We are planning to do a self-guided climb of St Peter's dome before we go into the Basilica. I understand tickets are not available in advance on line (only through private tour guides). As near as I can tell, most tours start at 8:00am. I thought if we arrived at about 7:00am we'd have a pretty good chance of short line when the dome opens at 7:30am (I think).
Has anyone tried to climb the dome early in the day? What was your experience?
Thanks,
Tom
In June we did the Dome Climb with the Roman Tour Guy. We met at 7:15am and got in line to go through security and got right into the elevators to go up half way to roof to see the mosaics then climbed the rest by many many steps. It appeared to me as at that time of morning very easy to walk up (by the elevators) and buy tickets and go up on your own as well. We had a tour of the Basilica after and it was not crowded at all. Very nice experience.
sdw,
So the dome does indeed open at 7:30? How long was your total tour including the Basilica?
We have a scheduled guided tour of the Necropolis under the Basilica (St Peter's tomb) which requires us to be at a certain spot no later than 9:00am.
Thanks,
Tom
If you have a Scavi tour at 9, you will not have time to do anything else first other than go through the security line and perhaps peek into the basilica. It's not like you can race up and down to see the Dome. The path is single file and your speed is limited by those in front of you. Even if you take the elevator there are a couple hundred steps involved. And of course you have to go down afterwards.
We got there early last year and the wait in line was very short. When we got to the top of the dome, it was really crowded with shoulder to shoulder people. This was in May. Even with the elevator, it was a long hike up to the top.
Hours for the dome are on the basilica's website:
https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/info-and-opening-hours/opening-hours.html
I wouldn't think you could do this and be where you need to be by your 9:00 appointment for the necropolis. I sure wouldn't risk it, anyway.
Rick's book suggests to allow an hour to go up and down. I figured going in the early morning would give us some added flexibility.
Maybe I plan the dome for later in the day after our visit to the Vatican Museums. Say 4pm. It is open to 6pm in the summer. We will be there May 28. That said, advanced tickets can't be bought online so we could run into an issue with ticket lines.
For a visit to the dome, does anyone know if I could buy a ticket for the dome at 8:00am for a visit at 3:30pm that same day? That is, are dome tickets "timed entry" for that day? Or, can the ticket be used anytime during the day of purchase?
Thanks
How are the lines for the dome in the late afternoon?
How are the lines to go up to the dome in the late afternoon ?
