St Peter's Basilica & Dome tickets

Free entry: what the queue actually is

St Peter's Basilica is free. You walk in from St Peter's Square after the airport-style security check. The long line you see mid-morning is for the metal detectors, not a ticket desk, and nobody legitimate needs to sell you an entry ticket.

The Fabbrica di San Pietro, which runs the Basilica, now offers one paid shortcut: on its official booking site you can reserve a guaranteed time slot for €7, which includes a digital audio guide used on your own phone with your own earphones. The visit takes about an hour. It's worth it if your day is tightly scheduled or you want the audio guide anyway. Otherwise, arrive early: the Basilica opens at 7:00.

Official bookings are in your name, non-refundable and can't be moved to another date. If an extraordinary liturgy or Holy See event cancels your slot, you're told within 24 hours and refunded.

The dome: stairs or lift

The dome is the only part you really pay for. The official site sells two tickets, both including the Basilica and its digital audio guide:

• Dome by stairs, €17: 551 steps in total.
• Dome with lift, €22: the lift takes you to the terrace level, then 320 steps remain.

Either way you walk the inner ring first, looking down into the nave with the dome mosaics right next to you, then step out onto the outer ring for the view over the square and the city. There are stairs on both tickets, so the dome is not wheelchair accessible. It's recommended from age 6, and under-18s must be with an adult.

One thing that confuses people: you choose a time for the dome, and the Basilica entry is assigned one hour before or after it depending on crowds. Read the confirmation email to see which comes first.

Ages 7 to 17 pay a reduced rate. Children up to 6 with a parent, and visitors with a certified disability over 74% plus one companion, go free.

What the resellers add

Tiqets, GetYourGuide and Headout mainly sell guided tours of the Basilica (often with the papal tombs) and packages that add the dome or the Vatican Museums. Since entry to the Basilica is free and everyone goes through security, what you're buying is the guide, an organised time, or the Museums-plus-Basilica combination on one morning, not a ticket the Basilica would otherwise charge for.

If you just want to see Michelangelo's Pietà and Bernini's canopy, you don't need to buy anything. If you want the dome, the official ticket is the cheapest while slots last.

Hours, dress code and practical bits

From 26 October to 28 March the Basilica is open 7:00–19:00; from 1 June to 25 October, 7:00–20:00. The dome opens 7:30–17:00 in winter and 7:00–18:00 in summer. Special liturgies can restrict access at short notice.

The dress code is enforced at the door: long trousers for men, skirts below the knee or trousers for women, shoulders covered for everyone. No shorts or miniskirts. There's no cloakroom, so leave big bags at your hotel. Inside you can't make phone calls, eat or drink, or bring animals or bulky items.

From Termini, take Metro A to Ottaviano and walk about ten minutes to the colonnade. If you're doing the Vatican Museums first, note that the museums advise visitors continuing to the Basilica not to leave bags in their cloakroom.