| Tips and photos of Vatican City tourist attractions and tourist traps, posted by real travelers and Vatican City locals. Map |
 | Vatican City Tourist Traps | Tips 1 - 10 of 31 |  |
 Free guided walking tour! by hopang
Each one of them will lead a group of approximately ten tourists. The tour is usually conducted in English and lasts approximately half an hour. Of course they will explain to you and provide you with all the important details of the various popular attractions inside St. Peter's Basilica. At the end of the tour just outside the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, they will ask for a small donation for their effort. This is when everyone in the group starts to disperse. A good samaritan may probably donate two or three euros to the tour guide out of pity!
Disperse from the walking tour group before the tour guide asks you for a small donation.
Do not join the guided walking tour in the first place unless you are willing to pay for the simple service of the free-lance tour guides. Leave a Comment
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The Vatican giftshop There are some very nice things in the giftshop such as rosaries,medals and books BUT there are some VERY tacky things too for example....a Blessed Mother nightlight or a Pope snowgobe! Leave a Comment
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 Souvenirs of Vatican by globetrott
Vatican has great stamps and if you post your mail in one of their postboxes, it will also be delivered much faster than by italian mail. -
They sell also plenty of Vatican-coins, but do not expect to get any Vatican-EURO there as change.
They still sell their old Vatican-LIRE-coins. Leave a Comment
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 by SduarteLeave a Comment
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If you decide to climb to the top of the dome at St. Peter's, don't go by the elevator. It's more expensive than climbing on foot, but what's really annoying is that it only goes half the way, so you still have a lot of climbing to do.
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 by rozehillLeave a Comment
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From the metro stop, you must walk a couple of blocks to get to the Vatican - there are a number of cafes & gift shops along the road - avoid them like the plague, is my suggestion - I found nothing original in the gift shops (an autographed photo of JP2 would have caught my attention!), and the cafes are naturally overpriced.
Despite the various clergy wandering in & out, I didn't see anyone buying anything... Leave a Comment
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Many may disagree with me, but I was appalled at the gift shops in the Vatican Museums. The merchandise was EXTREMELY overpriced and expensive.
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Many of the indoor museums and basilicas do not allow cameras with flash. Many digital cameras have options of this so make sure to look ahead of time or bring your cameras information book with you to make sure to TURN THE FLASH OFF! Some are automatic but maybe this can save you a bit of embarrassment!
Just look in your camera's information book if you don't know how to turn them off. All cameras are different these days...
I brought along a disposable camera just for an extra and ended up using this without turning the flash on and the pictures came out fine for me.
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Sadly, the Sistine Chapel is something of a tourist trap. Not because Vatican officials have made it so, but because tourists treat it that way. Officials routinely ask visitors to whisper in the chapel - which they do for all of 10 seconds before they begin braying again. For the faithful, this is both distracting and distressing. For others, the level of disrespect is such that you want to leave rather than be embarrased by your fellow tourists. Unfortunately, the dignity of the Chapel is not matched by those who visit it. Leave a Comment
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