Vatican City might be the smallest country in the world, but this country has so much to offer for anyone who has an extra day in Rome. Vatican City is nestled in the Heart of Rome behind the Vatican City walls.
Quick Link to:
To-Do
- Vatican Museum: We started our day bright and early in Vatican City by going to the Museum. The museum is open at 9 am every day and closes at 6 pm Friday-Saturday and 2 pm on Sundays. To get in the museum it cost us 16.00€ per person. We were able to take our time on this self guided tour to enjoy the beautiful artwork and sculptures.
- Sistine Chapel: With the museum entry pass it allowed us to go inside the famous Sistine Chapel and the beautiful gardens of Vatican City. We were glad we brought our walking shoes and some water since we definitely got our steps in. When we walked towards the Sistine Chapel from the Museum, we noticed some beautiful maps of Italy and surrounding areas that had been hand painted on the walls. Since we love history and geography this was very interesting to look at because of all the detail that was put into the artwork.
Once we passed through the hall of maps, we found ourselves at the Sistine Chapel. Even though we took the “shortcut” to the chapel, it still took 30 minutes to cut through the Museum. Once we stepped inside the chapel, we were able to marvel at the famous ceiling that Michelangelo painted himself. The Creation of Adam is the most famous painting on the ceiling. You can learn more about the Sistine Chapel right here.
Travel Tip: Once you are inside the Sistine Chapel make sure you take no photographs or wear any ball caps. Photography is prohibited inside the chapel. You are watched by the Vatican City guards inside and even if you try to sneak in a quick picture they will yell at you. This didn’t happen to us but we saw some people get yelled at which was a little entertaining. So relax a little and just enjoy the beautiful artwork with your eyes.
Once we completed our self guided tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, we made sure to stop at the post office to send out a postcard with a Vatican City stamp. Find out more about the Vatican City post office here.
- St. Peters Basilica: This is one of the most beautiful and biggest Catholic churches in the world and everything is so grand inside. We were able to do a nice self guided tour of St. Peters Basilica.
We did have to wait in a small line to get through security but we didn’t have to worry about any entrance fee as this guided tour is free of charge. As soon as we walked in, towards our right we saw the Pietà sculpture that Michelangelo sculpted.
We definitely took our time when walking through the basilica as there was so much artwork to see. To find out more about St. Peters Basilica click here.
Travel Tip: The lines at St. Peter’s Basilica are long between 1-4 pm so it’s a good idea to go back to Rome to grab a nice Italian meal during this time.
Since we are always up for an adventure, we took the journey up to the very top of the dome. This only costs 5€ if you want to climb the stairs (320 Steps to the base level) or 7€ to take the elevator to the base.
We personally chose the elevator because our feet were so tired from the long day and we wanted a small break. Once getting to the base, we then took the steep narrow stairs to the top of the dome (551 steps in total). Regardless if you take the elevator you will still have to walk up those steps. On top we enjoyed the beautiful views of Vatican City and Rome.
Travel Tip: The best time to journey to the top of the dome is right before sunset. Make sure you get up on top a bit before the sun goes down so you can enjoy the daytime city view as well. Also, just a fair warning when walking up the stairs from the base level to the top of the dome it is very narrow which means if you are claustrophobic it might be best to enjoy the view from the base level as this could be extremely uncomfortable.
Food
- Panico: Since Vatican City is extremely small, we ended up going out to Rome to eat our lunch and it was only a 10 minute walk to get there.
From Vatican City we walked towards Castel Sant’Angelo (fort-like building). When we were next to the fort, we took the Ponte Sant’Angelo pedestrian bridge across the Tiber River. As soon as we crossed the river, we noticed a little café style restaurant called Panico. This Italian restaurant had really good pasta and wine. We also ordered some bruschetta to start our meal off. This restaurant may not have the best reviews on TripAdvisor but we really had no issues and enjoyed our meal.
We hope that you enjoyed our post about Vatican City and take the time to see this small but incredible country!
