The Scavi and the Papal Tombs Under St Peter's

The Scavi, the excavated Roman necropolis under St Peter’s with the tomb of St Peter, can be seen only on the visits of the Excavations Office (Ufficio Scavi), and none of the tours on this site sells them. The office charges 20 EUR, or 14 EUR for ages 10 to 17, admits no one under 10, and treats every booking as a request it may not be able to meet (checked November 2026). The papal tombs in the grottoes, between the necropolis and the floor of the Basilica, are a different visit: the Vatican Grottoes are open to the public and the visit is free (Fabbrica di San Pietro, checked November 2026), and a guided Basilica tour adds a guide to them.

How the Excavations Office books the Scavi

The Excavations Office (Fabbrica di San Pietro), read November 2026.

With groups of about 12 and about 250 places a day, send the request as soon as your dates are firm, and have a second date ready. Some older pages quote a lower price and a higher minimum age; the office’s own booking page gives the figures above. Photographs are not allowed below.

The visit starts at the Excavations Office gates on Via Paolo VI, outside the Colonnade on the left (south) side as you face the Basilica, near the entrance to the Audience Hall. Show your confirmation to the Swiss Guards there and arrive 10 minutes early; groups leave every 15 minutes.

For the underground in depth, stpeterbasilica-underground.com covers the necropolis, the grottoes and how the two connect.

The papal tombs, with a guide

If the Scavi are full, or you travel with children under 10, the papal tombs in the grottoes are the part of the underground you can still see. They are open free when accessible (Fabbrica di San Pietro, checked November 2026), so no tour is needed to go down; a guided Basilica tour adds a guide to them. For that, the tour in the calendar below is the one: KK TOUR SRLS’s guide takes you round the Basilica and then down to the tombs, 1.5 hours, US$37 on 12 November, or US$48 with the Dome climb (checked November 2026).

The calendar above is the Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, Dome Climb, and Underground Tour, with 6,449 reviews (checked November 2026). It meets at Piazza della Città Leonina 2, 247 m on foot from the middle of St Peter’s Square, and does not include the Vatican Museums or the Scavi.

Two other Basilica tours take in the tombs: the Rome: St. Peter's Basilica, Pietà & Papal Tombs Tour (Tix & Tours), with the grottoes when they are open, from $22 on promotion, usually $45, checked November 2026, and the Rome: St. Peter's Basilica, Papal Tombs, and Dome Climb Tour (Touriks), with the Dome by the stairs, from $60 (checked November 2026). Both meet at Largo del Colonnato 5, and neither includes the necropolis.

Scavi or tombs?

They are not the same visit. The Scavi go down to the level of the Roman cemetery where St Peter’s tomb lies, in a group of about 12; the grottoes sit higher, under the floor of the Basilica, and hold the tombs of many popes. If you can get a Scavi place and everyone is 10 or older, take it. If not, the grottoes are open free when accessible, and a Basilica tour with the papal tombs is the guided way to see them, with the Basilica above them free too (is a St Peter’s Basilica tour worth it?).