Vatican City – 1 Day Trip

A few reasons I took this full-day trip to the Vatican, I was confirmed Catholic and thought maybe this would help me get in touch with the church more (in case you’re wondering, it didn’t haha). Technically it is a country so I get to add that to my list and lastly, it’s a bucket list city.

At the time of writing this post EUR 1 = USD 1.22

Day 1 – Explore the City & Museum 06.30.2018

To go to the Vatican you have to buy tickets ahead of time, I can’t tell you how many people I passed that didn’t have tickets and after my 5 hours spent from start to finish they were still queueing trying to get in. I got my tickets using Viator and the cost was €40. They call it a skip the line tickets, but skip the line just means you stand in a shorter line that still takes hours to get in due to security.

The security at the Vatican is similar to the airport and once you’re through your group stands together and the guide takes the children away from the group and then eventually brings them back, this was really weird. Once the guide is back you go through another security checkpoint and then you’re on your own to walk through the museum. I was told that you need to dress nice (covering knees, shoulders, and elbows) but I think that was only for the Sistine Chapel, I saw some people wearing shorts for the museum. Since there is no AC this might not be a bad idea.

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Personally, I’m not one for Museums and I really only wanted to see the Sistine chapel. With that being said, the Vatican is amazing, the amount of detail in the design and ceilings is unbelievable. You can’t take any photos once you’re inside the Sistine Chapel. And for those of you wondering about the famous “The Creation of Adam” painting, it is smaller than you think and hard to find, so stay patient.

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After going through the museum which ends at the Sistine Chapel, we headed outside and then into Vatican City to see the Piazza San Pietro. The Basilica di San Pietro had a long line and we decided to pass and head back into Rome.

Overall this was a neat experience and I’m sure someday I will go back, but will probably pass on the museum and try to go inside the Basilica instead.

Cheers!