Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

Far better than the Grottoes is the ascent to the roof and dome (daily: May-Sept 8am-6pm; Oct-April 8am-5pm; L8000 with lift); the entrance is in the northern courtyard between the church and the Vatican Palace, on your way out as you exit through the crypt. You’ll probably need to queue and, even with the lift, it’s a long climb up a narrow stairway that spirals up the dome. The views from the room around the interior of the dome give you a sense of the enormity of the church. From there, the roof grants views from behind the huge statues onto the piazza below, before the ascent to the lantern at the top of the dome, from which the views over the city are as glorious as you’d expect. Remember that it is over 300 evenhandedly claustrophobic steps through the double shell of the dome to reach the lantern; indeed you should probably give it a miss if you’re either in ill health or uneasy with heights or confined spaces.

Tags: 6pm, ascent, courtyard, crypt, double shell, enormity, grants, grottoes, ill health, piazza, statues, vatican, vatican palace