Looking for a tour guide to tour St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and NOT the Vatican/Museums

Go directly to the Vatican site. The Vatican may have something that works for you. It lists multiple tours. There is a free RS audioguide that you can download.

There were guides milling around outside.

Can you tell me the link to the official website you are referencing? Thanks, Tamara

what about this:
https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/st-peters-basilica-tour-dome-crypts?gclid=CjwKCAjw4PHZBRA-EiwAAas4ZhJ7RK7jAScSzyBh7VEYpsNiqthhRbIIE0FKN-jyiahC5eQR5qVWJRoChB8QAvD_BwE

Ah yes, thank you. Now I recall I had seen that one a few months back when I was thinking about this. My only reservations were - the 8:15 am START and we will have just landed from the states 2 mornings prior. I worried about whether the kids (and I!) could do a 6 am wake-up, breakfast, etc. Also, they don't actually take you up to the Dome or the Crypt and yet still costs $205 for the 4 of us....but definitely an option! Thanks.

The Vatican has an official tour service (Vox Mundi) for the basilica + the Necropolis (scavi), which is different than the crypt (grottos) but that particular tour it not available to you as children under age 15 are not allowed into the scavi.

You do not really need a tour of the crypt (grottos) as talking isn't allowed down there, as noted in the WOI tour description.

My guess is that the guide for the WOI tour only goes as high as the 1st level of the dome as space at the top is limited, and there's nothing up there for them to talk about, just the view.

Vox Mundi does, however, have a guided tour of just St Peter's Basilica with reserved entrance that you might be interested in?

http://www.voxmundi.eu
https://globol.com/experiences/romest-peter-basilica-guided-tour-5?utm_source=mundi_web

It looks to cost abt. 98 euro total for your family of 4, and multiple time slots are available to choose from. I haven't taken it so can't vouch for the quality.

Thanks so much for the research - sorry should have mentioned that the Vox Mundi tour is the one I actually have booked. Issue is that the earliest option isn't until 10:30 am. Says its 1:15 tour, but that's without Dome and Crypt (I'm fine not going to the dome as other posts have said its tight and claustrophic and hot). So say its 1:30 at the minimum. I want to get over near the Colloseum for a 2 pm bike tour. My guess is they'll want us there at least 15 minutes prior. AND, given how hot it will be, but the dress code for the Basilica, we may need to go back to our hotel first (near the Pantheon) to change...and still need to find lunch somewhere! It just gets tight on time.

So I guess I'm saying I'm looking for a tour option that is somewhere later than the 8:15 am start, but earlier than the 10:30 am!

Thanks.

Well, then you might just want to get there early and rent audioguides at the info desk. It may be the only way to have the flexibility, timewise, you're looking for. Or download Rick's free audioguide to your own devices, or just do some reading before you go.

https://www.rometoolkit.com/whattodo/vatican_stpeters.htm
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

Good textual info here:
http://stpetersbasilica.info/tours.htm

The later you wait to get there, the longer the queue to get in will be, though.

Another question - are there "skip the line" tickets sold ahead of time and/or needed to take the elevator up to the 1st level of the cupola? Thanks

are there "skip the line" tickets sold ahead of time and/or needed to
take the elevator up to the 1st level of the cupola?

As far as I've ever read, tickets can only be purchased at the office for the cupola at the basilica: no line-skipping option. Unless things have recently changed, they only take euros and not credit cards.

This might be what you're looking for. Scroll down and read the description.

https://www.getyourguide.com/rome-l33/rome-st-peter-s-basilica-w-climb-to-the-dome-crypt-t78613/?referrer_view_id=cd32e869022839e036068be8cb610d79&referrer_view_position=4

I saw that too, Gerri, but start time looked to be 8:15, and Tamara said above that another 8:15 tour was earlier than they wanted to get up for.

"My only reservations were - the 8:15 am START and we will have just landed from the states 2 mornings prior. I worried about whether the kids (and I!) could do a 6 am wake-up, breakfast, etc."

I'm thinkin' some compromises might have to be made?

Congrats on your family’s upcoming trip to Rome! Have you considered visiting St Peter’s Basilica on a different day than the day you plan to do activities around the Colosseum? Even using public transportation or taxis, the distance between these sites requires a chunk of time for the transfer. Feeling rushed can be another stressor that could be avoided with rearranging the itinerary.

If reorganizing the itinerary IS an option, there are a plethora of beautiful churches close to the Colosseum, and all are worth seeing. Santa Maria Maggiore is another of the 4 papal churches in Rome, and is very close to the Colosseum.

If the itinerary must stand as-is, the. I concur with all of Kathy’s suggestions for self-guided tours. If you have more flexibility and really want to dig into St Peter’s, I would be happy to refer you to 2 private guides I have toured with for this site. Both are engaging and incredibly knowledgeable. To clarify, a private guide would be a higher price point than the Vatican Vox Mundi option.

Let us know your additional questions and happy planning!

Thanks very much for the thinking Joanna. Yes, have thought about the itinerary and unfortunately can't change. We do have time to see the Santa Maria Maggiore the day prior when we are touring the Colloseum itself.

Yes, I have figured out that if we are not going to see the Vatican Museums and SC, and only want the Basilica (our timing really doesn't allow for any Vatican tour possibilities except the 2 hour express which has you getting up super early and then goes only to the SC for 30 minutes and then the Basilica for 30 minutes and charges a ton), that an audioguided tour is the best way (able to pick up at 8:45 am).

