Tips on Visiting the Vatican: Travel Guide, Tricks + FAQ!

If you are planning on visiting Vatican City and not quite sure where to start, this travel guide will cover all the incredible sights to see, the strict dress code and other FAQ’s.

Did you know that approximately 19,000 people visit the Vatican every day? That many people in such a small place can make things pretty hectic! If you plan on visiting the Vatican, think ahead to make the most of your time at the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel) and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Table of Contents

Visiting the Vatican packs quite the punch considering that Vatican City is the smallest country in the world!

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Vatican, from the best way to enjoy the museums to when to go to exactly what to wear.

Best Time to Visit The Vatican

Personal space is non-existent in the Vatican Museums, and you’re going to be nudged along as you try to catch a glimpse of the many treasures that lay inside.

While there isn’t a best time of day to visit the Vatican, there are a few things you can do to explore the Vatican with slightly fewer people:

Don’t make the same mistake as every other tourist!

Avoid the Summer Months: Rome is, for obvious reasons, at its busiest in the summer. From June to August, people from all over the world come to the city for the mid-year holidays. Tickets and tours to the Vatican sell out in advance, and you’ll have a harder time trying to plan a last-minute visit. If you can’t avoid the summer, then it would be highly recommended to buy your ticket to the Vatican well in advance and consider splurging on the more expensive tours (like the night visits) for a calmer experience.

Visit the Vatican in the Winter: The winter months are low season in Rome. December to February are the best months to visit the Vatican if you want smaller crowds. The only exception is Christmas and the first week of January when the Vatican is as busy as the summer months.

Buy a Skip the Line Ticket: You’re going to find a long line of people waiting to get into the Vatican, whether you wake up at the crack of dawn or come in the later part of the afternoon. (Trust me I’ve tried!) You can spend hours waiting to go in, so it’s well worth paying the extra Euros to avoid that hell.

Visit the Vatican in the Evening: Something I wish I knew when I visited- From April to October, you can buy a tour that lets you explore the Vatican Museums on a Friday night. With much smaller crowds, you’ll have more time to appreciate the artworks and the experience won’t feel as rushed.

Avoid Wednesdays and Saturdays: On Wednesdays, the Vatican is swarming with devote Catholics that want to attend the Papal Audience. On the weekend, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums are at their busiest on Saturday’s when travellers from around Italy and Europe fill up the city.

Avoid the Last Sunday of the Month: On the last Sunday of the month, you can visit the Vatican Museums for free. While this is a great deal for budget travellers visiting Rome, it’s no surprise that the museums will be overflowing with people.

Be more productive during COVID-19 isolation

What to See When Visiting the Vatican

Here are the parts of Vatican City to consider when planning your visit:

St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s Square is the easiest part of the Vatican to visit–you can simply walk in and admire the beautiful oval square and exterior of St. Peter’s Basilica without any advance planning. If you are visiting the Vatican Museums, your tour will end here.

The Vatican Museums

You will need a ticket or tour to visit, and when people talk about how long the lines are to get into the Vatican, they’re most commonly referring to the lines for these museums.

The Vatican Museums are home to some of the most incredible works of art in the entire world, including Raphael’s most famous frescoes and the Sistine Chapel.

The Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is accessed through the Vatican Museums and cannot be visited separately. This is where you will see the magnificent ceiling painted by Michelangelo and is one of the most well-known houses of worship on the planet.

St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica is free to visit, but you will need to pass through a security checkpoint to enter, and the lines for that can get very long.

It is the largest church on the planet, and a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture (Michelangelo and Bernini both contributed to its design).

You can also visit the dome of St. Peter’s however, climbing the dome does require a ticket, and from there you can admire incredible views of St. Peter’s Square.

Papal Audience

When the Pope is at home in Vatican City, he gives an audience each Wednesday morning in St. Peter’s Square that is open to anyone who would like to join.

Tickets are free but must be booked in advance.

Important Tips for Visiting the Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums house the largest private art collection in the world–and despite the enormous amount of art and historical artifacts displayed, only the tiniest sliver of the complete collection is on display to the public!

Beautiful, overwhelming, and one of the most highly sought-after art museums in the world, visiting the Vatican Museums can be a bit of an intense experience.

