The Best Things to do in Vatican City with Only 24 Hours

In a city with no shortage of things to see and do, Rome is even the home of a separate, teeny tiny country. Vatican City, the home of Catholicism, is its own independent country overseen by the Church with a population of only 794 people and an area that doesn’t even cover a quarter square mile.

What it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in terms of historical and cultural value. You can visit the grandest church in all of Christendom, St Peter’s Basilica, and then head over to the Vatican Museums where the Church shows off all the art its accumulated over the years.

In this post, I’ll cover all the best things to do in Vatican City. What’s more, I’ll offer my thoughts on how to effectively plan your time in this busy yet compact part of Rome!

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Things to do in Vatican City #1 – St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is likely going to be the very first thing you see when visiting here. As such, it’s one of my first things to do in Vatican City. This square can hold over 300,000 people during the different events held here over the year.

Try to come in from Via della Conciliazione. The effect of walking along this road as St Peter’s Basilica continues to grow in the distance while the square’s surrounding colonnades welcome you into their embrace is inspirational.

Standing in the middle of the square is a massive Egyptian obelisk standing 90 feet high, weighing 300 tons and believed to be 4,500 years old. It was taken from Egypt in 37 A.D. by Emperor Caligula before being moved to its current location in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V. If you can get over its sheer size, take a moment to reflect on the amount of history this structure has seen.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Vatican’s famous Swiss Guard. These are basically the pope’s own personal army. They may look ceremonial because of their flashy uniforms, but they’re a well-trained functioning military force. Still, it’s their brightly colored outfits that make them so popular with tourists. They’re hard to if they’re out patrolling while you’re there.

Things to do in Vatican City #2 – St Peter’s Basilica

St Peter’s Basilica is the heart of Roman Catholicism on Earth. If that sentence seems over-the-top now, it won’t as soon as you walk into this magnificent church.

Few places I’ve visited actually made me stop and say “wow” upon seeing them. St Peter’s Basilica was one of those places. It’s just so big.

As you walk along the nave of the basilica, you may notice the names of other popular cathedrals, like Florence’s Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, on the floor. These inscriptions are essentially St Peter’s showing off. Each one shows where that particular cathedral would end if placed inside St Peter’s Basilica.

But its size isn’t all that St Peter’s Basilica has going for it. As you might expect for the home of the pope, it’s filled with religious significance and treasures. You could easily spend a couple hours here exploring and still miss things.

It’s impossible to cover everything, but my three favorite things I was able to see during our brief visit were Michelangelo’s La Pietà, the bronze canopy over the main altar, and Bernini’s lovely dove window towards the back of the basilica. But truly, those are just three highlights among many.

And then, of course there’s still the dome. For a small extra fee, you can climb St Peter’s Basilica’s for some of the best views of Rome.

We didn’t spend anywhere near enough time in St Peter’s Basilica. I talk more about this later, but my plan was to get to the Vatican Museums when it opened to “beat the crowds.” We got there when it opened, but it was still packed. Don’t do what we did: Take your time in the basilica, and visit the museums later in the day!

Things to do in Vatican City #3 – Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums are one of the world’s greatest repositories of art and ancient antiquities. As such, it’s possibly the best thing to do in Vatican City.

This museum is a testament to the wealth and power of the Catholic Church, showcasing the vast collection it has amassed over the years. It has 70,000 objects and its halls span 9 miles long!

In other words, bring your walking shoes and plan for a long visit. Also, the Vatican Museums are a place you definitely will want to book tickets for in advance. Without advance reservations, you’ll waste lots of valuable time waiting in line.

Because of the Vatican Museums’ immense popularity, expect a lot of people. Seriously, I’ve been in crowded art museums before (the Uffizi Gallery comes to mind), but this was wild. Even with skip-the-line tickets purchased ahead of time, you’re still going to wait in line for a decent chunk of time for security. Then once you enter, the crowds are on another level.

Unfortunately, it’s so crowded in parts that it makes hard or impossible to enjoy much of the museum. There was a stretch before the Raphael Rooms where we couldn’t see anything beyond brief glimpses because it felt like we were being herded along like cattle to slaughter amid the crowds. It was more stressful than anything else.

If you like art and history, it’s worth visiting despite the crowds. You just have to accept the fact that it’s going to be crowded and try to go with the flow as best as you can. On the other hand, if you only have a passing interest in these things or if you get anxious in big crowds, you may want to skip the Vatican Museums and spend your time elsewhere.

