St. Peter's Basilica, Square and Papal Grottoes Guided Tour
Description
Start your Tour at the meeting point, where you will meet the highly qualified Tour Guide. Admire the marvelous work of St. Peter’s Square, created by Bernini, and its colonnade with 284 columns and 88 pillars, that will remind of a hug. After entering the Basilica, you will discover the beautiful artworks that fill its space. While walking on the colorful marbles, you will be mesmerized by the enormous dimension of the building and the ceilings entirely covered in gold. On the right, you will immediately see the Pietà by Michelangelo Buonarroti, defined as the most beautiful sculpture in the history of art and the most representative opera of the Renaissance. Following the Tour, you will be faced by the St. Peter’s Throne and the St. Peter’s Baldachin, bronze creations of the sculptor Bernini. Lastly enter the Papal Grottoes, which are the union between the old Constantinian Basilica and the modern one, and where the previous Pontiffs were buried.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your Tour at the meeting point, where you will meet the highly qualified Tour Guide. Admire the marvelous work of St. Peter’s Square, created by Bernini, and its colonnade with 284 columns and 88 pillars, that will remind of a hug.
After entering the Basilica, you will discover the beautiful artworks that fill its space. While walking on the colorful marbles, you will be mesmerized by the enormous dimension of the building and the ceilings entirely covered in gold. On the right, you will immediately see the Pietà by Michelangelo Buonarroti, defined as the most beautiful sculpture in the history of art and the most representative opera of the Renaissance. Following the Tour, you will be faced by the St. Peter’s Throne and the St. Peter’s Baldachin, bronze creations of the sculptor Bernini. Looking closely, you will be able to see all the genius of the artist.
Enter the Papal Grottoes, which are the union between the old Constantinian Basilica and the modern one, and where the previous Pontiffs were buried.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchair accessible (with the exception of the Papal Grottoes)
- A strict Dresscode is applied inside the Basilica, therefore shoulders and knees should be covered
- St. Peters Basilica has a mandatory Security Check that cannot be skipped, therefore a queue might form. The lenghth of this queue cannot be predicted. The Tour Guide will escort you during the queue sharing the history of St. Peter, to then continue into the Basilica
Reviews(13)
We bought two "Skip-the-Line Tickets with AudioGuide" from 1CityTour website for Nov 23rd entry at 1PM. Upon the arrival, we were told the tickets/barcodes we received from 1CityTour are not valid for entry. We were not able to get the audio guide with these tickets either. The entry to the Basilica is free so we did get in, but had to spend a lot of time. Filed a dispute with the credit card company.
Dear Customer, Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry that your visit did not go as expected. We would like to clarify that the official and valid tickets for St. Peter’s Basilica—together with the QR codes and links for the audioguide—were correctly sent to you via WhatsApp the day before your scheduled visit, exactly as described in the product information. Had those tickets been used, they would have granted you entry without any issues. Additionally, our customer service team is available every day from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. If you had contacted us at the time of the inconvenience, we would have been able to assist you immediately and resolve the situation right away. We always aim to provide clear information and reliable support, and we remain at your disposal should you need any further assistance. Kind regards, 1CityTour
The tour guide was not very clear. I understand there is a language barrier but I was barely able to understand her. I went on a few other tours in Italy and this was the only time I had this issue.
