I've heard a lot about the Scavi tour..but what does it include? Should we do that the same day as the Vatican? Or is this tour a one day activity?
And where do we book it? I know we have to do it early and we're traveling in May.

TIA
PS..I accidently posted this in the US board..so doing it again here.

Type "Scavi" into the search box. Several recent and detailed threads will come up.

We did the tour a couple of weeks ago, and it was great. It takes about an hour and a half. You are below St. Peter's church, in the ancient mauseleum area. I found the address by searching on this site. I'll try to find it again. The tour can be done the same day as the Vatican.

It's a great tour, but it's also a very difficult ticket to get. Request your tickets yesterday!

We did it and loved it. You need to book early and you will not necessarily have a wide range of choices of times. Also sometimes you get your confirmation quite late. It is quite short and you definitley can do other things tht day- as it is under St Paters it is a good idea to combine with something else at the Vatican but be aware you will need several hours in the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel)no matter how quickly you go through it. We actually did the Vatican Museums tour on a different day - 5 hours with RomeWalks. The best in formation baout the Scavi tour is hear - look inder ParadiseLost. Also for lots of other useful information from him about many things to do in Rome.

I did the Scavi tour during my Christmas trip to Italy in 2004. It is definitely worth it. I don't know whether St. Peter is really buried down there, but a lot of people are. The church may have been built on Peter's remains, but whether it is or is not, the tour is fascinating.

By the way, I am Jewish, so you don't have to be a Catholic to find the tour fascinating.

Yes, you do have to give them a wide range of dates to get a reservation, but I had a lovely 17 days in Rome home exchanging.

Hi, we took the tour on March 2, and loved it. The guide a woman was very professional and took extreme care to make herself very clear, both on historical facts, and describing how the tomb suffered phisical changes during the centuries .
I would say that there is a very high possibility something over 90% that indeed it was Peter 's tomb one of the reasons being that soon after his death Peter's tomb was venerate by many emerging Christians . Also when a Basilica was built over the original cementery the tombs many of pagans many of Christians were not destroyed by express order of the Emperor Justiniano. The tombs were coverd with earth which perserved them.
It was touching for me being a Catholic but I would also find touching to discover tombs of non Catholics of the magnitud of Peter as long as they represent peace.

It will be one of the best things you do on your trip!

The tour lasted about an hour and a half ended in the small gilded Clementine Chapel, which was a part of the original basilica. From there you can walk out into the crypts below. You need to mail the Ufficio Scavi office and hope they get back to you before you leave...

Can I butt in on this thread and ask how long it took to have your credit card charged after you confirmed your time?

I got a time 2 weeks ago and my credit card details but have heard nothing since and no charge has gone on my account

I am nervous as they don't reply to e mails and I have read that they cancel your bookin gif you don't confirm within 30 days......

Thanks