Choose the Pantheon for ancient Roman engineering and a shorter visit; choose St Peter's Basilica for monumental Renaissance architecture and major religious art. From 1 July 2026, standard adult Pantheon entry is €7; ordinary basilica admission is free, with paid extras separate.
Here is the 2026 comparison — with the parts we can verify separated from the parts that vary by day and by season.
Should you visit the Pantheon or St Peter’s?
Choose the Pantheon for a compact ancient interior or St Peter’s for a larger Renaissance and Baroque church visit. Both are worthwhile, but security and optional dome access make St Peter’s a longer commitment.
- Tight on time: the Pantheon, comfortably
- Architecture: the Pantheon — the most influential surviving Roman dome
- Pilgrimage: St Peter's, without question
- Sculpture and Baroque art: St Peter's
- With children: the Pantheon — shorter, and the oculus does the work for you
- Free option: ordinary entry to St Peter's Basilica costs nothing
Book Pantheon Tickets, Tours & Hotels
Avoid buying your ticket on site by booking ahead — compare the official Musei Italiani ticket and the three best-known third-party providers, plus hotels next to Piazza della Rotonda.
Official Pantheon Tickets — Musei ItalianiSold by Italy's Ministry of Culture. €7 admission from July 2026. Any online transaction fee is shown at checkout.Musei Italiani Official SiteMusei Italiani is the official Pantheon ticket seller. Third-party products may be tours, hosted-entry products or bundled services — check the exact inclusions before booking.
TiqetsCompare advance Pantheon tickets, audio guides & combo bundlesCheck PricesKlookPantheon tickets & guided tours — cancellation varies by productCheck PricesTrip.comReward credits & frequent traveller dealsCheck PricesHotels near the PantheonStay 2 minutes from Piazza della Rotonda — compare boutique stays on Trip.com.View HotelsCompare all three providers to find the best price for your dates.How do the two domes compare?
The Pantheon dome is slightly wider internally, while St Peter’s rises much higher. Compare internal diameter separately from overall height rather than treating them as the same measurement.
- Pantheon dome: about 43.3 m interior diameter and the same again in interior height, in unreinforced concrete
- St Peter's dome: designed by Michelangelo and completed after his death; masonry, set on a tall drum, and rising far higher above the ground than the Pantheon's
- Interior diameters: published measurements of St Peter's dome vary slightly between surveys and sit marginally below the Pantheon's — the two are close enough that the "record" depends on which survey you cite
- Floor area: St Peter's is one of the largest church interiors in the world; the Pantheon's rotunda is a single room you can cross in under a minute
We deliberately do not publish interior-volume or crowd-capacity figures for either building: the numbers circulating online conflate the basilica with St Peter's Square and with one-off ceremonial crowd estimates, and we have not found authoritative published values for them.
Dimensions in detail: how tall is the Pantheon.
Which building is older?
The Pantheon’s surviving rotunda dates to imperial Rome. The present St Peter’s Basilica is a Renaissance and Baroque building, so the two illustrate very different periods.
The Pantheon as it stands dates to the Trajanic–Hadrianic period, conventionally around 125 AD, and was consecrated as a Christian church in 609 AD — which is a large part of why it survived when other temples did not.
St Peter's was rebuilt between 1506 and 1626 on the site of the fourth-century Constantinian basilica, which was demolished to make way for it. Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini all shaped the result. The Pantheon influenced Renaissance dome design in general; it is rhetoric rather than history to call it the prototype for every dome that followed, since Byzantine and Islamic dome traditions developed on their own lines.
How much does each church cost to visit?
Standard adult Pantheon admission is €7 from 1 July 2026; ordinary entry to St Peter’s Basilica is free. Dome access, reserved experiences and Vatican Museums tickets are separate purchases.
- Pantheon: €7; free on the first sunday of the month
- St Peter's Basilica: ordinary entry is free, via the security check on the square
- St Peter's official portal: also sells paid reserved experiences and dome access — prices are set on the official booking site and have changed, so take the current figure from there rather than from a travel article
- Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel: €20 at the ticket office, without an online reservation; €25 booked officially online (€20 admission + €5 reservation). Separate ticket, separate entrance
How long should you allow for each visit?
Allow roughly an hour for the Pantheon and two to three hours for St Peter’s as planning estimates. Security, services and optional dome access can extend either itinerary.
- Pantheon: 30–60 minutes inside
- St Peter's Basilica: around 60–90 minutes for the interior at a normal pace, longer if it is crowded or you stop at each chapel
- Adding the dome and the grottoes: budget two to three hours in total
- The security queue: unpredictable — anywhere from a few minutes to well over an hour depending on the day, season and events
Which visit has more queues?
Both sites can have queues, and a ticket does not remove security checks. Build flexibility into the day rather than relying on a fixed waiting time.