Dear Arthur, We are very sorry that the experience didn't meet your expectations. Nevertheless, in this case, we are talking about a guide licensed and examined by the Italian Government in the English language, therefore we might think that the linguistic problem doesn't concern our Professional Guide but you. Anyway, we'll do our internal checks to make sure that nothing else like this will ever happen again. Best regards, 1 City Tour
There were a line took us 35 mins to enter, guide was excellent, organized and respectful, he has excellent knowledge and explanation of the place
Dear Fadia, Thank you for your kind review, we are really happy to hear that our organization and our guide satisfied you. The St. Peter's Basilica Tour is one of our best experiences because it mixes history, knowledge, art, and beauty using the time spent in the line. For this reason, having such brilliant guides like ours is fundamental to not be bored and to spend some quality time in Rome. We hope to welcome you back to Rome next time and to let you have some other beautiful experiences! Best regards, 1 City Tour
We learned a lot! Our tour guide even made sure we were entertained by telling us about the basilisk while in line :))
Dear Madelon, thank you very much for the beautiful review. We are really happy that you enjoyed the experience at St. Peter's Basilica and we are thrilled that our guide helped entertain you during the wait in the queue. We are always searching for new and better ways to make the experience here in Rome perfect for any client. We hope we'll welcome you on your future visits to Rome. Best regards, 1CityTour.
Highly recommend this tour to truly appreciate the history of the place and appreciate it’s magnificence. Our tour guide Carlos Pinto was very good and knowledgeable
Dear Sylvie, Thank you so much for your lovely review. We are so happy you enjoyed your tour, and we hope to see you again soon! Kind Regards, 1CityTour
Very pleasant tour guide but not quite able to provide proper direction to the tour group. Also, on a 37C degree day in Rome the guide had us standing in the sun even though there were spots in the shade to stop.
Dear John, Thank you for the nice review. It's pretty hard for the guide to move all the group ih the shade while waiting in line for the entrance but we'll make sure that next time we'll teach the guides to try ad stay in much shade as possible. Best regards, 1CityTour.
Two hours and twenty minutes queuing to get in, by which time the tour was over. Complete waste of money.
Dear Customer, We understand that you are upset about the long line, unfortunately, this is out of our control, since the line is managed by the Basilica, and it is mandatory for anyone who visits this famous Church. Furthermore, you forgot to mention, how during the entirety of the line, our Professional Tour Guide shared with you precious information and knowledge gathered through years of study and experience to help you discover the beauty and origins of this magnificent holy place. The tour then finished inside the Basilica, which gave you plenty of time to revisit points in the church you would have wanted to see more. That is why we do not understand your negative review, when your principal complaint, was something that everyone had to go through, and that was out of our control. Nonetheless, we continue to be confident in the service we provided as everything is written before hand on our booking page. Best Regards, 1 City Tour
We q'ed for 1 hour and then we were rushed inside the Basilica then we didn't get to see the papal grottos.....all in all the experience was terrible. I'll make sure I tell everyone
Dear Customer, The queue to the Basilica of St. Peter is mandatory and not predictable, especially during peak season. Furthermore, time spent in the queue is included in the Tour, considering the Tour guide was at your disposal during the entirety of the experience, and explained the history of the Square and the Basilica to the best of their knowledge and ability with the help of the professional radios and microphone we provided at the meeting point. Describing this experience as a waste of money undervalues the efforts and years of experience that the Guide put into preparing the knowledge they shared with you during your experience, not to mention the hard work of our team in providing a solution to enjoy an experience despite a mandatory queue. We are sorry to hear about your back problems. We value our customers' satisfaction, therefore we remain at your disposal through our e-mail to better outline your experience: info@1citytour.com Best Regards, 1 City Tour
We thought this would be the skip the queue guided tour and were initially disappointed having to wait to enter the Basilica. It was the Easter week and we waited for two hours during which time Stefano told us countless interesting stories and stayed with us a bit over originally scheduled time. He is very knowledgeable, insightful, patient and organized, highly recommended tour if you are in Vatican!
Dear Iva, Thank you so much for your lovely review. We are so happy you enjoyed your tour, and we hope to see you again soon! Kind Regards, 1CityTour
The guide MARIA was excellent. She has a deep knowledge of the roman history and of the Vatican State. She was warm and funny with everybody and she gave us an unforgettable experience. Thank-you again Maria
Hello! Thank you for sharing your experience, it was a pleasure meeting you in person, we are glad that you enjoyed your Tour with Maria, we hope to see you again soon!
