Papal Audience Tickets and Presentation

Rome, Italy

Book your ticket for a Papal Audience with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican City. The Papal Audience tickets are free of charge but you must reserve them. This service guarantees to reserve those tickets (with seating!) to see Pope Benedict XVI. The price includes a presentation and explanation of the events of the Papal Audience to prepare you for the gathering.

Begin with meeting the guide near St. Peter's Square. You will be provided with headsets and taken to the allocated seats. Once seated, your guide will explain the origin of the Papacy from the first Christians through Constantine's era and up to the current wonder of the Holy See. You will discover the history of St. Peter's Square created by Bernini in the 17th century as you become familiar with the smallest sovereign state in the world. The presentation unveils the fascinating history of the Papacy and the artists that contributed to the marvel of Vatican City.

Next, witness the audience at Vatican City. Experience the awe and wonder which occurs at the Papal Audience as Cardinals read in various languages reaching out to pilgrims and visitors from the far corners of the world. Then hear the Pope's weekly message as he enters the central stage. Feel free to sing along with the spiritual leaders of the Church and pray with the Pope, the head of State of Vatican City or just sit back and observe this amazing tradition taking place.

Special Offer - Book online and save over 11% off the local price in Rome - Book Now!

USD $40.86

Traveler Reviews

Review by: James M	March 2012
This papal audience was the highlight of our 9 day trip to Rome. Our tour guide, Tiffany McIver, was excellent! Her knowledge and history lesson on the Vatican was outstanding. Her enthusiasm was evident. Our seats were great. Thank you, Tiffany!

Review by: Brenda O	January 2012
well worth it. A moving experience.

Review by: Carol T	November 2011
The trip to the Eternal City of Rome was more than I anticipated and the audience with the Pope was the highlight of my trip. On my bucket list was to be in St. Peter's Square for the blessing by the Pope, but Viator and our wonderful guide took this one step further and actually brought us into the Sacristy of the Church placed usin the fourth row back and about 25' from the Pope. This was absolutely fantastic. Thank you Tiffany and Viator for doing such a great job and making my trip a wonderful success. Cheers.

Review by: Becky G	November 2011
Great tour.

Review by: Arthur O	November 2011
Very good.

Review by: ZACHARIAH A	November 2011
Absolutely dedicated lively and well informed guide (English language). Helped us to a wonderful experience(Papal audience) amid a torrential morning downpour. Thanks, zachariah

Review by: Salvatore C	November 2011
Our tour guide was full of passion and made our event extremely postive, even in torrential rains. The tour was quite upbeat considering the weather mainly because of her and her constant interaction with us and all the knowledge she shared with us. Excellent guide and event.

Review by: Gary M	October 2011
fantastic! memories for a lifetime and highly recommended!

Review by: Marianne S	October 2011
we got to the meeting point about 5 minutes late and they left but we were able to find them and they accomodated us with no problem. I would highly recommend this tour as they seat you knowing where the pope mobile was going to be coming and you are right next to him as he goes by. This tour was great at the end he blesses everyone and any articles so make sure to bring rosaries, etc. Our tour guide was Tiffany, very nice girl and knew the history, etc and talked for the 2 hrs or so preceding the pope's arrival. Just great!!!

Review by: Kirstinl	October 2011
Fantastic, was funny have an American guide in Italy at the Vatican introducing us to the Pope. What al can say is that we got the best seats and wealth of information that started our Vatican tour with gusto.

Review by: Jen	October 2011
Papal audience was special and enjoyed it very much

Review by: Judy	October 2011
I love this event. Our tour guide McIver was excellent, very knowledgeable about Rome and history.She was very accommodating. Using the head set was available and it made everything easier and convenient. Highly recommended.

Review by: Ronald B	October 2011
A once in a lifetime historical event even though we're not Catholic. It was the highlight of our trip.

Review by: Anthony C	September 2011
This was an wonderful experience. The staff was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Shannon, our guide was excellent and helped us secure the best seats available.

Review by: Deborah M	September 2011
Interesting history lessons! Great seats!!

