Your day begins with an early start, to beat the crowds and be among the first to climb up the Dome. With commentary from your expert, English-speaking Vatican guide you’ll take a short walk along the St. Peter’s Square before getting to the lift that takes you up to the base of the Dome. Here you will be able to admire its beautiful interior, then continue climbing 320 steps and get to the very top. From here you are rewarded with the most magnificent views over the Eternal City – no view in Rome is comparable to this. You can take as much time as you wish to take your best shots and to enjoy the panorama, before going back down at your own pace.
You will still be inside the Basilica complex when you exit the Dome, so you can take advantage of the access already gained in the morning to visit St. Peter’s Basilica on your own, without having to join the long lines to get in. Here you can discover the incredible Papal Altar under Bernini’s Baldachin, and marvel at Michelangelo’s other timeless masterpiece, La Pietà, as you discover the most important church in the Christian world. Once outside again, you can admire Bernini’s clever optical illusion in St. Peter’s Square, spot the balcony from which the Pope delivers his public addresses and snap photos of the basilica’s heavenly façade, having covered the Vatican and St. Peter’s from top to bottom!