Vatican City travel

Vatican City is the independent country enclaved within Rome. With 110 acres and a population of around 1,000, it is the smallest country in the world in terms of both size and population. I am sure that Indian politicians would laugh at its size as almost all of them own bigger areas of land!! Vatican is the seat of Pope, head of worldwide Catholic church. 

 

Vatican City can be easily covered in a day. The main places to visit are St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s square, Vatican Museums and gardens. 

St. Peter’s Basilica

I visited Vatican on Sunday morning. As I had reached early, the crowd was not huge and I could quickly pass through the metal detectors. Security people did not allow me to take the Aluminium bottle and I had to keep it at a place to retrieve it later. Cameras and mobile phones was not an issue. Well, St. Peter’s Basilica is an important place and the security is understandable. It is the largest Church in the world and centre of catholics. It is huge and to give a perspective of its size, it is normally said that the statue of Liberty can be fit under the dome!! 

 

Indeed it looked huge from outside but nothing compared when I entered into the Basilica. I was awestruck at the huge size of the interior. Designed by Michelangelo, the place is stunning. The entire place is bright!!

 

During my visit, Sunday mass was ongoing and I got an opportunity to see it. As my knowledge on Christianity is very minimal, I chose to spend time to understand a bit of it. The whole place was peaceful.

 

Visit to Basilica is free but tickets are needed to climb up the dome. As it is a religious place, dress code is in place. Do not come with shorts or sleeveless shirts!! The place is closed on Wednesday morning for papal audiences.

St. Peter’s square

I spent about an hour inside the Basilica before coming out. As I came out, the view of St. Peters Square was something that caught my eye. It looked so wide and open!!

Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel

I had to visit the museum on Friday as it was closed on Sunday. Visiting Vatican museum requires a ticket but I could not find a slot suitable for me as I had already booked a slot in Colosseum (details here). Luckily, Vatican museums are opened on Friday night between 7 PM to 11 PM and I could get a ticket at 8:30 PM. You can get ticket at the official site (link here). The entry to Vatican museum includes Sistine chapel also.

 

I was told about the long queues in Vatican museum but I was able to enter directly on that night but it may be a different story during day time. 

 

The Vatican museums is one of the greatest galleries in the world. The paintings of Michelangelo on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel is stunning. It is not allowed to take photograph in Sistine Chapel though!!

 

The huge halls and corridors filled with paintings and sculptures are a treat to watch for any visitor. I would say it as a must visit in Rome. It took almost two hours for me to see the museum.

Some tips

• I have heard that the queues can be very long in Vatican City during peak season in summer. From my experience, the place was less crowded during morning and evening. Better to plan accordingly.
• Book the tickets to Vatican museums in advance during peak season.
• Vatican is in Rome and within walking distance from some of the tourist places in Rome (My experience of Rome can be read here). It is a very long walk (6 km) from Roma termini. Metro line A connects to Vatican City.
• Entry to museum on last Sunday of the month is free. Expect huge crowds and long queue.