St Peter's Basilica ticket with audio guide and optional dome

St Peter's at your own pace

For visiting St Peter's without a full Vatican Museums tour. A host checks you in and helps set up the audio-guide app; then you move at your own pace, with no group to follow.

The audio guide covers Michelangelo's Pietà, Bernini's Baldachin over the papal altar, the confessio before St Peter's tomb and the papal tombs in the grottoes below.

The dome is optional, by stairs or with a lift for part of the way, for the panorama over St Peter's Square and Rome.

Itinerary

1. Meet the host and set up the app

   Start

   The host checks guests in, confirms the booked option and helps with the audio guide.

2. Security and basilica entry

   Allow time

   All visitors use mandatory airport-style security; this cannot be skipped.

3. Self-guided basilica visit

   At your pace

   Follow the audio guide through the principal works, papal altar and grottoes.

4. Optional dome ascent

   If selected

   Choose stairs or the lift-assisted option with a shorter final climb.

5. Continue independently

   Finish

   Linger in the basilica or return to St Peter’s Square at your own pace.

What's included

Important information

• Bring a passport or ID card.
• The host assists with check-in and the audio-guide app, but the basilica visit itself is independent and self-guided.
• All visitors pass through mandatory airport-style security. A reserved entry does not remove potential security waits in high season.
• Shoulders and knees must be covered; sleeveless tops and short skirts are not permitted.
• The supplier lists this route as not suitable for wheelchair users. The dome options require stairs, including after the lift-assisted section.
• Flash-free photography is permitted inside; Vatican events can affect opening and access.

Meeting and end point

Not included — make your own way to Vatican City and continue independently after the visit.