Castel Sant’Angelo is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 7:30 pm per Google Maps, and closed on Mondays. The booking platform CoopCulture lists last admission at 6:30 pm, so the practical window for Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours is nine and a half hours a day. If you haven’t bought yet, my page on Castel Sant’Angelo tickets compares ten of them. This guide covers the hours, the best time to go, how to get there and what to know on arrival.
Castel Sant’Angelo Opening Hours
Today is Saturday 7 November 2026, and per Google Maps Castel Sant’Angelo opens 9 am to 7:30 pm. The week looks like this:
Day
Hours per Google Maps
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
9 am to 7:30 pm
Wednesday
9 am to 7:30 pm
Thursday
9 am to 7:30 pm
Friday
9 am to 7:30 pm
Saturday
9 am to 7:30 pm
Sunday
9 am to 7:30 pm
CoopCulture, which handles the booking, lists the same Tuesday to Sunday hours with last admission at 6:30 pm, and says the first Monday of each month opens from 2 pm to 8 pm with last admission at 7 pm. The page names no other 2026 closures, and it does not mention 25 December or 1 January, so check the official site for holiday hours.
Castel Sant Angelo Official Website
The museum’s website, as listed on Google Maps, is castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it, and the Castel Sant Angelo official website is where fees, free days and closures are published. Tickets are sold through CoopCulture. CoopCulture says free days are handled at the ticket office without online reservation, and ties a single Castel Sant’Angelo ticket to free entry to two house museums, the Casa Museo Boncompagni Ludovisi and the Casa Museo Hans Christian Andersen, until 31 December 2026. It shows no ticket price, so fees are not repeated here. The GetYourGuide listings I compared add a phone audio guide or a live guide on top of the entry.
Castel St Angelo Hours
The Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours do not change by season in anything I could see: the same Tuesday to Sunday pattern appears on Google Maps and on CoopCulture. People who type Castel St Angelo hours want the same answer as above: Tuesday to Sunday, 9 am to 7:30 pm, with last admission an hour earlier according to CoopCulture. Arrive at least an hour before the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours end if you want the terrace and the rooms. The guided tours I compared run 1 to 2 hours, so a 5:30 pm start is the latest I’d choose.
What Is Castel Sant’angelo
Before the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours matter, it helps to know what you are visiting. Castel Sant’Angelo is a cylindrical fortress on the Tiber, built as the tomb of Emperor Hadrian and finished around 139 AD. Wikipedia says the popes later turned it into a castle dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, and that it is now a museum. It was a papal refuge during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and a prison, and it appears in Puccini’s Tosca. A covered corridor, the Passetto di Borgo, links it to Saint Peter’s Basilica. Wikidata gives a figure of 918,591 visitors a year.
Do You Need Tickets for Castel Sant’angelo
Yes, you need a ticket to go inside during the opening hours, and buying ahead removes the ticket office queue. The cheapest I found is the Crown Tours entry at $20 with a digital audio guide, rated 4.6 from 9,356 reviews, which is the card below. Outside, the riverside and the Ponte Sant’Angelo are free to walk. If you would rather pay the museum directly, use its official booking page.
Crown Tours
Castel Sant'Angelo Entry Ticket & Digital Audioguide
★4.6 (9,356 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The cheapest way in at $20 and the most reviewed, 9,356 at 4.6: entry plus an audio guide app, cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Entry to Castel Sant'Angelo
✓ Staff assistance at the meeting point
✓ Castel Sant'Angelo Ticket
✓ Audio guide app on your smartphone
Not included / not suitable
✕ Guided tour
✕ Transportation
✕ Food & Drinks
✕ Tips
Meeting point: From Ponte Sant'Angelo, facing the main entrance of Castel Sant'Angelo, walk approximately 50 meters to the right. You will see the park entrance on your left. Enter the park and our coordinators will be waiting on the first bench on the left, wearing purple "Crown Tours" t-shirts or jackets and holding a purple "Crown Tours" flag. If you find yourself in the middle or at the far end of the park, please walk towards the park entrance gate on the river side. Our coordinators are located near the entrance gate.
Please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled start time and collect your tickets from our staff before entering Castel Sant'Angelo. Late arrivals may not be admitted. This activity includes a digital audioguide accessible via an app. Expert hosts will assist with downloading. Ensure your phone is fully charged, with internet and headphones. Viale Cardinale dell'Acqua, 00193 Roma RM, Italy
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Excellent experience all around. Very easy to access!” – GetYourGuide review
The Rome opening hours for the castle fit a day that starts at the Vatican: open from 9 am, Tuesday to Sunday. The Monday closure in the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours catches many visitors, so plan Castel Sant’Angelo for another day if your Rome trip includes a Monday. On the first Monday of a month, CoopCulture lists an afternoon opening from 2 pm to 8 pm.
