Visiting the Vatican - How to Plan Ahead

Hey guys, Sean here from The Roman Guy with another how-to video. Today I'm going to explain how to plan your visit to the Vatican City. Did you know that on average 19,000 people visit the Vatican every day? That many people in such a small place can make things pretty hectic. In this video I'm going to tell you how to get to the Vatican, when to go, the coolest things to see, and how to best explore it in one day. The Vatican is located in the northwest corner of the historical center. It's reachable by bus number 64 from Termini station in about 20 minutes. From the San Pietro bus stop you have to walk about eight minutes to the entrance to the Vatican Museums which is on the opposite side of the Vatican City from which you arrive. There is also a bus from the Colosseum. You'll need to walk about three minutes from the Colosseum to San Gregorio bus stop which is right near the Arch of Constancy. From here you can jump on the bus number 81. You get off at Piazza Risorgimento or bus stop Risorgimento and from there it's about a five minute walk to the Vatican Museums entrance. You'll probably already see the line to get inside the Vatican from Piazza Risorgimento. I personally am not a huge bus person so I would take the Metro line A or the red line from Termini station which also takes about 20 minutes. If you're staying near the Spanish Steps or the Trevi Fountain there are nearby metro stations to those locations. You can get off at Cipro or Ottaviano. Most people get off at Ottaviano because it comes before Cipro. Either way it's a five minute walk from each area up to the Vatican Museums entrance. Below in the description there's a link to our blog with practical information from this video as well as a metro line and bus map. You can actually take the train to St. Peter's station or Stazione San Pietro from Termini station as well. I'm not talking about the metro, I'm talking about a physical choo-choo train. The train takes about 20 minutes and it stops at Ostienza station and Trastevere station. So from Termini it's 20 minutes. If you get on at Ostienza, if you're staying near there it's 10 minutes and from Trastevere station it's about a six minute train ride. It sounds more intimidating than it is. It's just like a subway except it's not subterranean. It's easy to get a Trane Italia ticket for the train. You just go to find an automatic ticket machine which are basically every train station. Just select the language of your choice, tap on buy a ticket, write in Roma San Pietro or Roma S. Pietro. If you write San Pietro that's it. Before Roma nothing will pop up so be specific. After that just select the date and the time you need for the ticket. Most of the machines have like a convenient contactless payment method or you can pay by credit card. Your ticket will print a moment after that. It's pretty simple and remember to validate it. It's probably the most important step. Walking is definitely another way you can get to the Vatican City and Vatican Museums. If you're staying near Campo di Fiori or Piazza Navona, I definitely consider walking if the weather is right. You can also take a taxi to get the Vatican Museums. It should cost about 10 or 20 euros based on where you are and should be much higher than that if you're in the historical center. Whatever you do, don't get into a taxi and start bargaining. Just tell them where you want to go and the meter will run and that's how much you should pay. Don't tell them Vatican please because if you say Vatican please it will drop you off at St. Peter's Basilica. You can say Vatican Museums entrance and they should know where to go. Okay so at this point you should probably be at the Vatican Museums or at the Vatican City. You know how to get there so we can start talking about the cool part, the exciting part and that is your trip to the Vatican Museums and Vatican City. Now while you're in Rome you should definitely plan to visit the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica and even the Vatican Gardens. Much of the area is open to the public but nothing is guaranteed without booking in advance. So I'm gonna take a quick break for a coffee. While I'm doing that if you wouldn't mind liking our video if you like our video. If you love our video subscribe and we get all of our latest videos as soon as they come out. Otherwise enjoy. You can see here on the map an aerial view of the Vatican City. You can see on the right hand side of the map the Vatican Museums entrance on It's right across the street from Cafe Vaticano. It's a very popular meeting place for tours. Our tours meet right by there. So if you're looking at the map it's a good reference point. If you also look at the map these highlighted areas are the Vatican Museums. So you can see there they're a different color but the Sistine Chapel is here and it's also including your ticket to get inside. Whatever you do don't just show up to the Vatican Museums expecting it to be open. It often closes and has special hours due to religious ceremonies. But on an average Monday through Saturday the Vatican Museums open doors at 9 a.m with the last entrance at 4 p.m. They normally kick everyone out at about 6 p.m. I recommend checking the link below in the description entitled Vatican Hours of Operation if you want more information on this to plan your visit. It explains the hours, holidays, and ticket prices in more detail. I hear horror stories all the time about unprepared travelers not getting in because of a special event. Don't be that guy. The St. Peter's Basilica is located on the left hand side of the map. It's free to get inside which is awesome but you'll find yourself waiting in a long security line unless you go in in the early morning and