verified 3 November 2026

Castel Sant'Angelo (2026): €18 Tickets, Hours, Monday Openings and the Passetto (2026)

Hadrian's tomb turned fortress, papal prison and museum: the €18 ticket, the Monday closing and the €5 first-Monday afternoons, free first Sundays, the ID rule, the Passetto di Borgo corridor to the Vatican, and what's within a short walk.

By Conrad Ru · Founder of TourliVerified November 2026

I travel, research, and write every Tourli guide myself.

places

4.6

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Rome

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── castel sant'angelo · tickets and tips

Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome Tickets, Monday openings and the Passetto

Castel Sant'Angelo began as the mausoleum the emperor Hadrian built for himself and his family in the 2nd century AD. It was folded into Rome's city walls and turned into a fortress, became a papal residence and a prison, and has been a national museum since 1925. Its name comes from a legend: in 590, Pope Gregory the Great saw the archangel Michael here sheathing his sword, a sign that the plague afflicting Rome was over. The angel statue on top gives the castle and the bridge in front their names.

The ticket costs €18 (since 1 July 2026), and the castle is closed on Mondays, with one exception in 2026: the first Monday afternoon of each month, on a €5 ticket. The other draw is the Passetto di Borgo, the fortified corridor to the Vatican.

Close by: the bridge, a gelato shop five minutes across the river, and a small house museum your castle ticket gets you into for free. St Peter's is ten minutes west; Piazza Navona is about ten minutes south-east over the bridge. For the rest of the city, see things to do in Rome.

Castel Sant'Angelo

The short version. Book the €18 ticket online (it's recommended every day, and especially at weekends), bring ID with the same name, and don't come on a Monday unless it's the first Monday of the month. Allow an hour and a half to two hours. On a tight budget, the first Sunday of the month is free, with one queue at the ticket office.

What you see. The visit climbs through three layers of history: the Roman mausoleum, with its spiral ramp; the fortified castle with its bastions; and the papal apartments, decorated at their most splendid under Pope Paul III Farnese (1534-1549). At the top, under the angel, the terraces look out over the Tiber to St Peter's and across the rooftops of the center.

The ground-floor route may be diverted. Since December 2024 the circular route through the ground-floor ambulatory can change for accessibility works; you may start the visit straight from the dromos, opposite the entrance, then follow the ramp up to the Courtyard of the Angel.

museum · Borgo · Prati

Castel Sant'Angelo

4.7 Google (112,678) 1.5-2 hours

Lungotevere Castello, 50, 00193 Roma RM, Italy

Price: €18 full price (since 1 July 2026); €2 for EU citizens from 18 until their 25th birthday; free for under-18s and on the first Sunday of the month. First-Monday afternoons in 2026: €5, at the ticket office only. Includes free entry to the Boncompagni Ludovisi and Andersen house museums that day and the two days after. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9am-7.30pm, last entry 6.30pm. Closed Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. In 2026, also open the first Monday of each month 2pm-8pm (last entry 7pm); the last one is 7 December.

Access: Only partial access to the outdoor areas for visitors with disabilities. No cloakroom; no animals.

Tip

The ticket carries your name: bring a matching original ID or you're turned away without a refund. The ticket office is in temporary structures outside the castle during renovation work. Metro (subway): Lepanto (Line A), about 15 minutes' walk.

Ponte Sant'Angelo

Ponte Sant'Angelo was built by Hadrian in 136 AD as the Pons Aelius, to link the city to the entrance of his mausoleum. In 1668, under Pope Clement IX, it got its ten angels carrying the symbols of the Passion: Bernini designed the figures and his pupils carved them. The bridge took its present form in 1882. It's free, open all the time, and the best approach to the castle.

landmark · Borgo · Ponte

Ponte Sant'Angelo

4.7 Google (26,485) 10-15 minutes

Ponte Sant'Angelo, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Price: Free

Tip

The bridge leads straight to the castle. Cross from the center side for the classic view of the castle framed by the angels.

Passetto di Borgo

The Passetto di Borgo is the raised, fortified corridor that runs along the Vatican walls from the Vatican palaces to the castle, so a pope could get from one to the other in a crisis. Alexander VI Borgia used it in 1494 to take refuge in the castle when the French army of Charles VIII invaded Rome, and in 1527 Clement VII escaped along it during the Sack of Rome. You can only walk it on a booked guided or accompanied visit; the Saturday evening visit adds a walk on the castle ramparts after closing time.

attraction · Borgo

Passetto di Borgo

4.6 Google (370)

00193 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

Price: Sold as guided or accompanied visits on the Musei Italiani portal and app; prices and time slots are on the museum's ticket page (booking link). Daytime visits include entry to the castle. Hours: Daytime visits Fri, Sat and Sun 9am-1pm (not the first Sunday of the month); Saturday evening visits 7pm-11pm; step-free visits on the second and fourth Sunday at 10.45am and 12.15pm. Closed on the first Sunday of the month.

