At the very heart of Rome is the smallest state in the world, the Vatican. I love such rarities and I still wouldn’t miss visiting two countries at once during a weekend trip. Vatican City is explicitly a trip to see the sights and history, then there’s the whole surrounding Rome for culinary delights and city walks.
Tip: Avoid the queues and buy your tickets for the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums online in advance.
Where to stay in the Vatican
Not counting going to visit the Vatican itself and leaving Rome alone. There aren’t even any hotels directly in the Vatican area, so a good bet is the center of Rome, around Termini station (especially if you want to travel from Rome as well), or anywhere in between the Vatican and the center.
Tips for accommodation in Rome
- Boutique Hotel Galatea – a beautiful design hotel halfway between Termini Station, where you’re most likely to arrive in Rome, and the historic centre. And with a really great breakfast.
- Sunshine Apartment – roughly halfway between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. For accommodation for four, it’s already quite cheap.
- Relais San Lorenzo in Lucina – exceptionally nice Roman-style accommodation a short walk from the Spanish Steps.
Tickets to the Vatican
The Vatican is one of the extremely popular tourist destinations, so I definitely recommend buying your tickets in advance online. This will allow you not to wait in line and lose the dozens of minutes you might miss exploring the Vatican and Rome.
In the Vatican, you’ll probably want one of these:
- Sistine Chapel + Vatican Museums (skip the line)
- Sistine Chapel + Vatican Museums + Basilica (skip the line)
- Papal Audience (Wednesdays only, early morning)
Entrance to the Vatican
Although it is an independent state, there is no formal border crossing. You don’t need a passport or ID. You won’t even know you’ve crossed the border. Entry is free.
What to see in the Vatican
The boundaries of the Vatican begin with St Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro). You approach the Vatican via Piazza Pio XII, which still belongs to Italy. If you walk from Castel Sant’Angelo, you will come along the wide Via della Conciliazione at the end of which is St. Peter’s Basilica.
St. Peter’s Square
St Peter’s Square is the square directly in front of St Peter’s Basilica. From here the Pope often speaks to the faithful. Sunday blessings and Christmas and Easter Masses take place here. The square is surrounded by colonnades in the form of two open arms. The architect Bernini, who designed the square in the 17th century, called them“the mother hands of the Church welcoming the faithful“.
There are two copper plaques in the square, marked“Centro del Colonnato“. If you stand on one of them and look towards the colonnades, you will see an optical illusion where the four rows of columns look like a single row. This is due to the specific layout and curve of the colonnade, designed by Bernini.
St. Peter’s Basilica
The long queue in Vatican Square is for St Peter’s Basilica. It’s free to enter the basilica itself and you really just have to stand in line, which, while it looks intimidating (it’s often a full square of people), moves pretty quickly. Still, it might as well be an hour. After all, the space of the basilica is huge and you can fit a lot of people in at once.
The basilica is very illuminated, the light permeating the windows is a sight to behold. The main thing to see in the basilica:
- The statue of St Peter: the bronze statue of St Peter sitting on his throne has a ritual where visitors touch his right foot (it is quite visible) as a sign of respect and a request for blessing and protection.
- Michelangelo’s Pieta: the statue depicting Mary with the body of Jesus after he was taken down from the cross is one of Michelangelo’s most famous works.
- Tomb of St. Peter: under the basilica there are extensive catacombs, where St. Peter’s final resting place is located.
- St Peter’s Altar: the huge bronze altar, also called the Canopy, is directly above the place of St Peter’s tomb.
- Confessional altar: the altar where Catholic pilgrims can receive confession.
Tip: Book a skip-the-line ticket in advance for the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums.
The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica
Where you have to pay to enter is the dome of the basilica, an experience that is definitely worth it. You have the opportunity to see St Peter’s Square from the top of the basilica, as well as the Vatican Gardens behind the basilica. In addition, you get to go to the inner galleries of the dome and see the inside of the Basilica from above, and that is also a wonderful sight.