Review by: Claudine R	June 2011
We are a Catholic family and this was a highlight of our Italian trip! Our guide was very well informed and full of little anecdotes which made the waiting time fly by. But best of all we had the best seats, just next to where the Pope in his 'Pope mobile' drives by, we were thrilled to be so close to take pictures and see him.

Review by: Kenneth c	June 2011
I found the experience very uplifting and Tiffney your representive very knowlegeable on the subject which added to the experience - would love to do it again.

Review by: Jaime	June 2011
Excellent. Great seats! Guide did not have some of her facts correct about the Catholic Church .

Review by: Derek J	June 2011
We all thoroughly enjoyed this trip even if there was some confusion over its length. It's advertised as being 2 and a half hours long but when the tour guide leaves at around 10.15am the Pope appears 15mins. later to start the 1 and a half hour audience. So the whole event actually lasts some 4hours from 8am to 12pm. The guide was very knowledgeable about the history of Catholicism and did secure us enviable seats near to where the Pope passes. Excellent value for money.

Review by: Natalie M	June 2011
The actual tour was pretty darn good. Got a great seat with a good view of the stage, TV screen, and got within 4m of the Pope!

Review by: Lise V	June 2011
This tour was something that we will remember forever. Seeing the Pope and being part of this whole experience of the tribute speeches to all the different nationalities was very moving. We were in the third row and actually got eye contact with the Pope. He sure is a charismatic person and we see why everyone loves him so much!! This tour is FANTASTIC.

Review by: Danielle R	May 2011
Our experience with Viator was just as ordered. We were impressed with the organization, the Guide was courteous, patient and well versed and received a tip the good old way she earned it. We have friends heading to Rome in September and Viator gets the recommendation.

Review by: Adam M	May 2011
This was really cool, we sat 8th row and got amazing pictures of the Pope. Most of the ceremony is in languages other than english, so we didn't understand about 90% of it. But it was really neat. Very hot though, and because you arrive early you spend a lot of time sitting out in the sun. Overall very cool.

Review by: Michael H	May 2011
Our guide was terrific! She knew the shortcut into see the Pope that day. We got very good pictures of the Pope and got to see his speech upclose! It's an event none of us will forget! Thank you!

Review by: THOMAS T	May 2011
Excellent! Shanon from Dark Rome got us front seats so had great view of pope. High point of Rome trip for my sisters.

Review by: ms0364	May 2011
Although an early start is necessary, this was a very well organised package with an informative, polite guide who got us some of the best seats available. A truly moving experience.

Review by: Gina L	May 2011
This tour was so very good! We arrived at St. Peter's, near the mosaic shop (easy to find) and were given headphones. We then followed our guide into a gate different than where the long line of people were and entered immediately when the gates opened at 8:00 am. We had wonderful seats, just four rows back from where the Pope was seated, on the center rail. Our guide gave us a two hour historical talk on St. Peter's while we waited for the audience to begin at 10:30. It was well worth buying the ticket for the audience....and our guide, a young woman from Indiana, was very knowledgeable and interesting!

Review by: Maybeth R	April 2011
It was great. Thought the tour part was going to be longer, but it was worth it seeing the Pope so close.

Review by: Stefan B	April 2011
Great seats!! Great Guide!!

Review by: Elizabeth L	April 2011
I can't recommend this enough! We went to Rome in March of 2011 and very much wanted to see the Pope. While the tickets are free they are hard to come by, so we decided to purchase this trip. Our local guide was wonderful. She knew exactly what entrance to use and got us great seats. We were three feet away when he drove by and about 100 feet from where he was sitting. She gave a wonderful talk on the history of the Pope while we waited. _br/_ If you book this you will not be disappointed.

Review by: Jorge	February 2011
Absolutely a must. Our guide, Tiffany was not only a doll but very knowledgeable. She kept us entertained the whole time until the Pope's entrance. Because she knew the tricks we had front row seats. I urge anyone, Catholic or not to take this tour.

