Papal Audience With Pope Leo Xiv And Expert Local Guide

this tour got us up close to the pope which was a great experience. Very moving! Guide ran up to the first row. Guide left early from the meeting place. We had to chase her down. Then we met her she said the had no audio guides for us. There were six of us and my mother is almost deaf!! Really ruined the experience. You pay for something you expect to get it. I am handicapped and can’t walk far. We had to double the distance and I was dying.

Giuliani was amazing. She was informative and got us on the best possible spot to see the pope. It was an incredible expierence with rain, thunder, lightening, rainbows and then Pope Leo came out to sunny skies. If you go to a papal audience, book a tour they always get you the best seat.

I would not try this experience without a skip the line tour. Our host was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Our tour guide Claudia was friendly and knowledgeable. She got us the best seat and stayed with us till it started. She also, schooled us about the Chapel, and Vatican Museum since we were going there after.

Avoid! Do not book a Rome Papal Audience tour with this company! A complete waste of money! They promised us guides to lead us early this morning to get good seats at the Papal Audience. Instead, we were "guided" to a line that turned out to be the wrong one and then it took a security guard to tell our guides they were in the wrong place. As our guide then rushed us through the streets, even she kept saying into her microphone “Oh no oh no,” as she knew they had completely messed up! Finally we arrived at the end of a very long line wrapping around two or more city blocks. We passed other tour groups who clearly knew the correct location! Clearly the City Wonders guides could not be bothered to do the research to know where the line started. How hard is it to communicate with the police and St. Peter's security guards? This is your job. Now the company refuses to refund our 190€ even though the promised services were not provided.

Very cool experience and learning about the history of the city, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Even though Papal Audience tickets are 100% free, it was well worth going through a tour company to organize the experience, make sure we had seats, and help us know what to expect. Our tour guide, Barbara, was excellent! There is a lot of chaos as you enter Vatican City and try to find your place in line. She kept our group together and made sure no one muscled their way in front of us. Throughout the wait, she educated us about the history of the Vatican and Rome overall. To me, this was another valuable part of paying for the tour. If we had done this on our own, we would have simply been standing in the hot sun waiting to move along, without learning anything about why we were there. Barbara told us that we were incredibly lucky because, due to the heat, the Papal Audience was going to be held inside St. Peter’s Basilica that day, which was very unusual. She made sure we got great seats, right near the barrier, accounted for everyone in our group, and then left us to enjoy the ceremony. When Pope Leo entered the Basilica, my husband and I were just inches away from him as he greeted everyone. It was absolutely amazing! Overall, this was an incredible experience, and having Barbara there to guide us through the process made it even more memorable. I would definitely recommend taking a tour rather than trying to navigate the Papal Audience on your own.

A lot to consider here. If you want to an up-close view of the Pope riding around in his Popemobile (and we did), you need to get there super early, like 7a, and you need a guide to get to the best spot. Maria did all this and more, a terrific guide. You're going to be sitting in direct sun for 3 hours, so be prepared, especially if you have young kids.

This is an absolute must-do for anyone visiting Rome. No, you do not have to hire a tour company to gain admission to the papal audience, but doing so will enhance your experience. You will arrive early in the morning, several hours before the Pope appears. This gets you into St. Peter's Square early so you can get premium seats. Except for a couple of sections near the Pope's pergola, the seats are first-come, first-served. The square will fill fast. Our guide, Maria, was very knowledgeable about the history of the audience, St. Peter's Square, and St. Peter's Basilica. If you are doing an audience during the hot months, I recommend an umbrella for shade and lots of water. The Pope's address and blessing take about an hour.

This was our first activity in Rome. It was such a wonderful experience seeing Pope Leo from our great seats! Luisa was a wonderful guide.

Great information , given info that did not know before or was aware of. Answered all questions that were asked. Thank you

It was amazing to be with the papal audience! For our group of 21 (3rd group of citywonders), they were not prepared and run out of headsets for the whole group. It was past the meeting time and we just asked to fall in line already. So it was merely a guide to the entrance. We didn’t have instructions past security so we waked to the square by ourselves.: No history/talks while waiting. For the 10am papal appearance. A bit frustrating purchasing the tour. At least the free entrance tickets got distributed on time…. It would have been better if the staff had the supplies available and more organized. BUt still it’s seeing the pope that mattered. (YOu can actually get the free tickets ahead and come early).

So awe inspiring! I loved the experience. Also his message of peace and understanding. Great experience and our tour guide was very knowledgeable.

Our guide (Sandra?) was very informative and got us to an excellent location to see the pope come pass in the pope mobile before the service. It did mean an early start but worth it.

Is amazing I would definitely recommend it, form beginning to end our tour person explained everything.

