According to Rick Steves "updates" to his 2009 guide, after it was published:
"St. Peter's Basilica now closes at 17:00 Mon–Fri, and at 16:00 on Sundays and in the winter (Oct–March)."
Is this accurate, though? The official Vatican website still hasn't been updated to reflect these changes, if they are true. Looks like the closing time is still 18:30 (Oct-Mar) or 19:00 (Apr-Sept).
http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_pietro/it/basilica/orari.htm
It's a darn good question: the discrepancy in hours is puzzling, between what Rick's Guidebook Update says and what the official site says.To resolve your question, perhaps you could contact a person on Rick's staff by clicking the links on this webpage, to see if they have further info not yet posted online?
I would go by the hours listed on the website. I was just there a week ago and it was open after 5pm, I was there after 5 and not rushed out at all.
We were there a few weeks ago and were at a late afternoon mass on a Friday and they were not rushing people out even after that was over (well after 5:00). We still saw people entering when we left close to 6:00 pm.
Thanks for the replies. It seems, at least so far, that the "updated hours" can be ignored.