Access: Step-free visits start from the Torre del Mascherino (Piazza della Città Leonina) and use two lifts; they cover almost the whole corridor but not the castle. Up to 20 people, at most five wheelchair users; a manual-wheelchair user must bring a companion, who goes free. Not recommended if you're claustrophobic.

Tip

Standard daytime and evening visits start and end at Castel Sant'Angelo. Book on Musei Italiani; the castle's call center (+39 06 399 671 00) can help.

Gelateria del Teatro

Gelateria del Teatro opened in 2006 and moved in 2013 to a larger shop on Via dei Coronari, where a window onto the lab lets you watch the gelato being made. It makes more than 200 recipes that change with the seasons, uses organic Amalfi Coast lemons, and labels flavors for people avoiding lactose, gluten or eggs. It's five minutes from the castle across Ponte Sant'Angelo, on the way to Piazza Navona. For more, see the best gelato in Rome.

cafe · Ponte

Gelateria del Teatro

4.6 Google (4,192)

Via dei Coronari, 65/66, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Tip

About five minutes' walk from the castle: cross Ponte Sant'Angelo and turn into Via dei Coronari. It doesn't publish prices or opening hours online.

Casa Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen

The Casa Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen is the house and studios of the Norwegian-American sculptor and painter (Bergen 1872 – Rome 1940), who built it from 1922 and dedicated it to his mother as 'Villa Helene'. It holds more than 200 of his sculptures in plaster and bronze and more than 200 paintings. Your Castel Sant'Angelo ticket gets you in free on the day and the two days after, so it's worth the 20-minute walk on a second day, perhaps with the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo.

museum · Flaminio

Casa Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen

4.5 Google (922) Up to 1 hour

Via Pasquale Stanislao Mancini, 20, 00196 Roma RM, Italy

Price: €6; €2 for EU citizens from 18 until their 25th birthday; free for under-18s and on the first Sunday of the month. Free with a Castel Sant'Angelo ticket on the day of your castle visit and the two days after. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9.30am-7.30pm, last entry 6.45pm. Closed Mondays, 25 December and 1 January; open on some Monday afternoons until 14 December 2026.

Tip

About 20 minutes' walk north along the river from the castle, or a short walk from Flaminio Metro (Line A). The bronze room on the ground floor is closed for restoration works that began on 27 July 2026.

── tickets · 2026

Castel Sant'Angelo ticket prices, and who goes free

Full price: €18 since 1 July 2026. Reductions and free categories stay as the law sets them.

Reduced: €2 for EU citizens from 18 up to their 25th birthday.

Free: under-18s; disabled visitors and one family member or companion (the companion may need to show they belong to a social-care service); licensed EU tour guides at work; and the other categories on the Ministry of Culture's free-entry page (cultura.gov.it/agevolazioni). Everyone goes free on the first Sunday of the month and on national free days.

Two free extras: the castle ticket also gets you into the Casa Museo Boncompagni Ludovisi and the Casa Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen, free, on the day of your castle visit and the two following days.

── booking

Booking, and the ID rule

Book with the official seller. Online on the Ministry of Culture's Musei Italiani portal (museiitaliani.it), through the link on the museum's page; for information and bookings, the call center is +39 06 399 671 00 (Monday to Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 9am-2pm) or info@coopculture.it. Tickets for October, November and December 2026 are on sale. Booking is recommended every day, and especially at weekends and on public holidays.

Your name is on the ticket. Each visitor enters their own details when buying, then shows the named ticket and an original ID document at the entrance. If they don't match, you aren't let in and there's no refund. You can change the name once, up to midnight the day before your visit, for tickets bought online or by phone.

Groups of 10 to 25 must book, enter at set times between 9am and 5.30pm, and (except school classes) use radio guides, which cost €2 a person to hire.

── hours · mondays

Opening hours, Mondays, and the €5 first Mondays

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 7.30pm, last entry 6.30pm. Closed every Monday, 25 December and 1 January.

'Lunedì di Castello': from 3 August to the end of 2026, the castle also opens on the first Monday of each month, 2pm to 8pm (last entry 7pm), on a special €5 ticket. It's sold only at the ticket office: no booking and no groups. The last one this year is Monday 7 December 2026; nothing has been announced for 2027 yet.