The tour was very handy to get in and find seating. I recommend sitting by a railing because that is where the Pope will drive by in the Popemobile. Stage right is shaded and much cooler. Stage left has sun and is warmer. This was all I had hoped for! Must do!

We had a great tour guide Luisa With city wonders we were asked to get to a meeting point extremely early so we can get good seats. We stood in line we were in the front we were able to get in the first roll. She told us to get on the corner because the pope would come by twice and it was excellent. I was right on the corner. I was able to get great videos,. The pope had two blessings one for Mary couples which they had to get approval to the Vatican to be on the stage to be blessed and one for the audience he had said several prayers acknowledge different organizations that were there and several languages this is a must do definitely I would do it again.

The tour was informative and we got very close to Pope Leo.

While Luisa explained things before we went inside, once we got inside, she left. We got great seats by the middle aisle. Unfortunately, we waited a very long time before Pope Leo came on stage, at least an hour and a half. Then he said a bunch of stuff in Italian and other people said what he said in other languages, there were A LOT of them. At 11:30, when we were told it would be over, the Pope was greeting people on the stage. There were a lot of people in line for this, and he spent a ridiculous amount of time with each one of them. That line moved so slowly. Then he greeted those in wheelchairs. Then he greeted more people on the stage. Sadly, the crowd was very pushy. The man next to me kept barging his way into my space and all but pushed me out of my place. It became very crowd mentality. I left at 11:45 before even seeing the Pope because of this. The way things were going, it was to be at least another hour, if not more, before he got to going up and down the aisles. This was very frustrating and VERY disappointing! I feel as though I wasted five hours with this tour and never even got to see the Pope remotely close to me.

Great organization. Better to pay for this than try to do it by yourself. Louise gave us history of time and place while we waited Time went by quickly

The lady told us to sit in a particular area to see the pope come by. He came nowhere near where we were sat. We were there early and Could have been sat anywhere. If I wanted to be sat in an area where I took a chance I would have not gotten a guide.

The line cutting “ model” Is not safe …. We experienced angry Que folks and angry police …. Just get on Que on your own

Great guide - managed the larger Than expected lines and we have wonderful view of Pope Leo 🙏 I am grateful we had Liz(?) to guide us- not sure how we would have managed without her!

Very knowledgeable guide! The wait in line was long, as expected, but she made the time seem to pass quickly with information about the history of the Vatican and Rome. She helped us find great seats and we were able to view the Pope as he passed by our location twice before the audience.

The tour guy was very pleasant but she needs to change the meeting place. It was too far away from the entrance and by the time we got into the seating area you had to fight for seats. I took this same tour last year with Viator and we meet at. 6:30am All the way in the front on the left side. And had amazing seats.

Guide was nice but didn’t really give any information/facts. For the 2 hours we were together it was mostly silent.

Even though we had to pay a small fee for this event when, in fact, you can arrive for free, it was worth it to be sooooo close to the Pope. We were 4 rows from him when he rode by.

We were able to see the Pope drive by, it was an emotional event for me since I am Catholic. I was so amazed at the various pilgrims from all over the world. It was a cultural experience, plus how fluently the Pope spoke each language. I attended with Jewish friends that enjoyed it as well.

The tour gets you there early to make sure you get a good seat. It was a once in a lifetime experience to see the Pope so close. Guide made sure we got a good seat.

Our guide was great. Very informative. He got us the best possible seats right against the rails where the Pope drove by so we had a great view!!

It was absolutely fabulous…….very emotional seeing the Holy Father up so close. He was within six feet of us! Our guide led us to seats right at the barriers and Pope Leo stopped right beside us to bless a baby!

We were able to get great seats near the balustrade because of our guides knowledge. Pope Leo rode past about 10 feet from us!

Ulysses was a great tour guide and very helpful and managed to get us seats close to viewing the Pope

Very strong accent and was unable to understand the guide. Her audio kept dropping out was a total waste of her attempted presentation.

We sat through torrential rain for almost 3 hours. I don’t know why it was not scheduled for indoors since the rain was forecast. Our guide was great and did get us to a good spot. Maybe emphasis that metal water bottles are taken. I went back for it afterwards and it was apparently taken by someone else 😩

Scam. Ticket just to get in the square. Do not get access to the inside of the Basillica or service. Watch it on the screen in the square. Could get in free for that.

Disappointed in what we got for tour. Basically you picked up our free tickets for the Papal audience but that was it. Not special cutting the line or finding us seats. We found our own seats and could have done this all on our own.

Seeing the Pope through the assistance of this provider is much easier and coordinated than trying to do it on your own. The guide was very competent and knew exactly how to navigate to get us in the best position to see the Pope.

