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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Look out the Window

by grandmaR

If you look out the windows while you walk through the museums, you can see some interesting views of this smallest country.If you have time (we didn't) you may want to look at the Gardens which are decorated with fountains and sculptures. They cover approximately 57 acres which is most of the Vatican Hill. Stone walls bound the area in the North, South and West.The gardens date back to medieval times when Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280) moved his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace and enclosed this area with walls.A tour of the Gardens allows the visitor to be part of a group tour conducted by an official Vatican Guide. (duration of the tour is approximately 2 hours)Open working days, except Wednesday and Sunday.Tariffs full € 31,00The ticket includes: admission to the Museums (without guided tour), guided tour of the Gardens and rental of audio guides.

Flying from Barcelona to Vatican City

by Strikinsmile

Flying within Europe is easy and convenient. Thank God for budget airlines. I flew from Barcelona to Rome, booked my ticket via www.vueling.com. If you're lucky, you can get ticket on sale and pay a few Euros. However, make sure to travel light so you don't have to pay extra for checking in your luggage. Either that or pay luggage fees online because it'll save you a great deal than having to pay at the airport. Trust me, it hurt my pocket. Anyway, find out more about flying on a budget in Europe: http://www.budgetairlineguide.com/budget-airlines-in-europe Sistine Chapel and the cobblestones of Vatican City. I felt like I was reliving a famous book as soon as I stepped into the Vatican. What an amazing experience!

swiss guards

by call_me_rhia

Vatican City - in Italian Stato della Città del Vaticano - is the world's smallest coutry... 0.44 square kilometres large, landlocked by the city of Rome, and with a population of just over 800 inhabitants. And yet, I had always found this tiny state very fascinating - for a very special reason.Of these over 800 inhabintants, only about 550 have Vatican citizenship and they are mostly clergymen... what caught my fancy as a child were the 100-ish Papal Swiss Guard, 18% of the total population but not citizens. Being Swiss I had always been proud (for no reason at all) of them and had admired their colourful uniform... and what a joy when i actually got to meet one in person, the son of family friends: I was 8 years old and thought for the first time that I had fallen in love; he was 20-something and had eyes only for my teenage cousin...

Vatican City

by traveldave

The area that would one day become Vatican City got its start in 324 A.D. when Emperor Constantine built a basilica over the tomb of Saint Peter on the outskirts of Rome. The basilica was rebuilt and added to over the centuries, resulting in today's Saint Peter's Basilica.The Bishop of Rome (also called the Pope, and considered Christ's representative on earth) maintained his residence in apartments adjacent to Saint Peter's Basilica shortly after completion of the church. The Popes have resided there ever since.The unification of Italy between 1820 and 1870 included the Papal States (land and estates belonging to the Roman Catholic Church); however, this caused a rift between church and state. In 1871, the new Italian parliament passed the Law of the Guarantee to show that it did not wish to subjugate the Papacy. The law further provided that the Pope was to retain Vatican City and...

Free entry Vatican Museum

by ATLC

A ticket to the Vatican museum costs € 15 (2010).However, there are many exceptions, all well explained on this page of the Vatican Museum website.One thing though I want to highlight: the free entry rules. According to the Vatican Museum website:Free entrance: the last Sunday of every month, free entrance from 9 am to 12.30 am and on 27 September (being World Tourism Day).See here for the full details of all other conditions under which entrance is free or discounted.

Dimensions

by solopes

In Portugal we use to say that "one image speaks more than 1000 words". Having that in mind, and more than 1000 pictures to post, I decided to change my behaviour, posting the pictures as soon as they are ready, and adding the comments later.Don't get mad on me - I'm glad to share my pictures with you, and the comments will be added soon.

Swiss guards

by solopes

Drinking Water

by June.b

I've seen lots of people drinking from various fountains around the city and I didn't have a clue before that those were clean drinking water. So one time near the gates of the vatican city, I saw one tourist drinking on the water fountain with her hands, I took out my half full mineral water plastic bottle and filled it full.I should have discovered it before, then I should have save few bucks buying several big bottles of mineral water from the convenient store every day and night.

Land of VT'ers

by sourbugger

With 20 members listed for the Vatican city, one could claim that VT has a greater penetration rate here than in any other country.Rather unsurprisingly with at least three of these members claiming to be the Pope, the level of tip making ranges from appauling to non-existent.One member (with no tips) does at least list all the countries that Pope John Paul II visited. He puts most of the rest of us to shame - by God, he did have the wanderlust bad !

Some suggested reads...

by sourbugger

With the book 'The Da Vinci Code' selling millions of copies (and a film due to come out as well) interest has been re-kindled in shady goings on inside the Catholic church and the Vatican inparticular .The Da Vinci code is a rattling good read, but is still, in essence, a work of fiction. The Priory of Sion, one of the main ingredients of the book, is purely the invention of three french surrealist in the 1960's.What is far more disturbing are the real life goings on described by David Yallop in is book 'In God's name where he presents his evidence for the murder of Pope John Paul IIn addition I would also recommend reading 'Unholy Trinity' by Paul Adams. It is a fictional thriller, set in Rome and 100 times better written than Dan Brown's work.Having read any of them would certainly give you a different perspective on the place as you see the various priests and nuns about their...

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Questions and Answers

Q: How I can book tickets for the visit of Vatican Gardens in minibus and than museums of Vatican? In thw website I find the Vatican...

A: The only thing I can find for the gardens that mentions a minivan - and it isn't even very definite - is this...

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