Tour of St Peter's Basilica with Dome Climb and Grottoes

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Rome, Italy

Trending

Booked 5+ times in 12 hours.

1 hour 45 minutes (approx.)
Group discounts
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.6

· Jill_S ·

Mar 2026

Patrick was an excellent guide! He is very engaging and would leave us with enough time to take photos. While waiting to enter the Basilica, he managed to make the waiting time fly by as he regaled us with history/stories etc. we learned a lot! And we were still able to go up to the Dome despite the rain!

· Anne_A ·

Jan 2026

Apart from seeing the awe inspiring St Peter’s Basilica and the grottoes, the hard climb up the dome was worth it. Breath taking aerial views after 320+ steps. The tour guide also made everything more interesting with his explanations and stories.

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Overview

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

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

This tour gains access to areas others often miss—the top of the dome and the underground grottoes.

What's Included

Professional art-historian guide
Guided tour of St. Peter Dome and St. Peter's Basilica
Entry fees to the top of the Dome
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, 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 5 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

Itinerary

With this tour, you can benefit from the knowledge of an art historian guide, who brings an expert’s point of view to majestic St Peter’s Basilica. You also get a comprehensive tour of the famous church, from the underground grottoes to the dome up top.

Meet your guide at the colonnade in front of St. Peter’s Square 20 minutes before the scheduled start time, and start with a short lesson on the architecture and visual effects of the square, designed by Bernini.
Follow your guide into the basilica and through the masterpieces of Renaissance and neoclassical art inside. See the 100-foot (30 meters) canopy and Michelangelo’s “Pietà.”

Descend underground into the grottoes and visit St. Peter’s tomb. Then, with your ticket in hand, climb to the top of the cupola, all the way to the top balcony with spectacular views of Rome. Finish the tour back at St. Peter’s Square.

St. Peter's Square

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Basilica

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Vatican Grottoes

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

St. Peter's Basilica

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Vatican City (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
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
Please provide the full names of all travellers when booking. The tickets are nominative, therefore, failure to present a voucher with all travellers' full names may result in denied entry
Each traveller must present a valid passport or ID document that matches the same name provided at the time of booking for a successful entry
PLEASE NOTE: In the event that the grottoes or certain areas of St. Peter’s Basilica are closed, your guide will adapt the itinerary by highlighting alternative sites and artworks within the basilica. As a result, the overall duration and quality of the tour will remain unchanged
Pets are not allowed inside the Basilica
Not recommended for travellers with claustrophobia
Not recommended for travellers with vertigo
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.6

based on 2,442 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Guide had accent hard to understand.

James_W, Apr 2026

There was a 1 hour wait just to get in the Basilica. Our tour guide was very hard to understand. She had a very thick accent.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the tour with us. Please note that the voucher mentions that the line could be up to 120 minutes long. We understand how that can be frustrating. As per the guide, all of them are trained and hold a license that proves they are able to guide the tour, so we are sorry to hear that you could not understand them..

St. Peter’s Basilica Tour

Deirdre_Q, Apr 2026

The guide was excellent. I’m sorry I don’t remember her name. She was a walking history book. I would highly recommend this tour.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you!! We are so grateful to hear that you enjoyed our St. Peter's Basilica guided tour.

Our guide knew so much...

Sue_O, Apr 2026

Our guide knew so much that she was able to talk for an hour while we were in line! She was organized and accommodating. Well done!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you! We appreciate your review. We hope you had a great time in Rome!

We Love Valentin!