It was a wonderful experience being blessed by Pope Leo XIV The guide was professional and efficient

The ad said we would get tickets, but were told we didn’t need them. Waited over two hours in line to get up and in and found out we didn’t need tickets. That’s where our guide left us. It felt like the guides weren’t sure of what was going on.

If you value your time and trip DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR! Juliana was the worst prepared tour guide I have seen in all my years of travel. Not only was she unable to answer any basic question, but she did not provide any real facts or information on the Vatican during the VERY brief tour. The Papal audience was in a different location the day we went and Julianna had NO IDEA where to go. But she reminded our group constantly that her having no idea what was going on “was not her fault”. She took our group the wrong way multiple times, until guests on the tour ended up leading the group in the correct direction. Tour guide Juliana was no where to be found. In addition, since the group was taken in the wrong direction we almost missed our opportunity to attend the papal audience at all. Rather than be let inside to observe the ceremony we were forced into an auxiliary waiting area outside the venue with only a TV monitor of the papal audience while paying to be in attendance at the event itself. In the end you are better off getting the free tickets for the papal audience on your own and AVOIDING this tour entirely as it is not only a waste of your time and money but actively inhibits you from attending the event. If I could give the tour and Juliana a negative rating I would but sadly that is not allowed. -5/5 stars

The guide told us a few things about the Basilica and then walked us to the end of the line (75 minutes) to get in to possibly c the pope. She said it was inside as Pope Leo didn’t want People in the heat and it would seat 7000. We just made it in the gates and they stopped admitting people and we had to sit outside as the inside was full. She then just said find a seat and we were on our own. We did get a glimpse of the Pope but didn’t stay as you couldn’t hear anything and the screens they had you could see because of the glare.

Absolutely, positively do not book this tour!!! Complete waste of time and money. Since the Papal Audience was inside the theater on Aug. 27, we thought booking with a tour company would give us a better chance to get inside and see the Pope. WRONG!!! Left the meeting point with our guide at 7:30 am and got to the end of the queue line just before 8 am. Definitely not early enough as we didn't get inside the theater and we're herded into an overflow area just outside the theater in the full sun. The tour company should know that if the Audience is inside, we should queue earlier in the morning to guarantee entrance in the theater since this is not a "skip the line" experience. As we were herded into the overflow area, all our tour guide said was "sorry", and then she vanished. If I could give this experience zero or negative stars I would. It was awful. We're expecting a refund and will be notifying our credit card company to help facilitate if the tour company fails to do the right thing.

This has to be the worst tour I’ve ever been on. Tickets for the papal audience are free and can be reserved on the Vatican website. If I were to go again, that’s what I would do. If you go on a tour, you meet at 7. The meeting point is completely disorganized and there’s no one to show you where to stand or check in. After that, you get a headset and the tour meanders very slowly over to a gigantic line, the guide nattering away mindlessly the whole time. If you joined that line yourself at 7 you would be assured of a good seat. As it was, the guide was so slow we ended up arriving only to have seats way in the back. When I booked the tour, I assumed it was a way to guarantee a good seat. I had the impression from reading other reviews that someone would go ahead and save them. This was not the case. If you were thinking of booking this tour, my tip would be, just don’t.

we were under the impression that we had 'skip the line' tickets. when we arrived we found that there were actually no tickets whatsoever. our guide kept trying to cut the line unsuccessfully. she and another guide or employee got into a shouting match when she tried to cut another group. she asked me at one point if I am pregnant. never in my adult life have I been mistaken for a pregnant woman. As a 56 year old woman I would this humiliating. overall there was no benefit to having a guide. we would have been fine just queueing up on our own. her commentary which was supposed to teach us about the history of the Vatican taught us nothing we didn't already know from being Catholics . this was a complete waste of money. we'd have been better off doing this on our own.

Me and my family attended the papal audience with expert (?!) local guide. It was a complete waste of time, we paid for nothing. Even our guide was telling everyone “è un disastro”. We joined the general queue (there were no tickets) for two hours before getting in and finding our own space at the Audience (the guide disappeared!). Our guide was rude, shared no information via headphones and left us to our own devices. Never again and now been told I won’t give me a refund. Worst experience ever. Do NOT use this company for this tour! Not deserving of even one star!

Our guide was nice but ill prepared. We did not have tickets, which was the whole point of paying for the tour, to have someone get us the tickets ahead of time. She didn’t know what was going on and had to ask many other guides. We ended up leaving the tour and doing our own thing because it wasn’t adding value.

Wonderful and very significant . Our guide Julia is awesome. She is very warm and very knowledgeable

The guide, Ms Louisa did a good job ! She cared and made sure that everyone was all right. She told us about Vatican and guided us to be able to get nice spots for Papal audience.