Capuchin Crypt After-Hours Tours with the Catacombs

Side-by-side comparison

The Express tour from City Wonders suits travellers who want the two sites in one evening at the lowest price. The Tour Guy tour suits people who prefer a smaller group and private transport.

How to choose between them

Choose the Express tour if you want the shortest evening and the lower price, plus hotel pickup. Choose the Tour Guy tour if the extra half hour and the smaller group are worth the difference. Both visit the same crypt with an audio guide, so the crypt part is the same.

More background on both sites is on the capuchin crypt tours homepage.

The Capuchin Crypt

The crypt is a corridor about 30 metres long with six rooms, decorated with the remains of about 3,700 people, mostly Capuchin friars, according to the museum. The museum dates the decoration to the 18th and 19th centuries, made by the friars themselves. In the Crypt of the Three Skeletons a central figure, probably a Barberini princess, holds a scythe and scales.

The museum on the floor above holds Saint Francis in Meditation, attributed to Caravaggio.

The catacombs after closing

The catacomb on both tours is Priscilla on the Via Salaria, a Christian burial network used from the late 2nd century through the 4th century. It holds the oldest known depiction of the Virgin, dated 230-240. When Priscilla is closed, The Tour Guy switches to San Sebastiano.

Priscilla closes on Mondays and from 11 January to 1 February, so check the date you pick.

What your ticket covers

The Express tour includes the crypt ticket with audio guide, after-hours access to Priscilla, air-conditioned coach transport, an English-speaking guide and the guide's gratuities, with hotel pickup offered. The Tour Guy tour includes after-hours guided entry to Priscilla or San Sebastiano, closing-time entry to the crypt with an audio guide, private transport between the sites and an English-speaking guide. Hotel pickup and gratuities are not included.

Both allow free cancellation 24 hours ahead.

Who enters free on their own

The museum's own ticket page grants free entry to visitors with disabilities and a companion if specified, national tour guides, Capuchin friars, and children up to 6 inclusive, and children up to 6 need no booking. That applies to a daytime visit on the official ticket, not to an after-hours tour.

Dress code and arrival

Both men and women must cover knees and shoulders, and neither operator is responsible for entry refused over dress. On The Tour Guy, arrive 10 to 15 minutes before departure, since late arrivals cannot join, and carry a copy of your passport identification page: a photo on your phone works. A security check applies at each site entrance.

Bring a layer for the cooler air underground and comfortable shoes for stairs.

Accessibility

Neither tour is wheelchair accessible. The catacomb route involves stairs and a fair amount of walking, and neither tour suits people uncomfortable in small spaces. The crypt itself is easier: the museum is reached by lift and the crypt has three low steps, so a wheelchair user with a companion can visit on the official daytime ticket.

A cemetery, not a hideout

Priscilla is a burial network of about 40,000 graves in some 13 km of tunnels, dug into tufa under the Via Salaria. Its galleries hold the tombs of early popes and martyrs and painted rooms such as the Greek Chapel, whose Fractio panis fresco dates from 253-268. That is why the guide shows you graves and frescoes, not living quarters.

Who made the bone decorations

The Capuchin Crypt is a different kind of place. The friars themselves arranged the bones in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the museum counts the remains of about 3,700 people, mostly Capuchin friars. Tradition says the soil of the cemetery is holy earth brought from Jerusalem.

Days, times and length

The Express tour lasts 2.5 hours and The Tour Guy tour 3 hours. Neither listing prints fixed days, so check availability for your date. Priscilla closes on Mondays and from 11 January to 1 February.

On those dates The Tour Guy visits San Sebastiano instead.

Steps to book

Pick your tour from the capuchin crypt tours homepage, choose a date on which Priscilla is open, and check the meeting point before you set out. Both tours meet at Piazza Barberini in central Rome: The Tour Guy in front of the Fontana del Tritone, with a representative holding a sign. The Express tour also offers hotel pickup.

Arrive with knees and shoulders already covered.