Ashli_B, Apr 2026

Valentin was our guide and we loved him. He was funny, patient, perfectly paced, and did a great job imparting the weight and feeling of the sites of such a beautiful and historic place. We felt that we visited at the perfect time (mid-April) and didn't experience long waits or heavy crowds. The meeting point for this tour is a huge landmark, so be sure to use your eyes and ask around, and give yourself plenty of time before the start of the tour to do so. Amazing!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed our tour at St. Peter's Basilica with us and Valentin :)

Horrible Experience

joshua_b, Apr 2026

The guide company would not respond to us in an appropriate amount of time for questions and to request cancellation. The Basilica and Grottoes are FREE. This was advertised as a skip the line tour and it is not. Would not recommend them to anyone traveling to Rome.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear customer, as we are sorry that you could not enjoy the tour with us - because you did not come to the meeting point at the scheduled time of the activity - we would like to clarify that your request to change the starting time of the tour came in at midnight. As no one would have answered at that time, we received an email asking if you could join a tour at 8am. We do NOT have 8am tours (we have them at 8:45am). Afterwards, you contacted us at 11:30am saying that you had arrived at the meeting point and that you wanted to enter on your own. Please note that our tours are only at 8:45am, 1.30pm and 2pm, and no one is at the meeting point outside those hours. Finally, it is well mentioned in the voucher that the starting time of the tour cannot be changed less than 24 hours before the activity, that this tour is not a skip the line one and that the line can be up to 120 minutes. We are sorry if there was any misunderstanding. We also texted you at 1:55pm asking if you were going to come as our staff would have waited for you at the scheduled time you had booked. Thank you!

St Pete’s Basilica

Christopher_D, Apr 2026

There isn’t an adjective big enough to describe the beauty of this place. Such a wonderful experience and our guide, Valentin, was extraordinary! Highly recommend!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you for your review, we are grateful to hear that you enjoyed the guided tour with us at St. Peter's Basilica!

NOT a skip-the-line offer but well worth the money.

George_P, Apr 2026

It is NOT a skip-the-line offer but the tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining and helped pass the time in line with information. I would definitely recommend this experience.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Hello! Thank you for recommending our tour and for your 5 star review, we appreciate it a lot!

Great experience!...

Colette_D, Apr 2026

Great experience! Breathtaking inside. Valentine had a great sense of humor making the wait times pass quickly.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the guided tour with Valentin.

Valentine was very...

Darryl_S, Apr 2026

Valentine was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He made our visit very enjoyable. We feel the tour with him made it a much more valuable experience than if we went on our own.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you! We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed our St. Peter's Basilica guided tour with us and the guide Valentin.

Fantastic!

Alan_L, Apr 2026

Patience as the crowds are large. It is best if you can be in a small group tour.The headphones to lear the guide are a big benefit with all the other noise around you.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you for your review, we are glad to hear that you enjoyed the St. Peter's Basilica guided tour with us!

Patrick was amazing. One...

Sarah_F, Apr 2026

Patrick was amazing. One thing to know about visiting St Peters Basillica is there’s absolutely no way to skip the line because security is required whether you’re with a tour or doing it solo. So plan to wait at least 30 to 60 minutes in the security line in St Peter Square. However, I highly recommend this tour, not only for what you will learn inside the basilica, but also what you will learn while waiting in line in St Peter Square. I’m not sure how this is possible, but Patrick made the wait in the security line as interesting as the tour inside the basilica itself. Patrick was so knowledgeable and engaging. We learned so much about the history of the area, the Vatican, and the Popes. The line is inevitable, but the experience with Patrick while waiting in line actually enhanced tour.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed our St. Peter's Basilica tour with us.

Frederica is super...

Kristen_K, Apr 2026

Frederica is super knowledgeable and experienced. She was personable and friendly, made the entire experience even better. Booking this event was so easy, directions were simple and easy to follow. We feel lucky to have gotten the chance to do this on short notice!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much, we are glad to hear that you enjoyed the Basilica tour with us!

Highly recommend Silvia and this tour.

David_C, Apr 2026

Silvia made the wait in line for entrance pass by very quickly as she gave a very detailed and interesting account of the history of St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican. We took the elevator in the dome so avoided 200 or so steps that the younger people managed. We weren’t fit enough to climb right to the top and people commented that the stairs were quite narrow so we were glad we didn’t even make an attempt. There were a lot of queue jumpers and Silvia turned them away when she saw them. We would highly recommend this tour and Silvia as a guide. Would suggest booking the morning tour as there were very long queues waiting to go in, as we left.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much! We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour with us and Silvia, we appreciate the review.

