What is the Best Way to Visit the Vatican Gardens & Museums?

For first-time visitors, the Vatican might seem like a separate state in Italy and Rome. but the reality is different. And the story of the Vatican separation is long.

That’s why every year tourists swarm around the Vatican city to engulf all of its riches. And if you are one of those who didn’t know it’s a separate country. Then there you have it. It’s sovereign and has its own military. Though it seems like a district of Central Rome it has history and magic of its own. It is a fully independent nation.

Its total territory is only 100 acres. Less for a country but not that much for a tourist spot. [Pull up your socks if you want a private tour of the Vatican gardens and museums.] The Vatican is also known as the holy see. And its executory chief is none other than the pope himself. It’s independent since 1929.

It has a long history. It is encircled by a 2-mile border with Italy. It is the only country in the world enclosed by a wall.

It’s in the north of the city center of Rome, Italy. You can reach there by various public transport. Which we will discuss in detail later on this page. Metro and railway areThe two mostly used public transport to get into the Vatican. It is situated on the west bank of the Tiber river.

The Metro station is situated to the north of the Vatican and the Railway to the south.

Top 7 things to see at the Vatican

To make you a bit more interested in visiting the Vatican here I am highlighting some of the unsung and underrated visiting spots of the Vatican. Because the turmoil of visiting the Vatican will go in vain if you miss the following.

The Vatican gardens

The Vatican garden tours are not something to be watched at a glance. It’s huge and takes hours of walking to get a full view of the Vatican gardens. The garden was created for Pope Nicholas ।। in the 13th century. Much of the area is open to the public. But there’s no guarantee.

It’s better to book the visit before.

It covers more than half of Vatican City. It can take up to an hour to finish visiting the Vatican garden alone. Still, it might not be enough. That’s the size of the Vatican garden. Sometimes it becomes difficult to organize a visit to the Vatican garden. Because of its huge size.

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A guided tour of the Vatican gardens comes in handy in this situation. You can take skip-the-line Vatican city gardens entrance fee tickets.

The Pinacoteca

One of the most famous Picture Gallery of the Vatican is Pinacoteca. It consists of 16 rooms filled with magnificent artworks done by famous painters of roman and Italian history. If you are an art lover then this will leave a mark on your mind for a long time.

You might get surprised to see the Pinacoteca empty. The reason behind this is it’s not in the way of visiting the Sistine chapel. See that’s what is the downside of an unprepared Vatican visit. You might miss out on an artistic poem like Pinacoteca.

History says Napoleon robbed many of its treasures. Which adds to the glory and story of this amazing art gallery. The paintings of this room are priceless. As they hold artistic and historic values. At Pinacoteca, you can see masterpieces from the Middle Ages to contemporary works.

The best part of Pinacoteca is room number 7. Raffaello Sanzio. It holds the artworks done by Raphael sands. The transfiguration is worth praising. Room 9 can also stand out in Pinacoteca. As it has the unfinished Saint Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci.

The paintings of Pinacoteca are arranged in chronological order. In the painting, you can see the development of Western painting. In the Medieval century art, you will get a taste of

• Byzantine
• Sienese
• Umbrian
• Tuscan paintings.

In room 10 you will find the famous artwork “crowning of the virgin” by Giuliano romano. There are so many other famous paintings to mention. And trust me I can go on and on but then this article will lose its point. So let’s stick to ways of visiting the Vatican.

The pinecone courtyard

You can visit this cute courtyard in less than 10 minutes. It’s something I don’t want you to miss as it’s not that much talked about. It has three entrance points. There you can see the dome of the basilica, turn the sphere if you are lucky, and gaze at the pine cone.

The courtyard is named after this pine cone. It was supposed to be the centerpiece of the courtyard.

The main galleries

The main galleries of the Vatican museum cover Over 7 kilometers of breathtaking art filled with history. Some of the galleries that need to be mentioned are,

• The Raphael Rooms
• Gallery of Maps
• Spiral Staircase
• Gallery of Statues and Hall of Busts
• Gregorian Etruscan
• The Sala Rotunda

All masterpieces in these galleries. As a result, these galleries are enriched with much artistic value. Since the beginning of the 15th-century popes of the Vatican have collected and saved artworks.

Pio clementino museum

It’s a museum inside a museum. This increases the chance of getting missed out by many visitors. If you are a lover of sculpture this will seem like eye candy for you. Great artists like Michelangelo, Raphael, and many more have worked on the sculptures of this room.

You just can’t afford to miss the “Apollo Belvedere” if you are a Greek mythology enthusiast like me. In this museum, you will also get to see the “great torso”. Which later became the inspiration for Jesus at the “ last judgment” painting of Michelangelo.