Entrance to the dome costs 10 euros with the lift (you only go up 320 steps) or 8 euros (you go up all 551 steps). The cheaper option is more worth it here, because there is only one elevator, it can hold maybe 10 people, so if you don’t go into the basilica when no one is going in (which I guess is not realistic, unless you are the first in line before the opening), you will lose maybe a few tens of minutes waiting for the elevator.
The first part of the way to the inner gallery is a quite ordinary staircase leading down a wide corridor. In the second part it is a narrow corridor for one person only, where the walls slope down and at the very end there is a short spiral staircase. Probably not much for the claustrophobic, but otherwise totally fine and the experience at the top is really beautiful. You can see all of St Peter’s Square and all of Rome. The ochoz is all the way around the dome.
Vatican Gardens
The gardens are full of historic buildings, fountains, ancient statues, flowers and trees. In addition, it offers a magnificent view of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican dome.
The gardens are not freely accessible but can be visited with a guide.
Tip: Book a tour of the Vatican Gardens and the Sistine Chapel in advance.
Sistine Chapel
The chapel is part of the Vatican Museums and is famous for its magnificent frescoes by Michelangelo. The most famous works in the chapel are the Creation of Adam and the Last Judgement on the ceiling and back wall of the chapel. The floor of the chapel with its marble patterns is also magnificent.
The Sistine Chapel is also the venue for the conclave of cardinals when a new pope is elected. When a new pope is elected, it is announced from the chapel through white smoke rising from the chimney, a ritual observed by people around the world.
Vatican Museums
A complex of museums and galleries housing huge collections of art and historical works, from ancient Egypt and Rome to the Renaissance. Among the most famous exhibits are the statues of Laocoön and his sons, Apollo Belvedere and Augustus of Primaporta.
There is also a map gallery, which is covered with detailed frescoes depicting maps of Italy. The most important part of the museums is the Sistine Chapel. A huge number of tourists come here, so it is better to book tickets without queuing in advance.
The closing days of the Vatican Museums are:
- Sundays, except the last Sunday of the month,
- 25 December,
- 15 August (the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary).
Vatican Post
On the left side of the square (when facing the basilica) is the Vatican Post Office. Here you can also buy and send Vatican postcards with a Vatican stamp, which is a kind of crap I couldn’t resist. The Vatican Post Office issues its own stamps, with the Pope’s likeness.
The Vatican Post is renowned for its reliability and speed.
Other places in Vatican City
- Vatican Libraries – collections of ancient manuscripts, books and maps.
- Vatican Necropolis – under St. Peter’s Basilica is the ancient cemetery where St. Peter was originally buried.
- Pinacoteca Vaticana – Vatican Gallery with unique collections of paintings by Renaissance masters such as Raffael, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio and others.
- Cappella Niccolina – a small chapel within the Vatican Museums that is often overlooked but has beautiful frescoes by Raffaello and his students.
- Sala dei Chiaroscuri – a room famous for its works of art using the technique of light and shadow (chiaroscuro).
Angel Castle and the Vatican
The nearby Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Angels) has historically been important to the Vatican. Today, as part of the museum, you will find the papal chambers. In the 6th century, the castle was converted into a fortress and connected to the Vatican by an 800-metre-long passageway in the walls of the Passetto di Borgo. This was used as the Pope’s escape route to safety.
Vatican ceremonies
There are many ceremonies in the Vatican where crowds gather in St Peter’s Square.
- Holy Mass – held on important feast days such as Christmas, Easter or the feast of St Peter and St Paul.
- The Pope’s Sunday blessing – at noon from the window of his suite in the Apostolic Palace.
- Canonization and beatification – solemn ceremonies during which new saints or blesseds are proclaimed.
Important information about the Vatican
- The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays. Except for the last Sunday of the month, it is free.
- Clothes for the Vatican: The Vatican requires conservative clothing; a short skirt or tank top can be a problem. Of course, this applies mainly to St Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, outside doesn’t matter.
