The Mediterranean
Vatican City
The smallest state in the world, at 0.49 square kilometres, and one of its largest art collections.
Vatican City is an independent state inside Rome, created by treaty in 1929, with around 800 residents and no tourism industry of its own — visitors come for the basilica and the museums. It holds the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's rooms, and a collection assembled over five centuries. It is entered freely on foot from St Peter's Square; there is no border post.
Getting around
On foot. Ottaviano and Cipro on Rome's metro line A are the nearest stations; the museum entrance and the basilica entrance are on opposite sides of the walls, a fifteen-minute walk apart.
When to come
The museums are least crowded on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon and worst on Mondays and rainy days. Papal audiences on Wednesday mornings fill St Peter's Square and make the basilica difficult.
Worth knowing
- Covered shoulders and knees are required and enforced at the door, in any weather.
- The basilica is free; the museums are ticketed and should be booked online.
- Photography is banned inside the Sistine Chapel, which is stated repeatedly and ignored constantly.
At the table
- Nothing of its own — eat in Prati, one street back, where Roman office workers do
- Avoid the restaurants directly facing the colonnade
- Supplì from a Prati fry shop before you queue
Travel regions
1 editorial regions, each opening onto its cities.
Popular destinations
The destinations we have written most about, which is not the same as the ones most people go to — and is the only ranking we can honestly compute.
Experiences here
A sample of what is listed across Vatican City.
Up the dome of St Peter's
The staircase follows the curve of the dome and tilts with it; the reward is the whole of Rome and the gardens nobody else sees.
The scavi, under the basilica
A Roman street of tombs beneath the church, ending at what may be St Peter's grave. Twelve people at a time, booked by email, months ahead.
Fixed points in the year
The record
What we hold about Vatican City, where each figure came from, and when it was last checked. The score says what this country is for, not how good it is — it is useful once you are already interested and is not a reason to be.
- Capital
- Vatican City
- Currency
- EUR — euro
- Languages
- Italian, Latin
- Population
- 825 (2019) — Natural Earth 1:50m admin 0 countries
- ISO codes
- VA · VAT
- Time zone
- CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
- Membership
- Uses the euro
- Typical day
- €60–150 per person
- Best months
- April, May, September, October
- Quieter months
- March, November
- Facts checked
- not verified why this matters
Europe Experience Score
How this is calculated — derived from our own tagging, not from measurement. It says what a place is for, not how good it is. The tick on each bar is the median across the whole Atlas, so a bar short of it is a dimension this place is not for.