So much history in such a tiny museum. At Pio clementino, you can’t even miss looking under your feet. There are artworks there as well. You can also see a 42 feet giant basin in the museum. Which is made of the rarest red porphyry marble.

The bronze statue of Hercules is there as well. The stories of this room are endless.

St. Peter’s square

One word to describe it? massive. It is the place for the papal audience as well. To get the blessing, reach on Wednesday before 10:30 AM. You can even see the Pope’s balcony from there. The papal event lasts as long as 15 to 20 minutes.

Image Source: images.prismic.io

It is also locally known as Piazza San Pietro. You might be wondering why I am mentioning st. Peter’s Square as a spot to visit not the st. Peter’s basilica. Well, I wanted to highlight the underrated beauties of Vatican city in this piece.

That is why I am mentioning these so that you don’t forget to admire st. Peter’s square along with st. Peter’s basilica.

Egyptian gallery

The dying Egyptian empire was closely connected to the Roman general for years. As a result, Roman history has some possessions that belong to the Egyptian ethnicity. The gallery has 5 well-decorated rooms filled with Egyptian masterpieces

It takes 25 minutes to take a full tour of the Egyptian gallery of the Vatican city. It’s one of the underrated exciting spots that I don’t want you to miss out on.

Sistine chapel

The climax of the Vatican museum is the Sistine chapel. Located at the end of the museum it waits for you to get the experience of a lifetime. For some tourists, It is The only reason to visit Vatican City.

If you have a tour guide to carry on your tour he might give you a brief history of the chapel before entering it. As it’s supposed to be quiet in there. I’m not going to tell you much about the history as I don’t want to spoil the suspense.

It has a series of paintings done by none other than Michelangelo himself. It took him 4 years to complete it. The canvas of his painting? The entire ceiling of the Sistine chapel. Yes, you have read it right. The entire ceiling. Just imagine the agony he has to go through standing for hours constantly for four years.

The beauty of the Sistine chapel is iconic. It never gets dull.

The result is even more Iconic. It’s something to be seen rather than described. The most famous painting of the Sistine chapel is “Creation of Adam”. It is the favorite part of most of the tourists as well. The magnitude of the artwork is nothing but simply mesmerizing.

Ways to visit the Vatican

Now the main part And the harsh reality. Approximately 20,000 people visit the Vatican every day. Each can impact your visit if you don’t plan it properly. To give you a perfect idea of what to expect in what condition I am going to describe three Ways to plan your visit to the Vatican city

1. Unplanned visit: an unplanned visit to the Vatican can get hectic. Starting with waiting in lines for hours to just enter. After that will you have the stamina to roam around this gigantic monument? And there is nothing appealing about getting stuck in the entrance line when you can’t wait to get into the Vatican.

   An unplanned visit can turn into a nightmare even. As the Vatican often has events thus suspends common visitors from visiting on that day. The entrance waiting line can take time from 30 minutes to 3 hours.

2. Prepared visit [solo]: if you are planning to visit the Vatican without the guidance of any local who knows the place well you can do that. You can simply visit the site and book an advance ticket for 4-5 dollars extra. But that will leave you to guesswork about the entire experience.



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3. Tour visit: to get the best out of your visit is to make it a tour. How to do it? you just have to add some extras like booking in advance, enrolling for skip the line entrance, and a tour guide. This will give you the full artistic and historic essence of the Vatican.

You can choose between any leading tour companies in Rome to give you a hassle-free planned tour of the Vatican.

A much recommended if you are visiting for the first time. As you don’t even know what to see. You might cross a masterpiece like the Egyptian gallery without even noticing it. You can’t afford to make that mistake right?

With these tours, you can have the privilege to enter the Vatican an hour before the general public. And a knowledgeable tour guide can save you from unnecessary and over-imaginative guesswork.

How to plan a visit to the Vatican

To plan a picture-perfect Vatican visit you need to decide a few things before marching ahead. First of all, how will you get in? Which route will you take? What will be your visit time? And what things should be your priority to visit? Let’s see all the options.

How to get in

Remember one thing before getting into any transport to reach the Vatican. Don’t say you wanna go to the Vatican. They will take you to st. peter’s basilica. instead, mention that you wanna go to the Vatican museum entrance. Now, let’s choose a suitable route for you.

• Bus route: if you wanna go to the Vatican by bus look for the number 64 bus. It will take you from Termini station to Vatican city in 20 minutes. After reaching the San Pietro bus stop you have to walk a bit to reach the entrance of the Vatican museum.

