesome tour guide- super knowledgeable, super friendly, just so lovely- and our small tour group of 14 made our tour so enjoyable. I'm not one for guided walking tours, but I really gained so much information from this one. The highlight were the views from the Dome, which were incredible.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabeth
Sep 25, 2024
Sara was the best! - Data was incredibly knowledgeable and personable. She brought history to life with facts and good humor. She was able to point out tiny details and answer a plethora of questions!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Debbie_b
Sep 22, 2024
Enjoyable and informative - The tour was very informative and enjoyable. It was worth doing an early morning tour to avoid the crowds.
Review provided by Viator
Michelle_j
Sep 22, 2024
Amazing - Thank you Elizabeth for a wonderful tour of the amazing St Peter’s basilica ! We climbed the dome ( first part was elevator ) and the view from the top was magnificent. The crypts were very interesting and the basilica itself just wow ! Definitely worth getting up early to do this as the queues when we were leaving were crazy. Can highly recommend
Review provided by Viator
Nnoble2013
Sep 21, 2024
Wonderful tour & tour guide. - We had a fantastic tour of the dome, Vatican & tombs. Jowita our tour guide was brilliant, so knowledgeable & such a great character. The dome climb is very worth doing but a very hard climb up, I would recommend it & would definitely do it again.
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Debbie_p
Sep 20, 2024
Fabulous - Awesome! Loved the tour. Our guide Marco was fabulous! Wished we hadn’t booked another tour so close so we could spend more time in the church! The cost was perfectly wonderful for the amount of time and history provided from Marco! HIGHLY recommend ✅👍🏻
Review provided by Viator
Anthony_b
Sep 15, 2024
Amazing view of Rome - Wonderful tour to the dome of St Peter's Basilica - highly knowledgeable guide who adapted tour when access to Crypt changed due to the Papal audience in the Basilica - so provided detailed walkthrough of Basilica & where best to catch view of the Pope.
Review provided by Viator
Audrey_l
Sep 15, 2024
Very informative and passionate guide - I've been 3 times to Vatican and this tour was the best , very informative and the guide is great and passionate!
Review provided by Viator
Erin_o
Sep 15, 2024
Great view from the top - This tour allowed us to climb to the top of St. Peter's after having taken an elevator to a level just below the dome. We took the first tour of the day at 7:15am and would suggest doing that as long lines form thereafter. Each visitor must go through security for this tour, and the elevator can only hold about 10 people. Our guide was very knowledgeable, gave good information and answered questions. We only gave 4 stars instead of 5 as the guide talked too much about himself. I would have enjoyed learning more about the architecture and the building process; most of the time spent was historical discussion of the Church. The tour of the crypt was a very small part of this tour. That also felt rushed, as if we had spent too much time on the tour of the dome and basilica.
Review provided by Viator
From $45
up to 15 guests
1 Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).