The Pope and the Vatican
The spiritual leader of all Catholics in the world, but also one of the most famous and photographed personalities in the world. Without the Pope’s support, famous historical works such as the Sistine Chapel, which is decorated with Michelangelo’s frescoes, could not have been created.
The Pope’s window is the balcony above the main entrance of St Peter’s Basilica, from where the Pope traditionally gives his Sunday blessing. It is at noon on Sundays and lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. Quite a well-attended event, if you want a good view you should arrive an hour or two beforehand, probably even earlier in high season, at Christmas and Easter.
The Pope and the election of the Pope
The Pope is the supreme spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of the Vatican State. Once elected, he typically holds office for life, but he can also resign, which happened in 2013 and most recently 600 years ago.
Currently, the Holy See (the office of the Pope) is sede vacante, i.e. vacant. The last Pope Francis, whose own name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, came from Argentina and was the first ever pope from Latin America. He had been in office since 2013, and died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025.
- The election of the Pope takes place in a closed assembly of cardinals, the conclave, in the Sistine Chapel. Cardinals are not allowed to communicate with the outside world during the election.
- The result of the conclave vote is announced by smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney – black smoke means the Pope has not been elected, white smoke means he has. The smoke is made up of burning ballot papers (and chemicals). The white smoke is always accompanied by the ringing of the bells of St Peter’s Basilica, just to make sure. If the election is unsuccessful, the election is repeated, and the conclave can last several days.
- The newly elected Pope chooses his name to symbolize his pontificate. The choice of name often refers to an important figure in the history of the Church or to the values the Pope wishes to emphasize.
- The papal ring is destroyed after the Pope’s death as a sign of the end of his pontificate.
- The Pope moves around in the papamobile, which both protects him and allows him to be seen.
- The Pope can be seen at the Vatican every Sunday. The Pope lives in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens near St Peter’s Basilica.
Interesting facts about the Vatican
- You can’t be born in the Vatican. I mean, technically it can happen, of course, but there is no official Vatican birth certificate, you will have one of the hospitals in Rome.
- The Vatican has just over 800 inhabitants, they are not ordinary people, residents, their citizenship is usually temporary and linked to some function in the Vatican. By definition, most of the Vatican’s residents are men.
- The Vatican flag is one of only 2 flags in the world that is square in shape (along with the Swiss flag). It is vertically divided into a left yellow part and a right white part. In the white are the crossed keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and above them the papal tiara.
- ATM in Latin. You don’t just see that. But there is one in the Vatican Bank. Of course, you can switch to English. The currency of the Vatican is the euro.
- A complete ban on smoking. A smoking ban has been in place since 2002 and the sale of tobacco products is prohibited throughout the Vatican.
- There is a railway in the Vatican. It is one of the shortest in the world and the shortest international railway, at only 1.27 kilometres. It connects the Stazione Vaticana and Rome’s Stazione di Roma San Pietro. It is used for ceremonial purposes and transporting the Pope, but mainly for transporting goods to the Vatican.
- The Vatican has its own national football team.
- Italian is spoken in the Vatican. But the Vatican has no official language. The Holy See uses Latin.
Where is the Vatican
Vatican City is part of Italy, but has the status of a separate city-state. The Vatican City is the smallest state in the world and occupies an area of only 44 hectares. It is located in the centre of Rome and is surrounded by Italian territory. The Vatican was recognized as an independent state by international law in 1929 when the Lateran Treaty was signed between the Holy See and the Italian government. Today, the Vatican is recognised as an independent state and has its own flag, anthem, currency, post office, radio and television station, and even its own army – the Swiss Guard.
How to get to the Vatican City
The Vatican is in Rome, and you can easily walk here from the centre.
Tip: You can easily take the shuttle bus from the airport to the Vatican, it’s only a euro more expensive (7€) than the shuttle bus to Roma Termini (6€).
From Roma Termini Station, it’s 6 stops by metro A to Ottaviano, taking half an hour. From Roma Termini, bus 64 takes five minutes longer to the Cavalleggeri/S stop. Pietro.