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Rome/Vatican Help

Posted by on

We are going to Italy in a couple weeks and plan on spending a day at the Vatican. I am looking to see if anyone has any recommendations on how we approach that day. We have tickets for the Scavi tour at 9:30, and will absolutely pre-buy our Museum & Chapel tickets this week. I'm just trying to figure out how this works since we would also like to climb the dome if possible.

Our thought was:

8:00am Dome climb

9:30 Scavi tour ending in St Peters Basilica

11:00 St Peters Basilica

12:00 Lunch

1:30 Museums & Sistine Chapel

What I am not understanding is how entry works since the websites say you can't buy tickets for just the dome. So do we buy early morning museum tickets just so we can also get dome tickets? Any input would be appropriated.

Posted by
20 posts

The dome is part of the basilica, not the museum. So once you're in through the basilica security, you can get the tickets for the dome climb - you just buy them on the spot. Look for a map of the basilica on the Vatican website - I think it shows where the tickets are sold and where the climb entrance is. I think it's on the right side of the steps to the Basilica, but I'm not sure. I'd check to see how long it takes the average person in whatever sort of physical shape you are in to climb the dome, and whether you'd feel like going into the warm, close, humid Scavi after doing it! Changing the order of your events might be better.

Posted by
12034 posts

Doing the Dome climb at 8 and being done to start the Scavi tour at 930 would be more suitable as an Olympic event or Amazing Race challenge.

Given it sounds you are already locked into to some event times, you may want to arrive at opening to wander the Basilica and once your times events are concluded you could do the Dome climb at the end of the other activities.

Unless its been moved, the ticket booth for the Dome is to the right as one looks at the Basilica from the Square. As I recall when I was there the Dome tickets were stand in in line, first come first served

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