Review by: Sandra E	February 2011
Hmmmm I'll charge this one to experience. This is fine if it's your first time to do this, but otherwise you can do this on your own. The audience is usually every Wednesday. Tuesday, just go to the Vatican gift shops and ask if they have tickets available, usually they do and it's free. You can also request from the Vatican directly by going to their web site or your local parish can inquire for you. Best to do this after you book your plane tickets to give you enough time. Once you have your tickets, just go to the Vatican early, around 830am and go through security and then to the venue. No such thing as reserved seats as they promised, they can't even get us pass the security check, we had to stand in line with everyone else. The seats were first come, first serve and yes we were in the first three rows after the seats reserved by the Vatican for Pilgrimage and other groups which really made us the 20th row or so! Very misleading on the way Viator advertised this! Shame shame shame!

Review by: Paul C	February 2011
Despite us not being Catholic and not very religious, this tour was well worthwhile with Tiffany our tour guide delivering a very interesting, absorbing and factual history of the Catholic church and the Papacy. The build-up to the Pope's entrance was incredible with the groups of pilgrims singing and quite boisterous which was unexpected but great while the actual audience with the Pope very moving._br/_ Paul and Cindy Carpenter, Rotorua.

Review by: nitish r	January 2011
Great time. It was like a festival time in the hall with people from all over the world present. Its quite a feeling to be a part of this whole ritual.

Review by: Frank G	January 2011
Very knowledgeable guides who are very helpful and experienced.

Review by: clflanders3	January 2011
Interesting information given waiting for the Pope. But the whole process was twice as long as expected.

Review by: Duane G, United States of America	July 2010
The guide for the Papal Audience was very important. She knew where to sit to get the best view of the Pope. We were able to get a few feet away from him when he came into the square in the Pope Mobile.

Review by: James F, United States of America	July 2010
The papal audience was the highlight of our trip. Our tour guide, Francesca, was very informative and funny. We really enjoyed her commentary while we were waiting for the Pope. Everything was well organized and made getting into the papal audience easy and stress free.

Review by: Laura Mary V, United States of America	July 2010
Totally enjoyed the tour! Tour guide was great and gave a lot of information. There was much care and attention given us. Tour operators and staff were very helpful and kind. Well organized.

Review by: William G, United States of America	June 2010
We had second row center seats for the audience and enjoyed every moment of it. The guide served no purpose but to get us in and seat us-she couldn't wait to leave and her professionalism was lacking-but once we were seated we didn't care!

Review by: Relinda M, Ireland	June 2010
Great experience to have a chance to be up close to the Pope and the guide we had was very knowledgeable and acccomodating.

Review by: Colin M, Australia	June 2010
Meeting point was easy to find - guide was punctual and had our group organised quickly and straight into wonderful seats. Her information was helpful and interesting preceding the arrival of the Pope - also very friendly. Overall the whole experience as wonderful.

Review by: Adrian N, United States of America	May 2010
A must if you want good seats to see the Pope. Our guide ran ahead of us and got us all seated right up in front. We sat 3 rows from the front. It was a wonderful experience

Review by: Helen J, United Kingdom	March 2010
What an experience. Tour guide was friendly and informative.

Review by: John P, United Kingdom	February 2010
Good value - what you get is someone to get the tickets in advance, who meets you at the entrance, takes you through security to good seats, who gives you a one hour talk and then leaves you to enjoy the experience. The talk was excellent, the guide was very knowledgable and interesting. We were provided with good quality headsets so we were able to hear the talk without being too obtrusive as a group.

Review by: Ed S, United States of America	December 2009
The guide was so good. We got her the next day for a Vatican museum tour. Guide extremely knowledgable and approachable.

Review by: Geraldine D, United States of America	November 2009
It was quite an experience.

Review by: Anita W, United States of America	November 2009
You can get in to a Papal audience yourself at no charge. But the presentation was interesting and even fun, although not necessary. Having a guide didn't really help us get through the line any faster, or get us any closer. We basically paid for having a presentation, and for having someone direct us where to go.

Review by: James R, United States of America	October 2009
We were on the front row!!!! I had a long wait but guide helped it go by quickly with the information she provided.

Review by: Norah D, United Kingdom	May 2009
Our guide was lovely.