St Peter's Basilica: Dome
St Peter's Basilica: Dome
GET CLIMBING!
SAINT PETER’S DOME
If you want to explore every last bit of Saint Peter’s Basilica, you won’t want to miss out on the dome. Steps will take you all the way to the top, where a spectacular view across the rooftops of Rome awaits! Keep reading for everything you need to know ahead of your visit and our top tips for skipping the queues…
Guided tour of the cathedral + crypt + dome ticket from EUR 52 (duration: 3 hours).
Only tickets for October left! Accompanied admission with audio guide (EN/ES/IT/FR/DE) for EUR 29!
Current information 2025:
We are looking forward to the year 2025! But the queues in front of St Peter’s Basilica will most likely remain! Last year, the waiting time was around 1.5 hours! Even if you took part in a guided tour!
In 2025, it will probably take even longer because the Holy Year is taking place – Rome will be even more crowded than usual!
So bear that in mind because there will be NO fast-track entry even for guided tours! Prepare yourselves accordingly! The photo shows the queue on 17 May 2023!
All of you who have chosen to take a guided tour or visit the dome should plan for this!
Who is writing here?
Hi, I am Céline, the founder of this page.
And I have tested the dome with an audio guide! I am regularly checking the current conditions of the waiting situation and ticket-sales.
I hope you find this page helpful, and I wish you a nice stay in Rome!
My Rating:
The positives:
The view of Rome is simply stunning – even on a cloudy day. You’ll also be able to look down on the people inside Saint Peter’s Basilica from the dome.
The negatives:
It’s super busy! You’ll have to wait to get inside the basilica and then join a separate queue later for a ticket for the dome. And you’ll probably have to fight for one of the spots with a view of Saint Peter’s Square once you get to the top!
Advice:
Don’t attempt to visit the dome if you can’t physically climb steps or if you’re claustrophobic. A lift takes you some of the way, but then you still have to tackle 320 steps (and space is a bit tight in places).
Last Modification: 14.01.2025 | Céline
St Peter's Basilica Dome
Tickets
Be aware: there are no Skip the line tickets available.
If you have booked a guided tour, you will also have to wait in line (up to 1/1.5 hours in peak season)
The details
at a glance
Prices
Prices for the dome:
Elevator and 320 steps: EUR 10
Walk all 551 steps: EUR 8
There is no online ticket for this, which is why you see extremely long queues here.
Have cash ready – they don’t except credit cards!
Information
Access to St. Peter’s Basilica is not possible on most Wednesdays between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
show more
Information
Access to St. Peter’s Basilica is not possible on most Wednesdays between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
show moreInformation
Access to St. Peter’s Basilica is not possible on most Wednesdays between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
The Pope then holds his weekly public audience.
In addition, the Pope can hold spontaneous masses: then online tickets are only partially valid. (But that doesn’t happen very often)
And the dome cannot be visited either.
St Peter's Basilica Dome
Photo Gallery
IS THE DOME
WORTH CLIMBING?
I thought I’d create a separate page for the dome at Saint Peter’s Basilica because I’m sure some of you will be asking the same questions I was asking before I went. Let me answer them for you…
1. Is it really worth climbing the dome? Is the view actually that good?
Absolutely! The view is simply stunning – even when the weather is not on your side and the sky is clouded over. I’m addicted to taking photos and I was in my element.
I hate to think what I’d have been like if the weather was better or if I’d been lucky enough to time my visit with a beautiful sunset! No doubt I’d have been taking photos for hours! The view across the rooftops of Rome is incredible and admiring the dome from the inside is an experience not to be missed either.
2. What is included?
The situation always keeps changing. We’ll do our best to keep everything up to date here as things change. The audio guide + dome ticket has been available since 2023: normal queuing at the security check, admission to the dome, lift ride to the 1st level, audio guide for the dome, free stay in the cathedral after visiting the dome. Accompanied admission with audio guide for EUR 29! We will tell you more about this below.
3. Is it really worth booking online?
Back in April 2016, I was impressed by the fast-track price of EUR 19.50, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy that ticket again next time. In 2017 I used the VIP dome ticket + audioguide for EUR 32. Now it is “only” EUR 29, but without skip the line at the security check!
But, to be fair, it ended up being worth every cent. I saved an hour of waiting around in front of the basilica (not in 2024!) and can then skip around another half an hour of queueing for the dome. The staff are on hand to help you find your way around, and you get an audio guide. You do feel sorry for everyone waiting, but that’s all forgotten once you start to feel a bit like a VIP.
4. Will I make it to the top?
To be honest, I was pretty smug about the fact that I work out regularly.
I managed to get to the top without really getting out of breath. And I’d say that (almost) anyone could manage it!