Here’s what to know before you go:

Plan to spend at least two hours in the museums.

Once you add in time to get there, security checks, potentially waiting in line, and maybe visiting St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square, it’s best to consider at least a half-day commitment visiting the Vatican if you’re going to be touring the museums.

It is hard to visit the Vatican Museums in less than two hours without simply making a beeline for the Sistine Chapel and not paying attention to much else.

Don’t rush to the Sistine Chapel.

As our first time visiting the Vatican, we were highly anticipating the Sistine Chapel and always hoping it was coming up soon… but it’s one of the last things you see, so be sure to appreciate everything along the way!

Strongly consider booking a guided tour.

Guided tours add so much context to a Vatican Museums visit, and offer the opportunity to learn so much about the history of the art in the museums. They also make visiting the Vatican far less stressful from start to finish.

In saying this, do make sure you do at least a bit of research with who you book with. We had the unfortunate experience of booking a guide of whom we couldn’t even hear half the time, spoke quickly and rushed us through each section not leaving us enough time to really take in what we were looking at! We ended up leaving the group half way through and took in the museums at our own pace, listening to other guides that were in the section we were looking at instead.

… and at the very least, absolutely book skip-the-line tickets.

I highly recommend booking skip-the-line tickets or even these early-access ones.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the lines to access the Vatican Museums are the worst we have ever seen at any museum in the world.

Keep in mind alternative hours.

The general opening hours for the Vatican Museums are Monday – Saturday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (with the last entry at 4:00 PM).

However, there are a few ways to access the Vatican Museums outside these hours:

Early Morning VIP Entry

With early-morning entry, either via pre-booked tickets for an independent visit or via a tour, you can enter the Vatican Museums as early as 7:30 AM, therefore avoiding the worst of the crowds.

Friday Nights Between April and October

For seven months out of the year, the Vatican Museums are open on Friday nights until 11:00 PM (last entry at 9:30 PM) and are known to be far less crowded than general entry hours. Something I wish I knew before I visited.

Don’t take photos in the Sistine Chapel.

Despite this being obviously and clearly banned, complete with repeated announcements every few minutes from the security officers and strict enforcement, you’ll still see people trying to snap photos of the Sistine Chapel. Don’t be one of them!

What to wear when Visiting the Vatican Museums

Follow the strict dress code!

There is a strict dress code for visiting the Vatican Museums. Essentially, no shorts, no bare shoulders, no cleavage, and no hats.

This is most strongly enforced in the Sistine Chapel, but as a gesture of respect and to avoid the risk of being denied entry, you should absolutely follow the Vatican Museums’ dress code.

We recommend light, loose clothing that will allow you to stay both covered andcool, because the museums can get very warm.

How to Get to Vatican City

Vatican City is located in the heart of Rome and is easily accessed by either foot, metro, or bus.

Keep in mind, it’s a 15-minute walk around the edge of the Vatican from St. Peter’s Square to the entrance to the Vatican Museums.

FAQ About Visiting Vatican City

Here are the answers to some of the most common Vatican City FAQs!

What is the Vatican City dress code?

The Vatican Museums, Vatican Gardens, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel have a strict dress code. You’ll want to avoid wearing anything sleeveless, any shorts, or showing cleavage. Hats are also not allowed.

If you’re just visiting St. Peter’s Square, you don’t need to subscribe to the dress code.

Is Vatican City a country?

Yes, it is–it’s the smallest country in the world, covering only 0.2 miles of land area.

It’s also one of the only absolute monarchies in the world, with the Pope ruling it both as the Pope (overseeing The Holy See, aka the Catholic Church), and the King (overseeing the country of Vatican City).

Vatican City is not part of the UN, but The Holy See (aka the Catholic Church) is a permanent observer of the UN.

Do you need your passport to enter the Vatican?

Nope!

Even though it is a country, there’s no need to bring your passport when visiting the Vatican.

Can you visit Vatican City for free?

Yes!

If your goal is only to step inside the country of Vatican City, you can enter St. Peter’s Square (for free, and without waiting in line) and St. Peter’s Basilica (for free, but after waiting in line) to pay a quick visit to the country.