Climbing St. Peter's dome - how much time?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 742
Climbing St. Peter's dome - how much time?
We have a 9:00 Scavi tour reservation in early May, I now need to make a reservation for the Vatican museums. We definitely want to climb the dome, we are fit and can probably skip the elevator, just for the heck of it. I have read about some long lines to go up, but didn't seem much about the total time.
The Scavi tour ends around 10:30 I guess, how much time should we expect to go up the dome and down? Trying to find out if a 1:00 reservation for the museums would be reasonable...
Thanks
The Scavi tour ends around 10:30 I guess, how much time should we expect to go up the dome and down? Trying to find out if a 1:00 reservation for the museums would be reasonable...
Thanks
#2
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 34
I'll be going up there as well in May. The last few times I was lucky and had no line to wait in and so went up directly. I would say it took an hour up and down (by stairs). There is a little coffee/gift shop upstairs. After I do the Scavi and poke around St.Peter's I'm then going to head "upstairs", grab a little snack and wander around top for a bit. They also have washrooms up at the top. Decent as I remember, no squatting. If there is a line up you could have a long wait. Maybe factor in a 1/2 hour in case of a line. The last time I went was the month of November on a Wednesday afternoon not in May.
#3
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,453
You really want to climb 551 steps? I think you'd need 2-2.5 hours, and if you go to the museums without having a bite to eat, I don't think you'd get much out of the visit.
#4
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,453
You really want to climb 551 steps? I think you'd need 2-2.5 hours, and if you go to the museums without having a bite to eat, I don't think you'd get much out of the visit.
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 18,657
You can be slowed by people on the stairs, so it would still be difficult to say how long it might take. Also, our Scavi tour ended a few minutes late because our group was slowed by other groups ahead of us. The tour ends in the crypt where several popes are interred, and we took a few additional minutes to view this area before exiting. Then you have to walk to the museum entrance...
FYI, although climbing stairs is not a problem for me, climbing tightly winding stairs can give me vertigo if I go too fast.
FYI, although climbing stairs is not a problem for me, climbing tightly winding stairs can give me vertigo if I go too fast.