Evening events: on evenings with events, from 7.30pm, the route can be changed or restricted and groups aren't admitted.

── free days

Free first Sundays and free days

Entry is free on the first Sunday of every month and on the Ministry of Culture's national free days. The next ones: Wednesday 4 November 2026 (National Unity and Armed Forces Day, 9am-7.30pm, last entry 6.30pm) and Sunday 6 December 2026.

On free days nothing can be booked online: everyone, individuals and groups, joins one queue at the ticket office for a free, unnamed ticket, and the route may be adjusted for the crowds. The Passetto di Borgo is closed on the first Sunday of the month.

── the passetto

The Passetto di Borgo: the visits on offer

Daytime visit: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 1pm (not the first Sunday of the month). A guided or accompanied visit of the Passetto, with entry to Castel Sant'Angelo included. Starts and ends at the castle.

Evening visit: Saturday, 7pm to 11pm. The Passetto, plus an evening walk on the castle ramparts through the Sala delle Urne, the spiral ramp and the dromos, with the museum closed. Starts and ends at the castle.

Step-free visit: second and fourth Sunday of the month, 10.45am and 12.15pm, for anyone who can't or would rather not use stairs. It starts from the Torre del Mascherino in Piazza della Città Leonina, uses two lifts, and covers nearly the whole corridor, inside and out, but not the castle; the price is lower than the standard visits.

Booking: all Passetto visits are sold on the Musei Italiani portal (museiitaliani.it) and app; prices and time slots are on the ticket page linked from the museum's site.

── getting there

Getting there

The nearest Metro (subway) station is Lepanto on Line A, about 15 minutes' walk. From the historic center, walk over Ponte Sant'Angelo: it's about ten minutes from Piazza Navona and 15 from the Pantheon.

St Peter's Square is about ten minutes' walk west along Via della Conciliazione, so the castle pairs naturally with a Vatican day, as on Day 2 of our 3-day itinerary. To price the rest of your trip, see our Rome trip-cost guide, and for a base nearby, where to stay in Rome, which covers Prati and the Vatican area. For more of the city's collections, see museums in Rome.

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── frequently asked

Frequently asked questions.

How much is a Castel Sant'Angelo ticket in 2026?

€18 full price since 1 July 2026. EU citizens from 18 until their 25th birthday pay €2, and under-18s go free. Everyone goes free on the first Sunday of the month. The ticket also gets you into two small state house museums in Rome, the Boncompagni Ludovisi and the Hendrik Christian Andersen, free on the day of your visit and the two days after.

Is Castel Sant'Angelo open on Mondays?

Normally no: it's closed every Monday, and on 25 December and 1 January. The exception in 2026 is the 'Lunedì di Castello': on the first Monday of each month (the last one this year is 7 December) it opens 2pm to 8pm, last entry 7pm, on a special €5 ticket sold only at the ticket office, with no booking and no groups.

What are Castel Sant'Angelo's opening hours?

Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 7.30pm, with last entry at 6.30pm. It's closed on Mondays (except the first Monday of the month in 2026), 25 December and 1 January.

Do you need to book Castel Sant'Angelo in advance?

It isn't compulsory, but the museum recommends booking every day, and especially at weekends and on public holidays. Tickets for October, November and December 2026 are on sale online on the Ministry of Culture's Musei Italiani portal; the call center for information and bookings is +39 06 399 671 00. Tickets carry your name and you show ID at the entrance.

Can you visit the Passetto di Borgo?

Yes, on guided or accompanied visits sold on the Musei Italiani portal and app: daytime visits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings (9am to 1pm, not on the first Sunday of the month) that include entry to the castle; Saturday evening visits (7pm to 11pm) with a walk on the castle ramparts; and step-free visits on the second and fourth Sunday at 10.45am and 12.15pm. Prices and time slots are on the museum's ticket page.

Is Castel Sant'Angelo free on the first Sunday of the month?

Yes. Entry is free on the first Sunday of every month (the next one is 6 December 2026) and on national free days such as 4 November. On those days nothing can be booked online: everyone joins one queue at the ticket office for a free ticket, and the Passetto di Borgo is closed.

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Castel Sant'Angelo (2026): €18 Tickets, Hours, Monday Openings and the Passetto (2026)

Castel Sant'Angelo

Ponte Sant'Angelo

Passetto di Borgo

Gelateria del Teatro

Casa Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen

Castel Sant'Angelo ticket prices, and who goes free

Booking, and the ID rule

Opening hours, Mondays, and the €5 first Mondays

Free first Sundays and free days

The Passetto di Borgo: the visits on offer

Getting there

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