Best Time to Visit Castel Sant’Angelo
Within the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours, the choice is between morning and evening. I found no official crowd data, so the quietest times are something I can’t state. What the data does show is the weather. Open-Meteo figures for 2025 show June as the driest month with 2 rainy days and 14 hours of sunshine on average, while March had 17 rainy days. July had 6 rainy days, with sunset at 8:43 pm, and November had 10 rainy days and a 4:49 pm sunset. The castle closes at 7:30 pm, so a summer visit shortly before closing catches the evening light over the Tiber, from the terrace, per the reviews that praise the view. In winter the sun sets before closing, so go in the morning. The sources are Open-Meteo historical data.
One tour comes with an aperitivo: the Show Me Italy listing includes a semi-private sunset tour with aperitivo as an option. I’d read its reviews first, as it holds 2.8 stars from 19 reviews.
How to Get to Castel Sant’Angelo
The address is Lungotevere Castello, 50, 00193 Rome. Distances below are straight-line from the Google Maps coordinates, and the walking time is my estimate at 4.8 km/h with a 1.3 detour factor.
From
Distance
Walk
Lepanto metro station
0.94 km
about 15 minutes
Ottaviano metro station
0.98 km
about 16 minutes
Saint Peter’s Basilica
1.03 km
about 17 minutes
Pantheon
1.01 km
about 16 minutes
Piazza Navona
0.71 km
about 12 minutes
Plan your arrival around the opening hours. The Rome public transport operator ATAC has route planning. Most visitors walk in from the Vatican side along Via della Conciliazione, or from the old town across the Ponte Sant’Angelo. For the Vatican itself, see the Vatican Museums tickets, and the Pantheon tickets for the other side of the river.
Planning Around the Opening Hours
A morning slot suits the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours best if you combine the castle with Saint Peter’s Basilica, because the walk between them is about 17 minutes on my estimate. A late-afternoon slot works in summer when the sun sets after 8 pm. Book a timed audio-guide ticket or a tour for the hour you pick, and leave a buffer of 30 minutes after the last admission time listed by CoopCulture, since the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours end at 7:30 pm and the rooms take time to clear. Tours that start on the hour with a guide are strict about late arrival, and the listings say no-shows are not refunded.
Where the Entrance and Meeting Points Are
The entrance faces Lungotevere Castello. The tour operators meet you in front of it: Loving Rome, City Walkers and Doooing at the main entrance, the Touristation staff at the same entrance with an orange umbrella. The Crown Tours coordinators sit in the park, about 50 meters to the right of the entrance as you face it from the bridge, wearing purple shirts.
Is Castel Sant’Angelo Worth It
I think Castel Sant’Angelo is worth it for the terrace view and the walk up through the old papal apartments, and I’d allow about two hours. Google Maps rates it 4.7 from 112,835 reviews, and the entry ticket with a digital audio guide costs $20 and holds 4.6 from 9,356 reviews. Saint Peter’s Basilica is only about 17 minutes away on foot by my estimate, so the castle fits into the same morning if the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours suit you. The walk over the Ponte Sant’Angelo is free, so if you only want the exterior, you can skip the ticket, but the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours matter if you want the terrace. I compare the guided options on my Castel Sant’Angelo tours page.
What to Know Before You Go
Beyond the Castel Sant’Angelo opening hours, a few practical points. Entry is ticketed, and for the tours the listings say late arrivals are not refunded. Bring your phone: the audio guide tickets work through an app, and one reviewer advises downloading it before you arrive. CoopCulture states that the cloakroom is unavailable, animals are not allowed, and tickets are personal: bring an original ID matching the ticket details. It gives no dress code. Allow two hours. The terrace has a cafe, per reviewers of the Crown and GetYourGuide tickets.
Google Maps lists Castel Sant'Angelo open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 7:30 pm and closed on Monday. The booking platform CoopCulture gives the same hours with last admission at 6:30 pm, plus a first-Monday opening of 2 pm to 8 pm, so check the official site for your date.
What time is the last entry at Castel Sant'Angelo?+
CoopCulture lists last admission at 6:30 pm Tuesday to Sunday, an hour before the 7:30 pm closing. On the first Monday of the month it lists 2 pm to 8 pm with last admission at 7 pm. The same page says reservations are recommended every day, especially at weekends and on holidays.
Is Castel Sant'Angelo closed on any days?+
Google Maps shows it closed every Monday, and CoopCulture lists Mondays and 3 May 2026 as closing days. It adds the first Monday of each month, August to early December, as an afternoon opening, so Mondays are the day to check.
How long do you need at Castel Sant'Angelo?+
The listings I compared give 1 hour for the short Loving Rome guided tour, 1.5 hours for the terrace ticket and 2 hours for the audio-guide and small-group options. I'd plan two hours, longer if you stop for a coffee on the terrace.
Do you need tickets for Castel Sant'Angelo?+
Yes, entry to the museum is ticketed, and booking ahead saves you the ticket office line. A reviewer of the $25 GetYourGuide ticket calls it a super convenient way to bypass that line. Walking around the outside and crossing the Ponte Sant'Angelo needs no ticket.
What is the official website of Castel Sant'Angelo?+
Google Maps links castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it as the museum's website, and tickets are sold through the CoopCulture booking platform. Both are better sources for fees and holiday hours than a reseller listing.
