Free first Sundays at the Pantheon

When are the free first Sundays at the Pantheon from November 2026 to October 2027?

1 November and 6 December 2026; then 3 January, 7 February, 7 March, 4 April, 2 May, 6 June, 4 July, 1 August, 5 September and 3 October 2027.

The rule is simple: the first Sunday of the calendar month. We worked out each date and checked it against a calendar. Two of them land on busy days. 1 November 2026 is All Saints' Day, a public holiday in Italy, and 4 April 2027 is the Sunday after Easter (Easter falls on 28 March 2027), when Rome is still full of pilgrims.

Every one of these Sundays has the 10:30 Mass, and the Pantheon is closed to sightseers while it runs. Opening hours are otherwise the usual 9:00 to 19:00, last entry 18:30.

How does free entry work at the Pantheon on the first Sunday?

No online booking. Everyone, groups included, queues on site for a free paper ticket at the ticket office or the machines, then joins the line to go in.

The official Musei Italiani portal does not sell slots for free Sundays. You pick up a free ticket on the spot, from the counters or the totem machines by the entrance, and that ticket is not in your name. Under-18s are free on any day, so a family with children gets nothing extra from the scheme beyond the adults' tickets.

Watch the clock. The doors open at 9:00, and sales pause about an hour before the 10:30 Mass, Art Visit Guide notes. That leaves a short first window, then a gap until the service ends. If you are not in the building by about 9:30, plan for the afternoon. The hours and Mass times guide has the full schedule.

How long is the queue on a free first Sunday?

In peak season, April to October, 90 minutes to 2 hours. In winter it is shorter, but rarely short.

Art Visit Guide describes the free-day line wrapping around the piazza and taking 90 minutes to 2 hours from April to October. Guests on Viator tours see the same thing. One wrote about the Elite tour: "Very crowded due to it being 1st Sunday of the month and apparently free, so lines very long."

Best odds: join the line before 9:00, or come after about 16:30 when the day-trippers thin out, keeping in mind that the ticket desk closes at 18:00. Bring water from May to September. The piazza has almost no shade, and the cafes around it will not hold your place.

Is the free Sunday worth it, or should you pay €7?

For most visitors with a free weekday, pay. Two hours in a queue to save €7 is a poor trade unless you are on a tight budget or in Rome in winter.

Do the sums. A couple saves €14. A family of two adults and two teenagers also saves €14, because the kids were free anyway. EU students aged 18 to 25 save €2 each. Against that you put an hour or two on a hot square and a visit squeezed around Mass.

February and March are the exception. The lines are shorter, the light through the oculus is low and pretty, and the saving is the same. If your trip hits 7 February or 7 March 2027, go for it. For 4 April, July or August, buy a weekday slot. The post on the €7 ticket explains what changed in July 2026.

What are the alternatives to the free first Sunday?

Book a weekday slot for €7, join a Mass (free, for worship only), or take a short guided visit with reserved entry on another day.

A weekday at 9:00. The first hour is the quietest of the day, and a timed ticket from the official portal costs €7. Slots are released about a month ahead.

Mass. Entry for the Saturday 17:00 and Sunday 10:30 services is free. It is a service, not a visit: you sit, you stay, you do not wander around taking photos. Cover shoulders and knees; the dress code guide has the details.

Other national free days. In 2026 the Pantheon also opened free on 25 April (Liberation Day) and 2 June (Republic Day), following the ministry's practice of free state sites on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. In 2027, 25 April falls on a Sunday.

A short guided visit on another day. Crown Tours' 45-minute visit starts by Bernini's elephant on Piazza della Minerva and includes reserved entry. We would not book a paid visit for a first Sunday itself: the building is packed, and you would be paying for entry that is free that day.

A live guide and reserved entry on any other day: 15 minutes on Piazza della Minerva, then 30 under the dome.

★ 4.8 · 45 minutes · from $14

Explore the 45-minute guided tour → Tour details

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