The Vatican

Located in Vatican City there lies the beautiful Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. The hours for this museum are from 8:30am to 4 pm and guests are welcome to show up at any time during those hours to walk through. The doors however officially close at 6pm so if you can show up on the earlier side it is recommended. The line to get in can get tremendously long and therefore can put you back a little bit if you show up on the later side. The most important thing to remember when going to visit the Vatican is that you cannot wear anything above the knee, sleeveless tops, or low-cut shirts and both men and woman have to follow these rules. They will make you purchase a shaw or something to cover you up if you go dressed in what is considered inappropriate clothing. A lot of the churches recommend this in Italy, but the Vatican requires it. Since clothes are basically covering your whole body this can make the trip more grueling to get through since you are cramped in tight spaces and outside in the sun for parts. When going through it is recommended that you bring lots of water as well as a lot of patience. The ticket prices however to get into the Vatican are relatively cheap with a ticket being 10 euros that includes the elevator and 8 euros if you travel around on foot. With that being said I did the ticket that was 8 euros and it was not a walk in the park and at times I did feel like a sardine in a can because of how many people were fit into the tiny hallways at one time. We got there on the earlier side and since we had our tickets beforehand as well as in a tour group we got to go right in with our hired guide. Multiple hours were spent walking around this museum as there is so much to see and do throughout. The Sistine Chapel is another spectacle that can only be accessed through the Vatican museum, so if you want to be able to walk through you must take the whole tour of the Vatican first. While walking through the Sistine Chapel you are not allowed to take any photos throughout as they don’t want the millions of flash pictures going on at once to ruin the art located on the ceiling. They do have guards walking around as well as workers on microphones to call people out that try and sneak pictures, so it is overall just not worth it to try. When exiting the Vatican however, there is another church located right next to it that is free to walk through and it is named St. Peter’s Basilica. This church was massive and definitely was worth the stop while you’re already there. It didn’t take long to walk through, but inside were the tombs of past Pope’s as well as historical artwork and statues that are a must-see. With this little trip into Vatican City there is a lot to see and do and around the corner from the Vatican there are jewelry shops that you are allowed to walk-through. While I was there I was able to get Rosary Beads blessed by the Pope that night and were available to be picked up or sent to you the next morning. This was a very special gift that I was able to get for a family member and they were very touched by the thought of it. Overall, I would recommend this experience to people who are traveling that are able to walk a lot and handle stairs, as well as people who do not have young children with them. It can be a lot for kids to handle and also is a long day of walking which may cause them to get fussy half-way through.