St Peter's Basilica & Dome

Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano – Cupola

Free church, and Rome at your feet 551 steps up

⚠ Limited entry Wednesday mornings

Hours

Basilica 07:00–19:00 (to 18:30 Oct–Mar). Dome 08:00–18:00 (to 17:00 Oct–Mar; last entry 30 minutes before). Changes for ceremonies

Tickets

Basilica free. Dome on site €10 by stairs / €15 lift plus stairs; online €17 / €22 (timed, named, non-refundable)

Address

St Peter's Square, straight ahead at the end of Via della Conciliazione from the Tiber

Walk through the colonnade hugging the square, clear security, and you are inside the world's largest church without paying a cent. Michelangelo's Pietà, carved when he was 24, is just to the right of the door, and Bernini's bronze baldachin rises in the middle. The dome is a separate ticket. Even if you take the lift halfway, the last 320 steps squeeze through narrow passages with tilted walls. At the top, the keyhole-shaped square and the rooftops of Rome stretch out below.