It’s worth pointing out, though, that the steps get narrower as you get closer to the top, and you may feel a bit dizzy as you climb the last stretch of spiral steps. But it’s nothing you can’t handle!
But remember: If you have any mobility issues, are claustrophobic or know that you tend to struggle with steps, make sure you think carefully about whether you will be able to make it to the top. Pregnant women are advised not to climb the dome.
Remember that there are 320 steps after the lift! And once you’ve gone up, you’ll have to make your way back down!
Why not have a practice on your stairs at home?
ON OFFER AGAIN!
ACCESS TO THE DOME WITH AUDIOGUIDE
Back when I wrote my field report, there was the offer with an audio guide. Then it was gone for a long time.
But since April 2023 it is back again. Although in a slightly different form, but for those who do not want a guided tour, a top alternative.
Price: EUR 29
Start time: 8 am (nothing for late risers).
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
You have to be there at least 15 minutes before the time!
Duration: 2 hours
What’s included:
Audio-guided combined tour (Basilica and Dome)
Ticket for the dome
Assistance at the meeting point (like Vox Italy back then)
No skip the line, but as I understand the text, you meet the care outside the dome. Maybe you can skip the line after all. Anyone who tries it, please let me know 🙂 .
Pack your own headphones.
The tour is not suitable for the following people:
who suffer from claustrophobia
for wheelchair users (over 300 steps to walk!)
Families with kids have to think as well if the little one will make it.
The tour is also subject to weather and liturgical events.
other
Ticket options
I’ve found two alternatives for you in case that the dome audio guide and a staff chaperone up to the lift is not available right now:
1. Buy both your tickets upon arrival and plan to wait for up to two hours.
This is the option that plenty of people end up going for on the day. Entry to Saint Peter’s Basilica is free this way, but you’ll end up having a long wait outside in the queue for security. And then you’ll have to face another queue inside to buy your tickets for the dome. Despite all the waiting, this option is by far the most cost-effective.
Prices:
Entry to Saint Peter’s Basilica: Free
Access to the dome:
Steps only: EUR 8
Lift and steps: EUR 10
2. Guided tour in English and dome climb
If you go for this all-inclusive package, you don’t have to worry about anything other than turning up in the right place at the right time.
The tour of inside Saint Peter’s Basilica and of the papal tombs lasts 3 hours and is delivered in English. You’ll get reserved tickets for the dome too. It’ll cost you more than the VIP dome ticket I mentioned before, but you do at least get a guided tour included.
Prices:
guided tour and access to the dome: EUR 52
Length of tour: 3 hours
Language: English
No Skip the Line at. Security check!
MY
EXPERIENCE
Getting started: How do you skip the queues? (my experince from 2017)
**Be aware: I tested this special offer in 2017. This offer doesn’t exist any more. There are now other providers and there might be other access or procedures now – especially after Covid-19! Always take a look at the information the provider sends you with the ticket! The actual Audio guide tour offered is slightly different.**
Having printed out my ticket at home, I followed the instructions provided by Tiqets and arrived at Saint Peter’s Basilica a bit before my allotted time.
When you approach the basilica, you need to keep right and walk along the outside of the colonnade. At least this is what we were told to do in 2017. You’ll soon come to the Poste Vaticano post office. Around there, you need to head left and through the colonnade. Look out for Vox staff (wearing blue), but anyone else will be happy to point you in the right direction.
You’ll be directed to a small stand (a folding table), where someone will tick your name off their list. It’ll then just be a case of waiting for anyone else who has booked to climb the dome at the same time as you. This would be a good time to go to the toilet!
You’ll get moving as soon as everyone has arrived. The next step will be to get through security and you’ll be able to skip the queue. Vox staff will be waiting to take you to the audio guide stand on the other side. Make sure you don’t get lost in the crowd!
At the audio guide stand, hand over your ticket for another thorough check. You’ll then be given an audio guide, headphones and a numbered map. Give the audio guide a quick go to check that it works.
Someone else from Vox will be waiting to take you to the dome lift. Once again, keep an eye on them to make sure you don’t get separated from the group!
Another queue at the lift? I don’t think so!
I was honestly shocked when I spotted the queue for the dome. I had no idea it would be so bad!
The staff took us past everyone who was waiting at super speed. We moved so fast that I could just take this blurred picture…
And all of a sudden we were standing in front of the lift. There was a tiny queue here just because not very many people can fit in the lift at once. The Vox representative gave one person in our group a ticket that we would need to show when it was our turn to go in the lift so that all 12 of us would be let in.
It took less than 15 minutes to get from the security check to the queue for the lift. It really was a slick operation with absolutely no time for dawdling. All of the staff members were friendly and happy to answer my questions.
