Brunelleschi dome tickets

Which ticket do you need to climb Brunelleschi's dome?

The Brunelleschi Pass. The cheaper Giotto and Ghiberti passes do not include the dome at all.

The Opera sells no single-monument tickets, only three combined passes. Read the first column carefully: two of the three never get you near the dome stairs.

The cathedral itself is free and needs no ticket: Monday to Saturday 10:15 to 15:45, closed on Sundays and during religious celebrations (official opening hours). Pay attention when you check out on a third-party site. A "Duomo ticket" for €20 or so is almost always the Giotto Pass, with no dome.

How much does it cost to climb the dome in 2026?

€30 on the official site. Tours that include the climb run from $75 for a resold ticket to $300 for a private guide.

Here is every way up on this site, cheapest first, with what the extra money buys. The dome is the same 463 steps in every row.

The tours' prices are per person and move with the season; two of them had short sales running in late October 2026. The official €12 child price only applies on the Opera's site. Some resellers charge one price for every age, so a family of four can pay four adult fares for the same climb. Check the age bands at checkout.

What changed with the named ticket?

Since 1 March 2025 the Brunelleschi Pass carries each climber's name, surname and nationality. Staff check it against ID at the dome door, and names can't be changed.

The Opera brought the rule in to stop touts reselling dome slots. In practice it means four things (Opera announcement):

• Every climber is named at purchase. Type the names as they appear in your passport. A typo can cost you the climb.
• Bring ID. The check happens at the Porta della Mandorla, the dome entrance on the north side of the cathedral.
• No swaps. If one of your party falls ill, nobody else can take the ticket.
• Ten tickets per order at most. Bigger groups have to email the Opera first.

Be in line 10 minutes before your slot. The Opera allows a 5-minute delay after the start time and no more. The slot itself can't be moved, cancelled or refunded, as the terms of sale spell out. Reselling tours need the same names from you, so expect a request for passport details after you book one.

How far ahead should you book dome tickets?

As soon as your dates are fixed. From May to October morning slots often go weeks ahead; in winter a few days is usually enough.

The dome lets in a fixed number of people per slot, and the first slots go first. Travel guides that track the calendar, such as The Better Vacation, report spring and summer mornings selling out weeks in advance, with weekends tighter than weekdays. In January or February you can often book two or three days out.

When a slot is gone the official calendar shows a grey "0". The Opera is blunt about it: online availability is definitive, and the ticket office has no extra tickets. Our guide to a sold-out dome covers what to do then.

Two dates to keep out of your plans in 2026: the dome closes for maintenance from 16 to 20 November, and the bell tower from 9 to 13 November. More in the November closure post.

Book a held slot early with free cancellation up to 24 hours before, then add the rooftop terraces with the Dome & Terraces option.

★ 4.8 · 2 to 4 hours · from $92

Explore the dome and terraces tour → Tour details

Is there a skip-the-line ticket for the dome?

No. The Opera says there is no skip-the-line service and never will be. Your booked slot is the queue.

The official FAQ puts it in one sentence: "There is not, nor will there be, a 'skip the line' service, precisely because booking the time-slot is already a service aimed at avoiding queues." It adds that products sold as skip-the-line entry are not authorised by the Opera (official FAQ).

Plenty of listings still use the phrase in their titles. What they really sell is a reserved slot, like everyone else's, and sometimes a guide who knows where the short security line forms. Everyone, tour or not, waits a few minutes at the Porta della Mandorla for the ID check and bag scan. Judge a listing on what it includes, not on its title.

Official ticket or Viator tour: what does the extra money buy?

Four things: a held slot on dates the official calendar shows as sold out, a live guide, the terraces or after-hours access, and free cancellation.

On a date with plenty of availability, the €30 pass is the cheapest way up, full stop. A tour starts to earn its price in these cases:

• The calendar shows grey zeros. Authorised partners hold slots of their own. That is the single biggest reason people book a tour for the dome.
• You want the story. The official pass comes with no guide and few signs. A guide in the cathedral or the museum changes what you see on the way up.
• You want the terraces. The roof walkway at about 32 metres is visited only with Opera staff or guides, so a tour is the way in. See the terraces guide.
• Your plans might change. Official passes are never refunded. Every guided tour on this site can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours before.

What a tour does not buy: a guide on the stairs, in most cases. Even the Opera's own €50 tour ends with you climbing alone. The exceptions are the dome and museum tour, where guests report the guide climbs with the group, the guided dome climb and the evening tour.

What does the €50 official dome tour include?

About 30 minutes with an Opera guide in a reserved area at the foot of the dome, then you climb on your own. It includes the same three-day access as the pass.

The Opera runs the dome guided tour in English and Italian at €50, €30 for ages 7 to 14 and free under 7. It is a good talk about how Brunelleschi built the dome, and a useful way in on days when plain pass slots are short. It is not a guided climb.

Compare it with the small-group Duomo tour at $90: half an hour with a guide inside the cathedral, then the climb alone, with early-morning slots. One guest summed up that format: "Great if you book early get in with tour guide but only stay with them for 30 minutes rest of time on your own."

What else does the pass cover, and what changes in 2027?

The bell tower, the museum, the baptistery and Santa Reparata, once each over three days. A reported 2027 change would drop the bell tower and Santa Reparata, but the Opera has not announced it.

• Three calendar days from your first visit, one entry per monument. With the Brunelleschi Pass only the dome has a fixed slot; the others take you when you turn up.
• Giotto's Bell Tower: 414 steps, open daily 8:15 to 18:45, under restoration since March 2026 with scaffolding but still open.
• The baptistery: open, but the vault mosaics are hidden by restoration until about 2028 (Opera update).
• The Opera del Duomo Museum: daily 8:30 to 19:00, closed on the first Tuesday of the month. The original Gates of Paradise are here.
• Santa Reparata: the older church under the cathedral floor.

The Firenzecard does not cover any of it. And one tour operator writes in its listings that from 1 January 2027 the Brunelleschi Pass will no longer include the bell tower and Santa Reparata. The Opera's price list and FAQ said nothing of the kind on 29 October 2026, so treat it as unconfirmed. We track it in the 2027 pass post.

Frequently asked questions