Prices and who pays what
The castle is a state museum run by the Ministry of Culture's Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma. Its museum page and the ministry's listing give the same prices (checked 12 October 2026):
| Visitor | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult, full | €18 |
| EU citizen aged 18–25 | €2 |
| Under 18 | Free |
| Everyone, first Sunday of the month | Free |
| First Monday of the month, 14:00–20:00 (2026) | €5 special ticket |
The ministry's concessions page sets the national rules behind these rates: free entry under 18 at state museums, children under 12 accompanied, and €2 for EU citizens aged 18–25.
Sample cost: two adults with children aged 12 and 16 pay €36. Two 22-year-old EU students pay €4.
Opening hours, closed days and special openings
- Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–19:30, last entry 18:30.
- Closed on Mondays, 1 January and 25 December, unless the ministry orders a special opening.
- "Lunedì di Castello": from 3 August 2026 and for the rest of 2026, the castle also opens on the first Monday of each month, 14:00–20:00 (last entry 19:00), with a €5 ticket sold only at the castle, no booking and no groups. The remaining dates this year are Monday 2 November and Monday 7 December.
The museum page also lists evening openings and events when they are scheduled; on 4 October, for example, the castle reopened at 19:30 with ordinary €18 tickets. Check the notices on the page for your dates.
How to book, and the named-ticket rule
Buy on the Musei Italiani platform (museiitaliani.it) or app, linked from the museum page, or through the call centre on +39 06 399 671 00 (Monday to Friday 9:00–18:00, Saturday 9:00–14:00). The museum page calls booking "recommended every day", especially on weekends and holidays; the ministry listing marks it as optional. When checked, tickets were on sale through October 2026.
Each ticket is nominative. At the entrance you show the ticket and an original identity document, and the names must match. You can change the name once, up to midnight on the day before the visit.
On the first Sunday of the month there is no online booking: everyone queues at the ticket office for a free, non-named ticket, from 9:00 with last entry at 18:30.
The Passetto di Borgo and the castle's upper levels
The Passetto di Borgo is open only on separate guided or accompanied tours. Daytime tours run Friday to Sunday from 9:00 to 13:00 and include castle entry; Saturday evening tours from 19:00 to 23:00 add a walk on the bastions with the museum closed. Tour prices and slots are on Musei Italiani.
The ministry's photo gallery for the castle includes the Terrazza dell'Angelo among the museum's spaces. Neither official page checked lists separate hours or a separate ticket for it, so treat it as part of the ordinary route and ask at the entrance if any level is closed for works.
Combining it with nearby sights
The castle stands on the Lungotevere near St Peter's. If you plan both on one day, Vatican Museums tickets and St Peter's covers the Museums' Sunday closures and the basilica's dress rules. The Pantheon is run by the same Direzione and also uses named tickets.