A day in Vatican, Italy

Our fourth day in Rome was dedicated to a visit to the Vatican. We booked all day for the tour there, but in fact we were able to see a few more things after visiting the Vatican Museum, which we had bought tickets in advance online, St. Peter’s Basilica and take a general tour of the area. I knew almost nothing about visiting the Vatican until I researched the subject before the trip. One thing I didn’t know was that access to the Vatican is not controlled, meaning I had the idea that it was monitored/paid for. What is really needed is the ticket to the Vatican Museum, one of the most popular museums in the world. Another thing that requires getting in a line, is the visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, but admission is free.

We took the subway at Termini station and went down there near the Vatican (Ottaviano station), walked about 10 min down the street and already spotted the long line along the wall that surrounds the Vatican and more precisely, in the corner near the Museum. It was very worth having bought the ticket early, but apparently not everyone thinks this a good deal hehe. To book the ticket online, we use the official website of Musei Vaticani and take the “Open Tour Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel” which is basically a very free visit, in its own time (ideal for us with children – 2 outside and one in the belly right). We two adults pay 21 euros each (includes the 4 euro fee to book online). Alice paid 12 euros and Diana entered for free (under 6 years old).

To get in, it was super quiet, good thing not to get that line that we saw outside. The ticket has an appointment and we arrived a good one both before to ensure. Even though we were still a little while away from our official ticket schedule, they let us in and we picked up a quick line for the magazine and metal detector.

We enter with the double cart, but not all routes are accessible with it. Since we preferred not to make the accessibility route, we had to go up and down some stairs with the cart, often empty (because we asked the girls to go up /down the stairs walking), but after the nap came, it was the biceps that worked … Hehe.

And as most of our museum visits happen, we move on to a general look without further stops or reading too many details. The museum is huge and the girls were not on their best day (we got up early). We spent about 2.5 hours inside.
It had very crowded areas of the museum, others very quiet. What I didn’t count on were the guided groups, who took care of the corridors and around the statues, sculptures and everything. If we were unlucky to arrive in one of the rooms where there was a group (and had for almost everything), it was difficult to pass and even more to see, because most of these tourists in the groups were not very respectful and did not give a minimum for pregnant and stroller pass with the children. I was a little outraged, I confess.
The Sistine Chapel, for example, had no room for an extra fly (hehe). Crowded. We went in, admired for about 10 minutes and got out of the squeeze. A pity, because it is really impressive – ah and did not leave photo, because it was forbidden ;).

VAtican City

After a quick lunch through the area (outside the Vatican), we went to the main area of the Vatican in order to visit St. Peter’s Basilica. The entrance is open, but what we did not count was the queue to visit the basilica (where admission is free). We ended up getting direct access, due to the pregnant belly that I was already showing (+ the girls), since the queue was 1h30min, about strong sun and heat. Phew, that was a hand on the wheel.
Inside, guys, what a show. Immensity and scale out of the ordinary. Really a memorable place!

With still time and being our last day in Rome, we walked a lot more, passing the Castel Sant’Angelo, crossed the Tiber River, passed the Supreme Court di Cassazione (Palace of Justice) and finished by Piazza Navona. Then we return to the region of our hotel, termini station region, on foot even, enjoying the city.