Our guide was excellent...

Danel_B, Apr 2026

Our guide was excellent and full of knowledge. It was a small group and she gave us lots of information we never knew before about

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed our guided tour at St. Peter's Basilica.

Great tour but long lines and areas closed.

Kimberly_L, Apr 2026

Our guide Francesca was wonderful. A wealth of knowledge about all things Vatican! The security line was quite long so we were on our feet waiting for over an hour before the tour began. This is not a skip the line tour! We also bought this tour expecting to go into the grottos but we were disappointed that they were closed off.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much, we are glad. to hear that you enjoyed the tour with Francesca! We do understand that waiting in line can be frustrating, however due to Easter Holidays there were more people than usual and for that we kindly ask for your understanding. We hope everything else was fine nevertheless!

Excellent experience

Venia_P, Apr 2026

It was such an amazing experience and Alexandra was the best guide to have. Such an enthusiastic person ready to transmit her knowledge! Wonderful experience which I highly recommend to families.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much - we are happy to hear that you enjoyed the guided tour with Alexandra :)

St. Peter’s Basilica

Chris_W, Apr 2026

The tour was amazing. It really came to life with our tour guide, Alexandria (may be misspelled). She was very passionate about St. Peter’s Basilica and you could tell that the Vatican holds a special place in her heart. I’m super happy that we got her as our tour guide.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you so much, we are grateful to hear that you have enjoyed your experience with us, during the St. Peter's Basilica guided tour. We look forward to welcoming you back into one of our other tours in Rome! :)

Silvia was a great guide

Rodrigo_P, Apr 2026

Sylvia was very knowledgeable and very attentive to our group, we’ve learned a lot with her. We had a great time. The only negative thing is that she had to stop to buy tickets twice and it’s time consuming. Should have the tickets beforehand.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Would Not Recommend

PAMELA_P, Apr 2026

We bought this tour for my son and his fiance. The tour guide was very hard to understand - they did not understand any of the history or details of the venue due to the heavy accent.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

We are really sorry to hear that the experience did not meet your expectations. All of our tour guides are licensed and approved by the country of Italy. Therefore, we are surprised to hear that they were hard to understand.. Nevertheless, we will check to make sure that this issue won't occur again.

Excellent tour guide; very knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating.

Raquel_R, Mar 2026

Very informative and enjoyable tour. The guide shared great information about St Peter’s Basilica with links to Roman history. The tour of the dome was amazing too.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much, we are glad to hear that you enjoyed our St. Peter's Basilica guided tour!

Good tour, beautiful, historical

Karla_S, Mar 2026

Valentine gave a Wonderful tour, but do be prepared to wait in the long line to get in (1.5 hrs) it does not provide “fast track” into the church.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the guided tour with Valentin. We're sorry that there was a long line on that day - some days are, unfortunately, more crowded than others. Nevertheless, we hope you enjoyed the experience to the fullest!

Breathtaking tour

Cheryl_Q, Mar 2026

What an excellent tour!!!!! Arturo was our tour guide and he was so knowledgeable but provided all the information in a captivating way. We did have to wait in line to get through security but Arturo’s stories were so interesting the time just flew by. Inside the basilica and going down into the crypts was so amazing. Then we climbed up into the dome which was amazing but don’t let the number of stairs scare you away from doing it. The view is breathtaking. 5 out of 5 for this company. They provided clear instructions and answered my questions in a timely manner. Highly recommend and hope you get Arturo.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much, we are so glad to hear that you enjoyed the experience with us and the guided tour with Arturo!

tour person exceptional

antoniolopez, Mar 2026

Mario was excellent. He has a lot of knowledges. We had a perfect guidance. We would recommend him , for taking this tour

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed our tour with Mario!