I was just relieved that I’d managed to go to the toilet beforehand…
A wow moment inside the dome
After a short wait, it was time to step inside the lift. The ride didn’t take very long at all, but it saved us 231 steps.
Once you leave the lift, you have to walk over a section of the roof towards the dome. Climb up a few steps from there and you’re inside the dome.
Wow is all I can say!
You’re standing 70 or 80 metres above everyone inside Saint Peter’s Basilica and they all look like little ants scuttling around. Standing directly underneath the dome and above Bernini’s baldachin is an incredible experience.
In one of the photos below, you can see the text written on the base of the inside of the dome. The strip is 2 metres in height and the letters are around 1.5 metres tall. You can’t appreciate the sheer size of the text when you’re standing with your feet firmly on the ground.
The diameter of the dome is 42.34 metres! That may make it a little smaller than the Pantheon’s dome but believe me when I say that this dome is much, much higher!
Best foot forward and up the steps!
Once I was absolutely sure that I’d taken everything in at this height, it was time to get going again. 320 steps were just waiting to be climbed!
They take you round the dome – you can clearly see the angle in the photo on the right below.
The climb was tough, but there are plenty of convenient little stopping points where you can have a rest and let other people overtake you 😉 The stairs are monitored by cameras in case anything happens.
Note that the final stretch of the climb is not suitable for people who suffer from claustrophobia, as the spiral steps are just so narrow.
Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about anyone coming the opposite way as there are separate stairs for people going up and down.
View across the rooftops of Rome
Finally, you’ll make it to the top and it will all have been worth it!
Your reward? A panoramic view of the city!
If the weather is on your side, you’ll be in for a real treat. But don’t panic even if it’s a cloudy day, as nothing could spoil this view.
Just be warned that you’re not exactly going to be alone up there! Chances are that it’ll be packed full of people especially on the side of Saint Peter’s Square. You might just have to be patient and work your way to the front to take photos.
Don’t get distracted so much that you forget to listen to the audio guide. That almost happened to me ;). Switch it on for information about all the sights you can see from the top of the dome like Saint Peter’s Square, the Sistine Chapel and Castel Sant’Angelo.
We had booked the last slot of the day on Tiqets and so we knew we had to hand in our audio guides after just 90 minutes. That’s what prompted us to start making our way back down. Believe me when I say that going down was much faster than going up!
Once we reached the roof again, we stopped for another little break and made the most of the chance to take a look at the giant statues looking down on Saint Peter’s Square from behind.
We decided against taking the lift back down and instead stuck with the steps. I don’t know if that would have been the quicker option as there wasn’t a lot going on around the lift.
We handed in our audio guides in return for my ID and sauntered into the basilica. A mass service was underway but (luckily) it wasn’t being led by the Pope, as we wouldn’t have been allowed in!*
A leisurely look around Saint Peter’s Basilica
After all that excitement up high, it was time to explore the basilica at ground level. I’d been before, but it was my husband’s first time inside Saint Peter’s Basilica and I could see that he was impressed! The size of the place is enough to take your breath away… And you’re free to take your time and wander around for as long as you like.
MY
Summary
I tend to be very (very) excitable and so I wanted to share my husband’s thoughts with you here since he’s usually a little more reserved when it comes to sights and attractions.
“Saint Peter’s Basilica was seriously impressive, especially the view looking down from the dome. At least now we know that some good came out of selling indulgences. The ticket may not have been cheap, but I’m really glad we could skip both the queues as they were really long.”
Yes, the price is on the high side. But I personally think it’s worth the money. It’s up to you to decide if you’d rather save money and wait (for ages) or spend a bit extra to skip the queues for Saint Peter’s Basilica and the dome with the audio guide as a bonus!
Don’t forget this interesting alternative:
If you’re not happy about paying so much to climb the dome, you could always just book a tour of the basilica. That would cut down your waiting time by one hour and you’d just need to queue up for the dome as normal once you’re inside. That’s a pretty good compromise if you ask me! Your other option would be to go for the all-inclusive package complete with guided tour.
*Notes on mass: The Pope sometimes holds impromptu masses in Saint Peter’s Basilica. It may not happen very often, but it’s bad news for ticket sellers and tourists when it does. You may not be granted entry to the basilica or allowed to climb the dome even though you’ve already bought a ticket. This is to keep the numbers down and keep the Pope safe. Unfortunately, there’s nothing the ticket companies can do, and you won’t be able to get a refund. If you’ve managed to get in already and just have to miss out on the dome climb, you can at least say you’ve seen the Pope hold mass. A bit of a bonus, right?
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2016 – 2025
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