We were told by friends that they took an underground tour at the Vatican and we emailed the Swiss Guard at [email protected] to get a tour time as advised. We never heard back even after following up. Does anyone know about an underground tour that currently exists or perhaps Covid closed it down forever?
If you know how to go about getting tickets for this tour please let me know. We plan to be there in November.
Thank you,
Kristina
Hi,
I believe the Scavi tour does still exist, however I have been hearing from other travelers that there are renovation works going on that reservations have gotten cancelled. I believe they are going on through this Fall, but I could be mistaken on this.
Hi -
The Swiss Guard don't organize or conduct scavi tours; it's the excavation office. You had the email correct, though. Here's additional contact info:
http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en.html
But as the previous poster mentioned, individuals experiencing cancellation of their scheduled tours recently have received the message below (thanks for letting me borrow this, Joby!). That said, your visit may be at a point in November that the work has been completed, and I imagine they're dealing with a backlog of requests so give it time?
"Due to maintenance work in the archaeological area under St. Peter, guided tours of the necropolis and tomb of St. Peter will be suspended from 19 August 2024 to 3 November 2024.".
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/scavi-cancellation
Kristina…I have taken the Scavi tour several times…the first time in 2005…the last time in 2022.
Our extended family of 12 are going to be in Rome the end of November and since 8 of them are hoping to make the visit, I have been in communication with the Scavi office since mid-July.
Just this morning, I received an email from the Scavi office with a newly revised booking form that needs to be completed and submitted. Here is the link to that booking form. It can also be found on the official Scavi website.
“ Dear Patricia D
In order to visit St Peter's Tomb, a new booking link is now active, the visit will also include St Peter's Basilica:
Book | Ufficio Scavi - Ufficio Scavi Fabbrica di San Pietro (necropolivaticana.org)
https://www.necropolivaticana.org/en
I just submitted our request and immediately received this email in response…
“Receipt of Your Visit Request
Dear Patricia D
Thank you for submitting your visit request for the Tomb of Saint Peter and the Necropolis under the Vatican Basilica. It has been successfully received.
Our team is currently reviewing your request and will contact you as soon as possible to confirm availability and discuss the details of your visit.
Details of your request can be found in the summary provided at the bottom of this email.
If you have any questions or if there's anything else we can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Best regards
Excavations Office
Fabbrica di San Pietro
Good luck with your request for a tour, Kristina. I am sure the Scavi office will also be getting in touch with you regarding the email you sent requesting a booking. I always just fill out the booking form on the official website rather than sending an email or faxing a request.
And yes…the Scavi tours ceased operating on August 14th for renovations…they are hoping to commence tours again on November 3, 2024.
Great information, jconsol!
You know, I went to basilica's site this morning before posting (what has been for ages) the link to scavi bookings, and the "Book a visit to the Necropolis" button went to a 401 "Page not found". Maybe they just haven't got it up and running yet?
"https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/experience-the-basilica/visits/guided-tours.html
Kathy...I just followed your link and it went to the updated booking request form for me. But you have to go to the correct link that says “form”.
But…I never go to the Basilica’s website…I go to the Scavi website directly.
http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en.html
Yep, that's website I provided for the OP too. It's just odd that the basilica's own website - which is pretty recent - has a button for booking scavi tours that goes nowhere. Could confuse the visitors.
Kathy…I agree…it is confusing. You are correct…one of the links on the basilica’s website goes to that error page, but the link that is labeled “form” does go to the newly revised booking request form. Hopefully this will be corrected in the next few days. I am assuming that this new booking form is very recent as I just received it in the email I received from the Scavi office this morning.