But yes, I will take the names of the 2 guides you mention.

Also, with taxi, Google maps says the distance is about 20 minutes between the 2 sites. Is that wrong?

It occurs to me that when buying the Vox Mundi audioguide tour, you are probably paying for the skip the line option. Yes you can download the guide, but in that case I could ask if anyone can comment on whether the official guide is better or Rick steves? Because I could download RS guide and use that instead, and then I’m paying for the skip the line ticket at about $75 for the 4 of us I think.

Though then everyone needs their own device and I would assume if you get the officia guide they can give you a device.

The private guides I have worked with for tours in Vatican City are:

Patrizia Sfligiotti ([email protected]): I toured St Peter's Basilica and Castel Sant'Angelo with Patrizia last year. Learned so much! Patrizia is a former archaeologist who has been involved in several of the major digs in Rome, including the site that ultimately became the Crypta Balbi Museum as well as the Tomb of the Scipios on the Appian Way. Patrizia studied at the Vatican as part of her higher education, and she brings a wealth of knowledge to her tours (I did a tour with her in 2016 at the Tomb of the Scipios as well as Monte Testaccio - both are fascinating sites!).

Agnes Crawford: My first tour experience with Agnes was a tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and (briefly) St Peter's Basilica as part of a Context Travel tour. This year, I booked a private tour with Agnes to explore Medieval Rome (you can read my TripAdvisor review of the experience here, and there are tons of reviews about Agnes' tours on Trip Advisor - look up Understanding Rome Tours). Agnes' breadth of knowledge blows me away, and I can't recommend her enough.

Regarding your distance question... When it comes to navigating Rome's historic city center, my experience has been to use Google Maps info as a frame of reference, but NOT as a hard, fast rule. If you take a taxi from St Peter's Basilica to the Colosseum area, that driver must navigate across the Centro Storico part of Rome, which has the densest amount of traffic and tourists. Depending on day of week, random street closures (VERY common in Rome), protests (yep, I've run into transit challenges due to protests as well), or any other garden variety hiccup, I'd say 20 minutes is low-balling the time to get between the 2 sites. Plan for more time for the transfer, and if you arrive early to your Colosseum-area destination for the bike tour, then you have time to grab a quick bite before biking.

Can you please clarify about these "skip the line" tickets for St Peter's Basilica? I'm unfamiliar with what you reference since St Peter's is free and no tickets are required to enter. You have to go through security, and there's no "skip the line" option for security. As others have so rightly commented, include a buffer of time for getting through security for your time estimates. Everyone on this forum has had different experiences with security at St Peter's... Sometimes it's a very short (if any) queue. Other times, the lines are insane. Always be prepared for the latter.

I defer to the others regarding the audio guide questions as I have no experience with either the RS or Vox Mundi audio guides.

Thanks Joanna. Have emailed Agnes.

This tour references "reserved entrance" for St. Peter's, which I took to meant that when you go to the kiosk on the square, you would get some ticket that would allow you to go right in to the church. Do you think this is not the case?

https://globol.com/experiences/rome-st-peter-audioguided-tour-1?lang=en

It specifically says "skip the long lines". I presumed this is the only way to do that without a guided tour, so you are paying 19.50 euros for that priviledge (as one could just use the RS audio app).

Great! Agnes' assistant, Anna, is very responsive, so you should get an initial response from her by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Be sure to reiterate your timing requirements so that Agnes can factor that into schedule availability, etc. If you and your kids have specific interests or areas you want to focus on (architecture, papal politics, artists, etc.), include that in your discussions as well. For example, Agnes could easily provide you a tour-within-a-tour by giving you a Michelangelo focus inside St Peter's over by the Pieta. Any additional detail you can provide will help her provide you a more tailored experience that you'll enjoy more.

Thanks for providing the link for the audio guide tickets. In the "What's Included" section, it says the ticket includes access to a reserved section at the metal detectors. I am not familiar with such a reserved section at the security checkpoint, but since Vox Mundi is officially partnered with the Vatican, perhaps there is a special arrangement.

First impression of the audio guide tickets? I think you're paying 20 euros per person for perceived special access + an audio guide. If you and your family decide that an audio guide is your best option, go with the RS audio guide. Many others have endorsed that guide, and it's free. Deal with the lines, and put the euros toward a better experience - like a tour with Agnes! :-)

And what do you think of Agnes for a tour of the Jewish ghetto? I know Jewish Roma tours are supposed to be excellent but the timing is off for us.

The Medieval Rome tour I took with Agnes includes touring the Jewish Ghetto. Since my tour was on a Friday afternoon, we were unable to tour the Synagogue or the museum inside the Synagogue. Instead, we spent more time discussing Medieval Roman history, church history, and architecture throughout the area east of Campo de' Fiori, the Jewish Ghetto, and Trastevere. The tour with Agnes was one of the top experiences from my Italy trip this year.

Context Travel offers a similar Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere tour. That might be an option for you as well.

Also, you mentioned on another thread that you have a private guide to tour the Palatine, Forum, etc. If you are looking to explore Jewish history and Rome, talk to your guide about taking time to discuss the reliefs in the Arch of Titus. It's a great way to have an interesting dialogue about provocative propaganda pieces (the arch embodies the phrase, "To the victor go the spoils").

I took a food tour through Context Travel last year, and the first half of our tour was spent in the Jewish Ghetto. Fascinating and different lens to approach Roman Jewish history.