St Peter's dome climb: lift or stairs, what the tickets cost, and how to book

💡 The Short Version: Book the climb on the Basilica’s own site, booking.basilicasanpietro.va, for a date and time: €22 a person with the lift, €17 by the stairs. Either includes entry to St Peter’s Basilica and a digital audio guide. The lift stops at the terrace and 320 steps follow; the stairs version adds 231 steps before that, 551 in all. Tickets cannot be refunded or changed. Cover shoulders and knees, and bring only a small bag: the Basilica has no cloakroom. Or book a tour: the Basilica, dome climb and papal tombs tourad (from £23.61) adds a guide and the Grottoes; a dome ticket alone on GetYourGuide costs about the same as the official lift ticket.

The tickets, compared

Official prices from booking.basilicasanpietro.va, 30 September 2026, per adult, converted at the ECB rate of 29 September 2026 (€1 = £0.857). GetYourGuide prices are its lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.

• The dome ticket already includes the Basilica. Do not add the €7 slot on top.
• Nothing changes after you buy. No refunds, and no change of name, date or time. If the Holy See closes the dome at short notice for a celebration, the cost is refunded in full.
• Some tickets are sold on the day at the Portico desk and the shops by the Cortilone and the Treasury Museum, subject to availability and with limited slots.
• Health: not advised for anyone with a heart or respiratory condition, vertigo, claustrophobia or limited mobility, or who is pregnant.

Michelangelo’s dome, with a smaller dome beside it. Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Tours worth paying for

The official ticket is a self-guided visit with an audio guide for the Basilica only; there is no audio guide for the dome. The tours add a guide or the Grottoes. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.

The Basilica with the Grottoes and the dome

From £23.61 · 4.6 stars from 3,988 reviews · 1½ to 2½ hours

St Peter’s Basilica, Dome Climb & Papal Tombs Tourad is a guided visit of the Basilica, with Michelangelo’s Pietà, the Vatican Grottoes and the Tombs of St Peter, and the dome climb in the title. It costs £4.76 more than the official lift ticket alone, and the difference buys the guide and the Grottoes.

The mosaics inside the dome, seen from the floor of the Basilica. Photo: Wknight94, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Dome entry with the papal tombs

From £18.86 · 4.8 stars from 1,052 reviews · 95 minutes

St Peter’s Dome Entry Ticket, Papal Tombs, Audio Tourad is a self-guided visit: dome entry, the papal tombs and an audio tour. It has free cancellation, which the official tickets do not.

Dome climb with an audio guide

From £18.86 · 4.6 stars from 2,141 reviews · 2 hours

St Peter’s Basilica Dome Climb Entry Ticket with Audio Guidead is the dome ticket with an audio guide, as a resale of the same visit.

What to see

The visit runs in two halves, the Basilica and the dome, in an order the booking fixes. Your confirmation email names the route: on the Sobieski route you see the Basilica first, on the Lambertini route the dome first.

1. The security queue, in St Peter’s Square. The checkpoints are in the right-hand curve of the colonnade as you face the Basilica. Dome ticket holders follow their assigned route, and the search is compulsory for everyone.
2. The Basilica, one to two hours. The audio guide covers the main works, among them Michelangelo’s Pietà and Bernini’s Baldachin.
3. The lift or the stairs to the terrace. On the terrace at the foot of the dome are a shop, a café, toilets and a post office. The lift takes you here; by the stairs it is 231 steps.
4. The inner ring, where you stand next to the dome’s mosaics.
5. The last 320 steps to the outer ring. The passages are narrow and the slopes steep. The ring outside at the top looks over St Peter’s Square and the city. If the climb becomes too much you can turn back before the top.

The dome takes about an hour on average, and the whole booking about 2½ hours.

St Peter’s Square from the top of the dome, with Castel Sant’Angelo and the Tiber beyond. Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

What to skip: the €7 Basilica slot if you have a dome ticket, and the Grottoes and the Vatican Necropolis unless you book them: they are separate visits, and the guided tour above includes the Grottoes.

Hours, dress and rules

• Hours: the dome is open 7:00 to 18:00 until 25 October 2026, and 7:30 to 17:00 in winter from 26 October (basilicasanpietro.va, 30 September 2026). The Basilica is open every day from 7:00 to 20:00, with last entry by 19:15 depending on the security queue.
• Busiest days: Wednesday, when the papal audience is usually held, and Sunday, when the Angelus is said at 12:00.
• Dress: below-knee trousers or skirts, and covered shoulders, for everyone.
• Bags: small bags only. There is no cloakroom and no luggage storage; pets are not allowed.
• Rain: the dome stays open, and closes only in extreme weather.
• The QR codes: the confirmation email brings a QR code for each person. Show it at the security check, on your phone or printed. If it has not arrived within 30 minutes, write to booking@basilicasanpietro.va with your booking reference.
• Getting there: the nearest metro is Ottaviano-San Pietro on line A. To be at the gate for an early slot, see hotels near the Vatican.
• Shoes: wear comfortable ones for the climb.

Combining it with the Vatican Museums

The Museums have their own ticket. If you will go on into St Peter’s after them, do not check a bag at the Museums’ cloakroom: you cannot come back for it. Castel Sant’Angelo is a short way off, at the other end of the Borgo. The Vatican Museums tickets guide compares the official ticket and the tours, and the 3-day Rome itinerary puts the dome after the Museums on day two. For every closing day and what to book, see what to book before you go in Rome.