St. Peter's Basilica Guided Tour with Dome Climb

We went on a guided tour via Crown Tours of the Vatican, Sistine chapel and St Peter’s basilica. It was an unforgettable experience and a highlight of our holiday. The tour company were well organised - you checked in at the office and were assigned coloured stickers/bands for the your group. The tour ran on time. Our guide - whose name I have regrettably forgotten - was fantastic. She was so knowledgable and explained everything to us clearly through our audio headsets. She helped us navigate the corridors with ease, moved at a good pace and taught us a lot about Vatican history. We weren’t bored at all on this tour, and found it interesting and captivating. Without a guide you’d waste so much time wandering round a very busy museum which is incredibly crowded. You also would have pretty much no idea what you were looking at! Spending money on this tour saved us time overall during an action packed city break. We paid extra for the elevator to the dome which was worth it. There’s then 320 steps up to the top for the views. I’d be wary of this as the stairs were very claustrophobic and narrow. The views were lovely though. A highlight of the trip was getting rosary beads blessed by a priest inside the Vatican. A really special moment! We booked via Get Your Guide. I’d highly recommend this company for any and all tours - we wished we’d used them for our Colosseum tour!

Everything about our tour was outstanding. It began with being able to walk right into the Crown Tour office and register with ease. They were well organized and ready for all the people who had come for our tours of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Our guide was outstanding. Ginevra was very knowledgeable and went out of her way to make sure she explained all about what we would be seeing and answered all our questions. Ginevra was very friendly and made this tour amazing.

Our Vatican tour on April 21, 2026 at 10am was a major disappointment during our vacation due to poor organization and communication. The guide was difficult to understand, did not use a visible flag, lost multiple guests, including my group, you could not follow him in a crowded environment without the viability of a flag. That is why they use them. As a result, we missed St. Peter’s Basilica and were told to join a public line with a four-hour wait. After exiting, it was too late to rejoin the tour. I paid $564 for three tickets, and given the unprofessional experience and lack of accountability on Crown tours part, I am requesting a full refund. They offered 20% which is not acceptable.

Excellent and enthusiastic guide Henry made this tour so lively and fun! He was so knowledgeable and entertained us. Highly recommend.

Catalina was an amazing tour guide. So enthusiastic, knowledgeable and happy. We learned so much through her knowledge. She always welcomed any questions we had. We definitely recommend this trip