  If you have been to the colosseum before the Vatican you can still come to the Vatican by bus. Just walk a bit to find the bus station and hop on to bus number 89. The numbers might vary. Make sure to ask the bus staff before getting in.

• Metro route: not a bus person? Looking for an underground commute? We got your back. You can reach the Vatican via metro facilities as well. Again you can get the metro from Termini station which will also take twenty minutes to reach the station. From there you walk for 5 minutes and bingo! The Vatican entrance is here.

• Train route: want to have the fun and excitement of a classic train journey? You can do that as well. You can take a train to the Vatican from st. Peters station. Or san pietro from termini. The train also takes 20 minutes. It will drop you at Austins station.

• Taxi: it might take 10 to 30 dollars to reach the Vatican via taxi. If you are somewhere near you can take this option for more of a private journey. The taxis run on meters so you don’t have to bargain for the fare.

• Walking: if you are somewhere near the Vatican city you can surely take a walk to its entrance. If the weather is right you can enjoy the Roman view while entering the history of Rome and Italy itself the Vatican.

Think about all the options briefly and choose whichever seems the most convenient to you. Tour is all about making fun full decisions. See it as a fun activity.

When’s the best time to go

It is not very wise to go to the Vatican any time that you can and expect it to be open. If you want to have a tour at the Vatican museum you have to plan for any day between Monday to Saturday. The museum starts having visitors from 9 AM. You can enter till 4 PM. but when the clock hits 6 PM you have to leave the place.

Unlike Vatican museum st. peter’s basilica is ready to have visitors every day and no day off. From April to September the visit time is 7 AM to 7 pm. And for October to march, the visiting hour reduces to 7 AM to 6 PM. with an off period of Wednesday mornings.

Don’t miss

• Vatican museum: the base reason for most of the people visiting the Vatican city is the Vatican museum. Inside the Vatican museum, you will get the climax of visiting the Vatican city. Yes, you have guessed it right. The Sistine chapel.

• St. Peter’s Basilica: it’s a renaissance era church. It was designed by Michelangelo, Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno, and many more famous artists of Italian history. It is the most evident work of the renaissance in the history of art and sculpture. And the largest church building in the world. A truly amazing work of classic architecture.



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• Papal audience: it is not actually a place it’s more of an event. When the holy father or the pope addresses the audience. His speech is followed by prayers. It holds much religious appeal. So this event is seen as a mega catholic event. Some also attend this event on Wednesday morning out of curiosity.

History of the Vatican

If you ask me for a quick sneak peek of the history of the Vatican then I’ll begin with its becoming a country in 1929. It happened after a treaty was signed by the pope and Benito Mussolini. It’s known as the “Lateran treaty.”

It was almost abandoned in 1309 due to the shift of the papal court to France. Not ruining the suspense of your visit just keep in mind it took many twists and turns before the Vatican reached its present form of an independent and sovereign country.

Tips for a blissful visit

• Bring something to nibble on and drink on your backpack. You might have to submit it while entering specific places. But when allowed you can eat something to fuel yourself up for the tour.
• To survive in the scorching sun of the summer bring an umbrella, and water with you.
• Dress code for the Vatican? Shorts, mini-skirts, sleeveless tops, and hats are not allowed.
• It’s forbidden to consume any sort of food at the exhibition halls.
• You can store your food and possession at the coat check free of charge.
• If you bring something sharp with you, for instance, knives or scissors you have to drop them at the coat checkpoint.
• An animal is not allowed to enter. Only guide dogs are allowed to assist someone in need.
• It’s best to book your vatican museum and garden tickets online.
• Try to enter as early as possible. The Vatican welcomes you with its full beauty when it’s quiet.
• If not a religious person you might like to avoid st. peter’s basilica on Wednesday mornings.

FAQ’S

How many entrances are there in Vatican city?

Mainly there are two entrances to the Vatican city.

Who built the Vatican city?

A treaty between Mussolini and the pope originated from Vatican city to its present form. It established Vatican City as a sovereign entity distinct from the Holy See.

Why is Vatican City famous?

It is known as The Centre of Christianity. Also, it is the smallest country in the world. Adding to its popularity famous sculptors and artists like Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci all created praiseworthy artwork here.

Wrapping up

If done correctly, a Vatican tour can be an experience of a lifetime for you. As I have given you all the necessary details about each possible way to visit the Vatican now it’s your turn. Fix your priorities.

Whether you wanna go there by bus or metro. Whether you will wait in line or pay some extra bucks to skip the line. Either you will have a self-tour or have a guide with you. The decision is all yours now. Start planning an epic tour now.