I'm talking like 7 a.m 8 a.m. By 9 o'clock there will be a line. The Basilica is open every day from 7 a.m to 7 p.m from April until September. That's like summer hours and 7 a.m to 6 p.m October through March. You cannot enter the Basilica in the morning on Wednesdays because of the papal audience but click on the link below labeled St. Peter's Basilica Hours of Operation for more specific information. Mostly every Wednesday the Pope will lead the papal audience. I kind of touched upon this a second ago. It isn't a mass. It's a blessing and it's a blessing that happens in many many languages. In the winter this is held in the Hall of Pope Paul VI. It's located on the left of the St. Peter's Basilica as you face the church. The rest of the year the papal audience is held in the St. Peter's Square. This massive sprawling square. This square will fill up fast even though it fits a lot of people so arrive early around like 8 or 8 30 if you want to get close up. Scheduled start time is at 10 30. So you might be hanging around for a while maybe bring something to nibble on and a drink. It lasts around 1.5 to 2 hours. In the summer come prepared with a hat water and sunscreen. On Sundays he'll also emerge from a window on the right hand side of the piazza and wave to everyone at noon. He gives a short speech followed by the Angelus and end with a blessing. The whole event usually lasts about 15 or 20 minutes and it's awesome because you see the Pope. Entry to the Vatican Museum's Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican Gardens is permitted only to appropriately dressed visitors. Shorts, mini skirts, low-cut or sleeveless clothing and hats are not allowed. Technically it's forbidden to consume food and drink inside the exhibition halls. Just in case visitors can store any type of food or drink in their possession in the coat check free of charge. So all good here. Also knives, scissors and metal tools of various types are to be stored in the coat check. Access to Vatican Museums is not permitted to animals even small ones with the exception of guide dogs for the blind or partially sighted provided they're equipped with muzzle and leash. If you have a pet therapy animal you should be good but you need to bring your certification. Okay so let's jump into some history and facts. The Vatican City which is its own state is encircled by a two mile border with Italy. That's right it's not in Italy, well it is in Italy but it's not a part of Italy. There's a lot of walls in this world but this is the only country on earth enclosed by a wall. So within that two mile wall sits a hundred acres of total territory. Its governing body is known as the Holy See and its executive in chief is none other than his holiness the beloved Pope Francis. The Vatican has been an independent city state or country since 1929. This fact is highly criticized because the notorious Benito Mussolini was the person to sign the agreement to give them independence. What most people don't consider or even know for that fact is the Vatican ruled over much of Italy from the 8th century to 1861. That's a millennia. In the 19th century Italy went through unification process and the Vatican became a part of the larger kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel. But throughout the course of history they've been a self-governed body much longer than not and really it was only about 70 years between the 19th and 20th century that they were not their own country. So now that you have a good background on the Vatican and the confidence to navigate your ways to its walls I will go into some of the ways you can structure your visit. I like to think there are three different ways to see the Vatican or visit them but after this video hopefully you'll cross at least one off your list. This option is the one you want to cross off. This is the person that shows up to the door of the Vatican thinking there'd be no line because some dude at a bar told him it was totally cool. There is nothing cool about getting stuck in line for 30 minutes, an hour, or three hours some days. Don't choose option one, unprepared. Option two, prepared solo visit. If you're planning on going alone book ahead. You can reserve entrance tickets a specific time for four euros extra. Once again the blog below in the description will explain everything on how to buy these tickets. At least you are prepared and getting inside. Option three, taking a tour. This will sound biased since we are in fact a tour company but we got into this industry for a reason. Tours can be really fun and let's face it there's a lot to see in the Vatican. When I first visited when I was 20 years old I walked through the Raphael rooms without even noticing what was on the walls on my mission to see the Sistine Chapel. Another major pro is that accredited tour companies like us can enter a full hour before the general public. Some of our privileged entrance tours meet as early as 7 30 and go inside at 8 a.m after a brief security check and go straight to the Sistine Chapel when it opens. We have a few different types of tours ranging from express tours to full service five-hour tours covering everything. We even have a tour that jumps on a train from the Vatican train station to Castel Gandolfo afterwards for lunch. They are cool experiences and take all the guesswork out of visiting one of the largest art collections on earth. So that concludes our video for today. If you guys liked our video click the like button that way we know. If you loved our video subscribe that way you get new fresh content whenever it comes out. If you have any questions comment below we will actually answer them very quickly too. Otherwise we hope to see you here soon in Rome. Thanks so much. Okay Spain finest. Okay sorry.