Vatican Scavi & St. Peter's Tomb: Exclusive Access & Skip-the-Line

Ralph was a superb guide & extremely knowledgable & took his time explaining everything in detail. But he only does part of the tour basically giving you the history. We then had to wait for a further 15 minutes in 39 degree heat before we commenced the Scavi tour. There was no shade or anywhere to sit & wait. Daniella was also very knowledgable. Ralph had advised us we could take photos on our phones providing the flash is not used but Daniella said this is strictly forbidden. So conflicting views. St Peter’s tomb was not quite what we had expected. Once we entered back into the Basilica from an internal staircase we were fortunate to attend Mass at 5.00pm. There are numerous Mass times throughout the day.

Such incredible VIP treatment, we honestly couldn’t believe it! We had two fantastic guides. Ralph gave us the introduction and was incredibly knowledgeable, engaging and a truly gifted storyteller. Then, after being led past several red velvet ropes and bypassing hundreds of people, an official Vatican guide took our small group down into the Scavi. We spent another hour there receiving fascinating explanation of what we were looking at and the history behind it. Finally, we saw the relics of St. Peter. As an Orthodox Christian, this was by far the most moving moment of my visit to Rome. The whole experience felt incredibly special and privileged from beginning to end. I cannot recommend this tour highly enough. Absolutely worth it!

The tour is split into three parts: 1 hour with guide around vatican, 1 hour in Scavi with Vatican guide, own visit to basilica (skip the line). Scavi with Vatican guide is wonderful! First hour with seperate guide is nice but not worth the money. For us the only reason to take this tour is the Scavi itself but via Vatican this can be booked at a fraction of the cost….

Agnes was wonderful in terms of her knowledge and passion in Vatican History. My only setbacks were that we wished we had a consistent tour guide for the whole time and that the reservation was put under our names. We had a situation at the Scavi entrance where the tickets were not under our name and we had to persistently contact Agnes for a screenshot of the proper QR code to confirm our reservation. If we were informed prior with a file of this reservation and QR code, the tour would have run more smoothly. Our tour group for the Vatican Scavi consisted of other customers of GetYourGuide tours that went in this direction. Our Vatican Scavi tour guide informed us that we should avoid this app and make a reservation on the official Vatican site for a fraction of the price. This is some insight of our experience to be mindful of before booking this tour.

The experience was incredible, but it was my understanding and according to the description there was supposed to be a 30-minute self-guided tour of St Peter's Basilica using a pre-recorded audio guide. I never received the audio guide nor was I told how to to get it. The host was very nice. She shared lots of information prior to handing us off to Vatican personnel; it's a long tour. We met the host at 2:15 and it was approx 5:00 when we finished. I was so thankful to be able to participate in this experience. If you have a mobility issue it may not be the tour for you. You are not allowed to touch/lean against the walls during the Vatican led portion of the visit. The duration is 1 hr so may be a strain for some.

Very interesting tour of underground. We had 2 tour guides. The first one who gave us the history, Sylvia, while in the outside front of St. Peter’s was excellent. Filled with so much knowledge, lovely personality and easy to understand. Spoke great English. The guide who took us underground was just OK. Gave us good information but very matter to fact.