The Pantheon uses timed slots, which caps how many people are inside at once — but the rotunda is small, so even a capped crowd feels close. Calling it "quiet" would be misleading: it is calmest at the first slot of the day and towards closing.
St Peter's ordinary entry is free and unbooked, so the constraint is the security screening on the square. Mid-morning is the worst; early opening and the later afternoon are usually easier. Papal audiences and liturgical celebrations close or restrict the basilica at short notice, so check the Vatican's calendar for your date.
What art can you see in each church?
The Pantheon’s main draw is its ancient architectural interior. St Peter’s adds major Renaissance and Baroque works on a much larger scale, so choose according to the art you most want to see.
- Pantheon: the dome and oculus themselves, Raphael's tomb, the tomb of Annibale Carracci, the Egyptian granite portico columns and the royal tombs
- St Peter's: Michelangelo's Pietà, Bernini's baldacchino and Chair of St Peter, Michelangelo's dome, the papal altar, and numerous papal tombs in the basilica and the Vatican Grottoes
Can you visit both churches in one day?
Yes, both fit into one day if you allow time for walking and security. Treat the estimated transfer time separately from the time inside each church.
The walk between them is 25–35 min, and it is a good one — across the Tiber past Castel Sant'Angelo.
- 09:00 — Pantheon on a pre-booked slot
- 10:00 — coffee near Piazza della Rotonda
- 10:30 — walk to the Tiber via Piazza Navona
- 11:30 — Castel Sant'Angelo or the river walk along Via della Conciliazione
- 13:00 — lunch in Borgo or Prati
- 14:30 — St Peter's Basilica, when the security queue is usually shorter
- Late afternoon — the dome climb, if it is still admitting; closing time varies by season, so check it on the day rather than planning a fixed sunset
Related: Pantheon vs Vatican Museums and Pantheon vs Colosseum.
Sources and further reading
- Ministry of Culture — official Pantheon tariff notice (€7 full price effective 1 July 2026) and free-entry categories
- Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano — official site
- Official St Peter's Basilica reservation portal (free basilica access, paid experiences and dome)
- Vatican Museums — official tickets and prices
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Pantheon, Rome: structure, dating and history
Facts on this page last checked: August 2026. Prices, opening hours and transport routes in Rome change — always confirm with the official source before your visit.
Planning to go inside? Standard adult admission is €7 from 1 July 2026, and under-18s enter free — see our Pantheon ticket guide for official booking, free-entry days and what each ticket includes.
Standard adult Pantheon admission is €7 from 1 July 2026 (€5 from July 2023 until that change). Book through Musei Italiani, the official seller. Under-18s and first-Sunday visitors enter free; Mass attendance is free for worship, not sightseeing. Compare ordinary entry with extras in the Pantheon ticket guide for current booking details and inclusions.
Continue reading about the Pantheon
Pantheon RomeThings to Do Near the Pantheon
13 free and paid things within a 10-minute walk.
Pantheon RomePantheon & Trevi Fountain in One Day
An optimal half-/full-day plan combining both icons on foot.
Pantheon RomeOne-Day Walking Route Around the Pantheon
14 stops, 4.5 km loop covering the historic centre.
Pantheon RomePantheon Rome With Kids: A Family Guide
Tickets, what to point out and the best follow-on stops for families.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I visit the Pantheon or St Peter's?
Both, if you can. The Pantheon is a compact, roughly one-hour highlight; St Peter's is a two-to-three-hour visit and longer with the dome. Forced to choose: the Pantheon for ancient Rome, St Peter's for Renaissance and Baroque art and for pilgrimage.
Which dome is wider?
The Pantheon's interior diameter is the larger of the two by a small margin, and it is unreinforced concrete rather than masonry. St Peter's stands much higher overall because its dome sits on a tall drum. If you love domes, see both: the Pantheon for the oculus, St Peter's for the climb.
Is St Peter's free?
Entering the basilica itself is free. The official portal also sells paid reserved experiences and dome access, and the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel are an entirely separate ticket and building. Keep basilica entry, dome access and Vatican Museums admission separate when planning. Allow flexibility for security checks and services rather than treating visit durations as fixed appointments.
How much are the Vatican Museums?
Vatican Museums prices depend on whether you buy at the door or reserve online (€25 booked officially online (€20 admission + €5 reservation)). Compare the admission charge with the separate reservation fee before paying, and do not confuse this ticket with ordinary entry to St Peter's Basilica, which is a different, free visit.
Can I visit both in one day?
Yes. They are around 25–35 minutes apart on foot, or a short bus ride. Pantheon in the morning and St Peter's in the afternoon works well. Keep basilica entry, dome access and Vatican Museums admission separate when planning. Allow flexibility for security checks and services rather than treating visit durations as fixed appointments.