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How much time should I budget for St Peters + Dome?

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I have 8 AM tickets for the Vatican Museum on a mid February Thursday, and plan to check out St Peters and climb the dome that afternoon. I will exit the museum to eat lunch in Prati then walk back to St Peters, and want to allow plenty of time for food + a stroll.

In the winter the dome is open until 5 and the Basilica is open until 7:15. Should be good if I book 4pm tickets for the Basilica + Dome? How bad is the line for the tickets on a February weekday afternoon? If the line isn't too bad, I'd prefer the flexibility of showing up whenever I finish walking about, but I will surely prebook if the wait is expected to be bad.

Posted by
29867 posts

The security line looked long around 4 PM on the March 2022 day I walked past. I didn't wait, so I can't comment on how fast the line moved. There were at least many hundreds of people in that line.

Since then St. Peter's has begun selling online entry that includes an audio guide. That purchase puts you in a dedicated (shorter) security line. I know one of our posters purchased the online entry earlier this year and reported very good results. It's the way I will go next time I'm in Rome.

I don't remember whether I've ever been inside St. Peter's; if I have, it was 35+ years ago, so I wouldn't want to guess how much time you'd need at St. Peter's, and of course the Vatican Museums are huge and could take a very long time themselves if you want to see everything.

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