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Top 9 attractions in Vatican City
#1
Vatican Museums
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
Home to some of Italy’s most important art collections—from paintings and sculptures to tapestries and classical antiquities—the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) are among the country’s top attractions. Explore the Pinacoteca, Egyptian Museum, Gallery of Tapestries, Pius-Clementine Museum, and Gallery of Maps, before admiring the crown jewels in the Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina), famed for Michelangelo’s ceiling and The Last Judgment.More
#2
Sistine Chapel
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
Michaelangelo's spectacular 16th-century ceiling frescoes are the biggest draw to the Sistine Chapel, one of the most celebrated and visited sights in Italy. The monumental The Last Judgment, which covers the apse wall, is the artist’s best-known work and one of the most influential masterpieces in art history. The chapel also holds works by Sandro Botticelli and Pinturicchio, Michalangelo's predecessors, and serves as a glorious homage to Renaissance art.More
#3
St. Peter's Basilica
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
The enormous St. Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) dominates Vatican City, and its dome can be seen from all over Rome. Built on the site of St. Peter's crucifixion, it's the epicenter of the Catholic Church and sits atop many papal tombs. The lavishly adorned basilica is the largest church in Italy, and it's also a museum full of priceless works of art—including Michelangelo's sublime Pietà and Bernini's bronze baldachin on the high altar.More
#4
Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano)
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
Vatican City (Città del Vaticano) may be the smallest sovereign nation-state in the world, but it's a religious and cultural superpower. Home to some of the world’s greatest artistic and architectural marvels—namely St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s Square, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums—it's located wholly within the confines of Rome, covers 110 acres (44 hectares), and has an official population of about 800.More
#5
St. Peter's Square
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
The heart of Rome's Vatican City is St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro), the grand space that provides a magnificent approach to St. Peter's Basilica. Designed by Bernini in the 17th century, Piazza San Pietro is lined by semicircular colonnades four columns deep on either side that seem to reach out and enfold visitors in an embrace.More
#6
St. Peter's Dome (Cupola di San Pietro)
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
St. Peter's Dome (Cupola di San Pietro), one of Italy’s most famous monuments, doesn't technically stand on Italian soil—it sits atop St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Michelangelo’s architectural masterpiece is a symbol for Catholics around the globe and, as the highest dome in the world, offers spectacular views across St. Peter’s Square and Rome.More
#7
La Pietà
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
Among the many masterpieces inside St. Peter's Basilica, Michelangelo's majestic and movingLa Pietà is perhaps the crown jewel. This remarkable life-size sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Christ blends classical ideals of beauty with startling naturalism and is among the world’s most important works of art.More
#8
St. Peter's Baldachin (Baldacchino di San Pietro)
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
The monumental bronze canopy of St. Peter's Baldachin (Baldacchino di San Pietro), set beneath Michelangelo’s dome, is a centerpiece of St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini’s stunning bronze masterpiece soars as high as a 9-story building above the basilica's high altar, protecting the spot where St. Peter is said to be buried.More
#9
Vatican Gardens
Editor's note: If you're traveling to Rome during the Rome Jubilee (Dec 24, 2024–Jan 6, 2026), expect heavier traffic and restorations on major landmarks. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment, and note that there may be some last-minute disruption to tour inclusions.
The Vatican Gardens (Giardini Vaticani) cover an impressive 57 acres (23 hectares)—more than half the entire area of the Vatican City-state—and include a Renaissance layout dotted with fountains, statues, and buildings dating as far back as the sixth century. The gardens were a humble expanse of orchards and vineyards until Pope Nicholas III moved his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace and enclosed the land with a wall in 1279.More
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Local Currency Euro (€) | Time Zone CET (UTC +1) | Country Code +39 | Language(s) Italian | Attractions 9 | Tours 245 |
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