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Vatican City-world map

HOLY SEE

The independent Vatican City-State is politically separate from but surrounded by the city of Rome, Italy. The main attractions are the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Basilica, but there are also wonderful, lesser-known experiences available in the 109-square-acre city.

  • Home of the Pope
  • Purchase metro, tram, bus, and local train passes at the train station (24-, 48-, 72-hour, 7-day passes)
  • Vespas are popular forms of transportation
  • Vatican City is safe, but be aware of Rome’s fast-moving traffic and pickpockets, particularly in tourist areas and public transit areas, especially Termini Station.

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Vatican City – St Peter’s Square Obelisk
Saint Peter’s Square Obelisk
Vatican City – St Peter’s Square Maderno Fountain
Saint Peter’s Square Maderno Fountain
Vatican City - St Peter's Basilica and Square
St Peter’s Basilica and Square
Vatican City – St Peter’s Basilica nave
St. Peter’s Basilica Nave
Vatican City - museum double helix stair
Vatican Museum double-helix stair
Vatican City – Appartamento di San Pio V cupola
Appartamento di San Pio V (Mannerist cupola painting) “Fall of Lucifer and Rebel Angels” Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari
Vatican City - museum courtyard
Vatican Pinecone Courtyard and “Sphere Within Sphere”
Vatican City – Giardino Quadrato garden fountain
Giardino Quadrato fountain
 

Basics

Know Before You Go

Italian + French + Latin

official language

Euro €

currency

5274

square feet

Vatican City

microstate

Architecture

Experiences

Food

Photo Gallery

Rail

  • TrenItalia‘s high-speed FRECCE trains from Rome take just under 1-1/2 hours to Florence and just over 1 hour to Naples, with service to all other major cities, like Milan and Venice. I found this “Walks of Italy” rail GUIDE to be very helpful.
  • TrainLine rail app is a good resource for making reservations.
  • Rail Europe is also a great source for making necessary train reservations—more travel information can be found in my post on an earlier trip: Northwestern Europe
  • Our Eurail passes covered our train travel between cities and villages within our selected countries on the continent
  • For local transport throughout Rome, we purchased unlimited 7-day journey passes at the train station, which includes metro, bus, tram, and local trains—information guide HERE
  • Metro maps were stored on our phones for quick reference, such as this one for Rome—get to Vatican City on Line A (toward Battistini from the center), get off at Ottaviano or Cipro:
Rome Metro/Train Map

Read More

All About the Vatican City + Rome

Culture

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How Pizza in Rome Will Entice You to Savor Perfection

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Culture

4 Pasta Dishes You Have to Try in Rome

One October day in Ancient Rome, a shepherd wandered with his flock into the hills of the Apennine Mountains carrying three ingredients: pasta, cheese, and pepper. He mixed them over a fire to create a basic dish of velvety sustenance. Two thousand years later, the proud waiter at Felice a Testaccio in the 20th rione…

Italy

Travel Guide: Vatican City

The world’s smallest country is also home to the Pope. However, not only Catholics make their pilgrimage to the Vatican, but people from around the world come in droves. Vatican City is a city-state politically separate from, but geographically surrounded by the city of Rome. The Vatican’s 3 main attractions Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and…

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