Despite sounding pretty low on the Vatican Museums, I did still enjoy parts of it. We visited a section of antiquities near the entrance that no one else seemed interested in that was nice. The Raphael Rooms were surprisingly not too crowded, especially the room with The School of Athens, which is what I was most excited to see.

Sistine Chapel

The star of the Vatican Museums – and one of the highlights in all of Italy – is the Sistine Chapel. This chapel is one of the greatest artistic masterpieces in history. Even with the crowds, it makes a visit to the Vatican Museums worthwhile all by itself.

After meandering through the whopping 9 miles of hallways in the museum (don’t worry – you’ll likely only cover a fraction of that), you’ll finally arrive at the Sistine Chapel at the end of your visit.

You may have to wait in line briefly as they only allow so many people in at a time. Once you enter, prepare to be blown away by the artistic spectacle overhead. Make sure to warm up your neck beforehand because you’re going to spend the next 10 minutes or so looking up in wonder at Michelangelo’s masterpiece.

The ceiling depicts all the major scenes from the Old Testament. What makes it so impressive – besides the scale of it all – is the level of skill that went into making the different frames. The Sistine Chapel is Michelangelo at his Renaissance peak.

The Sistine Chapel also holds a special significance for Catholics. This chapel is the room where new popes are elected whenever current popes either pass away or step down.

And don’t even think of taking any pictures! Vatican security patrols the room to prevent that from happening and to watch for pickpockets.

Things to do in Vatican City #4 – Castel Sant’Angelo

While Castel Sant’Angelo isn’t as much of a must-see attraction as St Peter’s Basilica or the Vatican Museums, it’s still one of the top things to do in Vatican City. For that matter, it’s unpopularity made it my favorite stop on this list. That doesn’t mean it isn’t filled with interesting things to see!

Castel Sant’Angelo has served two main purposes over its nearly 2000-year-old existence. It was constructed in the 2nd century A.D. to act as a mausoleum for the Roman emperor Hadrian and his family. His ashes are no longer there, but you do get the opportunity to tour the ancient part of the castle where they would have been housed.

During the early medieval era, the mausoleum was converted to a fortress and prison. Eventually it was connected to St Peter’s Basilica by a covered corridor in the 14th century. This corridor was used by popes as an escape route from St Peter’s in times of siege so they could find refuge in Castel Sant’Angelo.

Because of this, much of the fortress was converted to palatial rooms befitting the pope. You’re able to visit these rooms and take in their design without rubbing elbows with other tourists like in other parts of the Vatican.

Still, the real highlight of Castel Sant’Angelo is the rooftop. From here, you have unobstructed views of Rome and St Peter’s Basilica. You can also get a closer look at the statue of the Archangel Michael, placed here to commemorate a vision of the angel in the 6th century that signaled the end of a plague. The current statue is a replica from the 1700s.

Despite Castel Sant’Angelo’s proximity to St Peter’s Basilica and its inclusion on this list, it’s not actually part of Vatican City. Don’t come at me on social media trying to tell me that!

Things to do in Vatican City #5 – Vatican Gardens

The Vatican Gardens are basically the pope’s very own private gardens. They take up most of the rest of Vatican City, but without booking a tour, you won’t get much more than a brief peek at them.

Despite being established during the Renaissance, the Vatican Gardens have only been open to the public since 2014. Unfortunately, you can’t just walk up and buy a ticket. You need to book tickets to take a guided tour through the garden ahead of time. Tours include part of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

You can also take a tour through the Vatican Gardens via bus for €37. The downside to this option is you don’t get any opportunities to get out of the bus to walk around. Of course, if you’re visiting in summer, having someone drive you around a garden may be a nice reprieve from Rome’s heat.

Of the five things to in Vatican City described in this post, the Vatican Gardens are the only one we didn’t visit. As much as I enjoy a good garden, between needing a tour and not wanting to rush around, we decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. In hindsight, we could have made it work had we really wanted to visit.

Things to do in Vatican City #6 – Come Back at Night

Even though you just saw everything there is to see during the day, coming back at night is one of the top things to do in Vatican City, in my opinion.

Like everywhere else in Italy, Vatican City gets lit up at nighttime to create an atmosphere vastly different from what you get during the day. I highly recommend trying to make it a point to visit with some post-dinner gelato.

How to Plan Your Day when Visiting Vatican City

Planning your day in Vatican City is a bit tricker than most places because of how crowded the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica can get.