Wonderful tour guide very...

Daniel_G, Mar 2026

Wonderful tour guide very well educated in art history and the history of St. Peter’s. Dry happy with the tour

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much, we are glad to hear that you enjoyed our guided tour at St. Peter's Basilica!

Excellent tour of the Basilica and Dome

Siobhan_C, Mar 2026

Valentin was a very good guide, v knowledgeable about the Vatican City because he had worked there for 5 years. He was v professional and inclusive and had a sense of humour.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed our tour with Valentin.

I would do it again!!

Lisa_B, Mar 2026

Valentine was an amazing tour guide!! He was very knowledgeable about all things Vatican. He was funny and very accommodating. Definitely a tour to take.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you! We are happy to hear that you enjoyed our guided tour at St. Peter's Basilica.

Patrick was an excellent...

Jill_S, Mar 2026

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you so much, we are glad to hear that you enjoyed our Catacombs guided tour!

Vatican guide tour

Gregory_K, Mar 2026

Tour was odd, thought we would skip the lines but did not, changed the tour time also, the guide focused on Popes and statues, nothing on the art, overall was good

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you for your review. We would like to clarify that it is mentioned in the voucher that the lines cannot be skipped during this tour, for the option that you chose. We are sorry to hear that the guide did not really focus on the art. We will take the feedback into consideration and make sure to deliver a better experience next time.

Not for a rainy day…

Philip_C, Mar 2026

Unfortunately, we decided to forego this tour as we didn’t know this tour did not skip the line. On the tour day, it was raining heavily, with the potential to wait for an hour outside to get into St. Peter’s Basilica, plus additional lining up inside. The tour company did fully disclose that this tour would not skip the line in the description, but we just unfortunately missed that important detail.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

We appreciate your feedback. We understand that it can be frustrating to be out in the rain and we appreciate you mentioning that our voucher did, in fact, say that you would not skip the lines. We hope that you enjoyed the tour nevertheless and that you will have a better experience next time!

Be prepared before visiting Basilica

PaulineJean_D, Mar 2026

Total chaos being told different things by staff. Instructions said to allow 2hrs to clear security before getting tickets to meet guide. Incorrect! Tickets needed to be collected from a gift shop (found by pure chance) meet guide then as a group join security line which did take just under 2 hours. Whilst the guide was informative we could have done this for free bar the climb up the Basilica itself when we could have got tickets ourselves inside. Stewards (bar one) were extremely rude (swore at us to fcuk off) as there were many of us in the same predicament which was causing the queue to stand still. We later learnt the museum, sistine, chapel, Basilica etc all have different queues so to get in all places in one day would be virtually impossible - this has been in place since covid. visitors who had numerous tickets were running extremely late for their next one. There should be time points within the queue to advise how long you are likely to be (similar found at theme parks). Two ladies in our group left as we started queuing, a further 2 struggled standing for so long. Whilst the Basilica is truly amazing, the organisation and signage is totally diabolical. Print tickets before arriving and ensure you have the correct format or you will be turned away. Recommend experience but not through this company.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

We would like to clarify that this review seems unfair and, perhaps, wrong. Starting from the "collecting tickets" part - we definitely do not give out any tickets, nor do we meet inside a gift shop. Our meeting point is located at Largo del Colonnato, 5 (as clearly stated in our voucher) and that is simply where you check in with our staff who then introduces you to your guide. Secondly, we are not sure what you mean when you mention "stewards" - we do not have anything to do with that experience, as none of our staff members nor our guides have ever been rude. There are also no stewards or bars during this tour... so we do not understand what happened and if you meant to mention it on this review for our company. Also, you do not need to print any tickets (as we never event sent out any tickets) nor to have any "correct format", and no one has turned anyone away. Our check in process is pretty easy: you just need to tell your name to our staff who will check if you are on our list. Please do let us know if this review is actually meant for this experience or perhaps there was a mix up, as we believe that this is totally unfair since our service was fairly delivered. Thank you.