Vatican City
Cover your knees and shoulders or you will not get in. No exceptions
Population
Under 1,000 residents
Currency
Euro
Main Language
Italian and Latin
best time to visit
April – June and September-October
Climate
Mediterranean, hot dry summers, mild winters
Visa
No border control with Italy; entry follows Italian and Schengen rules for UK and non-EU visitors
Country overview
Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world, about a fifth of a square mile inside Rome, with a population under a thousand and a government that is an absolute elective monarchy headed by the Pope. There is no passport check and no visible border beyond a line of travertine across St Peter Square.
What it contains is disproportionate. St Peter Basilica is the largest church in the world by interior volume. The Vatican Museums hold one of the greatest art collections anywhere and end with the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which is smaller than most people expect and more overwhelming than they are prepared for. The queues are correspondingly serious.
The practical advice matters more here than almost anywhere. The dress code is enforced at the door: shoulders and knees covered, for everyone, regardless of the temperature outside. Book museum tickets well in advance, go first thing or on a late opening, and be aware that a Wednesday morning means a papal audience and a very full square.
Annual events and festivals
- Papal General Audience (most Wednesdays) — held in St Peter Square or the audience hall. Free tickets, but book ahead.
- Epiphany (6 Jan) — papal mass, and a large historical parade through the surrounding streets.
- Holy Week and Easter (Mar-Apr) — the biggest period of the year. Good Friday Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, Easter Mass and the Urbi et Orbi blessing.
- Feast of St Peter and St Paul (29 Jun) — Rome patron saints, and a major Vatican celebration.
- Assumption (15 Aug) — a public holiday, with the papal Angelus.
- Canonisation ceremonies (varies) — draw enormous crowds when they happen.
- All Saints and All Souls (1-2 Nov) — the Pope traditionally visits a cemetery.
- Christmas Eve Midnight Mass (24 Dec) — tickets required and heavily oversubscribed.
- Urbi et Orbi (25 Dec) — the Christmas blessing from the basilica balcony to a packed square.
- Ash Wednesday (Feb-Mar) — the Pope traditionally leads a penitential procession on the Aventine.