Traditional wisdom says you should visit first thing in the day to avoid crowds and tour groups. While that’s true for St Peter’s Basilica, I can’t say the same for the Vatican Museums based on my experience.

When we visited, our plan was to spend about an hour in St Peter’s Basilica before heading over to the Vatican Museums shortly after it opened. We thought we’d get to experience both of these iconic attractions without the crowds. We were only half right.

St Peter’s Basilica was relatively uncrowded (of course, the basilica can comfortably accommodate large crowds because it’s so massive), but the Vatican Museums were packed. I’ve never experiences crowds like that.

So, not only did we still have to deal with anxiety-inducing crowds in the Vatican Museums, but we had to cut our visit to the basilica way shorter than it should have been.

Apparently, as I learned after the fact, visiting the museums in the late afternoon is a better option to avoid crowds. With that in mind, here’s how I would plan my visit to Vatican City if I could redo it.

1. St Peter’s Square around 7:30
2. St Peter’s Basilica around 8:00
3. Either the Vatican Gardens or you can skip ahead to Castel Sant’Angelo
4. Castel Sant’Angelo
5. Stroll around one of Rome’s nearby neighborhoods and grab lunch
6. If it’s still early and your hotel isn’t too far away, this could be a good opportunity for a quick nap
7. The Vatican Museums around mid-afternoon

Another option if you are visiting on a Wednesday is to do the Vatican Museums during the papal audience. You should be able to count on the pope drawing away at least some of the museum’s crowds. If you do that, you can either try the basilica right after or wait to visit it till later in the day.

Guided Tours of Vatican City

With all the things to do in Vatican City you may be wondering if a guided tour would be helpful. My answer is “possibly,” depending on what you want to get out of a visit.

I’ll get the easy things out of the way first. Castel Sant’Angelo doesn’t need a tour. It’s small, goes in a more or less one way route and, despite being interesting, doesn’t have much that needs an explanation to add to your enjoyment of it. In addition, the Vatican Gardens require a tour, so that’s another no-brainer.

St Peter’s Basilica can be done without a tour. With a guidebook, you should still be able to see most of the highlights without much trouble. Still, it’s such a vast place that a tour guide could be helpful, especially if you enjoy the experience of having a guide.

The Vatican Museums are a different story. Tour groups are part of the reason why the museum gets so crowded. However, this museum is so overwhelming in its size that I think a tour would be a good investment. A qualified tour guide will efficiently show you the most important things while also explaining the story of each object. Just please, if you do a tour, be considerate of other visitors and give them space!

Frequently Asked Questions About Visiting Vatican City

Do I need my passport to visit Vatican City?

Vatican City is technically its own country within the confines of Rome. However, due to an open-border policy with Rome, you do not need to present your passport when walking into Vatican City.

(Good luck even finding the exact point where you cross from Rome to Vatican City!)

When is the best time to visit Vatican City?

Vatican City is always going to be busy. St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums are two of the most popular destinations in the world. There’s simply no getting around that fact.

The most important thing is to not visit on the last Sunday of the month. Admission to the Vatican Museums is free on those days, so you can expect it to be even busier than usual.

If you’re looking for the best time of the year to visit, May and September are the best months. You’ll avoid the summer crowds while still getting decent weather.

Am I able to see the pope?

Yes! You are able to see the pope one of three ways.

1. Get a ticket for the papal audience held most Wednesday mornings.
2. Visit Sunday morning to see the pope’s weekly address if he’s not out of the country.
3. Attend mass if there’s a special holiday or event happening while you’re visiting. You’ll need a ticket for these occasions.

Where Can I Stay Nearby?

We stayed at Arch Rome Suites during our time in Rome. Arch Rome Suites is right in the middle of most of Rome’s top sights making it a great hotel for Rome.

It sits just a couple blocks from the Pantheon, a mile from the Colosseum and a mile from Vatican City. Even though that distance might seem like a lot, the walk from Arch Rome Suites to St Peter’s Basilica is flat, so it isn’t too difficult.

Rooms at Arch Rome Suites are spacious and modern with large, comfortable beds. It’s perfect for a night of rest after a lond day exploring the Eternal City.

Does Vatican City have a dress code?

No, Vatican City does not have a dress code to enter the country. Yet, if you plan on entering St Peter’s Basilica or the Sistine Chapel, you will be required to dress appropriately out of respect for these religious spaces.

The gist of the dress code is to have your knees and shoulders covered regardless of whether you’re a man or woman. You should also avoid wearing any shirts with graphic images that can be considered disrespectful.

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