What to see in Vatican City

In this article you will discover what to see in Vatican City, the smallest country in the world !

The Vatican is an independent state surrounded by Rome, with just 0,44km².

Before going into more details, here’s the list of the places to see that I’ll present below :

• The Vatican museums
• The Apostolic Palace & the Sistine Chapel
• The Vatican gardens
• St Peter’s Basilica & St Peter’s square

To have a better overview of those monuments and the Vatican, check out the map from the official Vatican website :

As you can see, half of the state is occupied by the gardens (in green), and the other half by the museums (in orange).

Even if it is really small, I suggest dedicating at least a full day to visit the Vatican.

The main thing to see in the Vatican is the museums.

The Vatican Museums are a museum complex consisting of 12 museums, in 54 different galleries and 1400 rooms ! It houses one of the largest art collections in the world, amassed by the popes from the XVII century onwards.

They are open from 9am to 6pm everyday except Sundays (it is open from 9am to 12pm the last Sunday of the month though).

The cost for the entrance is 17€ for regular tickets and 8€ for student ticket. I do suggest booking in advance in peak season. As we went in January there was no queue for getting the ticket at 4pm.

I do recommend getting a map at the entrance because theres lots of rooms and you can quickly miss something or get lost.

You’ll come across roughly 20,000 works of art on display, among the 70,000 housed in the museums.

Other than the beautiful art collection displayed in the different galleries, the rooms in themselves are totally worth the visit.

From the ceilings :

To the tiled floors :

Including the paintings on the walls :

Don’t forget to check out :

• The Raphael rooms. It is a group of rooms that are famous for their frescoes painted by Raphael, marking the High Renaissance in Rome.
• The Spiral staircase. It consists of 2 separate flights that allow people to ascend and descend without running into each other.
• The Gallery of Maps. It is a 120 meter long gallery covered with 40 painted maps of Italy by Danti.
• The Apostolic palace and the Sistine Chapel. I mention everything in detail in the next section.
• The Lapidary gallery, the Sala Rotunda and much more…

 The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the reigning pope. We only have access to a certain number of rooms, which will be clealy enough because there’s already a lot to see !

The Sistine Chapel, built in 1477-1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, is located in the Apostolic Palace. It was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.

Over 40 scenes were painted onto the ceiling, depicting 9 stories of Genesis, ancestors of Jesus, the 12 Prophets, Moses…

The Last Judgement is probably the most famous work of art in there. Painted on the wall behind the altar, it depicts the second coming of Christ on the Day of Judgment.

You will know when you get to the Sistine Chapel, mainly because there are lots of guards, and eveyone is looking up in complete silence (which is one of the rules when you enter the Chapel).

If you visited the museums in the main order, the Sistine Chapel is the last room you’ll enter.

After the sistine Chapel, you will be directed to the Vatican gardens. They occupy half of Vatican City.

In the main courtyard, you’ll see a sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro, made in 1960. It’s a bronze globe called sphere within a sphere and meant to represent the world within the world. 

You have to buy a specific ticket to see the Gardens as they can only be visited with a guided tour. The tours are always in the mornings, and you cannot re-entry later for the museums, it’s a combined one time entry ticket.

This is why this option wasn’t offered to us when we came in the afternoon.

As I only a saw a small portion of the gardens, I wo’nt have lot’s of pictures, however here’s a list of what you will find if you decide to book this additional tour :

• Saint John’s Tower: this medieval tower offers great views of the gardens and the surrounding
• The Lourdes Grotto: A replica of the pilgrimage cave in France, where a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous saw a vision of the Madonna.

• Palazza di Leone XIII, Fountain of the Eagle…

St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica San Pietro), located on St Peter’s square (Piazza San Pietro), is the largest church in the world.

This italian Renaissance church was built in 1506 and completed in 1626.

The outside is already stunning, but the inside is grandiose

There’s a lot more to see in the basilica :

• The cuppola (the dome)
• The Vatican Grottoes, an underground graveyard that contains the tombs of many Vatican popes.
• La Pietà, a work of art sculpted by Michelangelo when he was 24. It is the only piece ever to have been signed by him.
• St Peter’s tomb and the Chair of St Peter 

That’s it for my recommendations when coming to visit Vatican City ! If you are spending a few days in Rome, here’s my food guide on the best places to eat in Rome and an itinerary of the best places to see by night in Rome.