Vatican City is the smallest country in the world (source) with a compact 49 hectares of total area. In 1929, it became independent from Italy by the signing of the Lateran Treaty. This city state is ruled by the Pope.
My first visit to Vatican City years ago was on my own. On my second visit in March 2024, I decided to join a morning Vatican City guided tour to skip the line-up and to learn more about the history and artwork with a knowledgeable guide.
Vatican City Guided Tour
It was a beautiful and sunny morning when I met up with my tour guide and group. The tour guide was friendly and had a sense of humour. After brief introductions and head count, she quickly led us (a group of 16 visitors) pass the ticket checkpoint and started the tour.
The guided tour covers three big sites in Vatican City: The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. We started from the Pinecone (Pigna) Courtyard before entering the Vatican Museums.
Pinecone Courtyard
In the Pinecone Courtyard, we saw the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican gardens, the sculpture of the “Sphere within Sphere” by Arnaldo Pomodoro, and the bronze pinecone that gives this courtyard its name.
There are three boards with illustrations of the Sistine Chapel. These are purposely set up for tour guides to explain the Chapel before visitors go inside due to the “no talking and no photography” rule inside the Sistine Chapel.
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
The Vatican Museums display the massive collection of art that was amassed by the Catholic Church. It would take years to see 70,000 works of art on display in roughly 2,000 rooms. Some of the most amazing rooms include Gallery of the Maps and Gallery of the Tapestries date back to the 1500’s.
We entered the Sistine Chapel to see incredible artworks, particularly the ceiling painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 and The Last Judgment that he painted between 1535 and 1541 on the wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel.
St. Peter’s Basilica and Square
From the Sistine Chapel, we walked through a passageway to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world.
The inside of St. Peter’s Basilica is awe inspiring. Words are not enough to describe its grandeur and beauty, from the stunning mosaics on the floor, the massive marble columns, to the artworks everywhere. There are many statues, graves of the Popes, and Papal tombs that sit underneath of St. Peter’s Basilica. This is the final resting place for over 90 popes and dignitaries.
As we left St. Peter’s Basilica, we saw two members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard in their dress uniform of blue, red, orange and yellow with a mantle to protect the uniform from the elements.
I enjoyed the tour and greatly appreciated my tour guide’s knowledge and experience. The morning tour was an excellent choice as we had low crowds throughout the tour.
Link-Up
I’d love for you to share your week’s highlights and/ or public art from around the world in the Comments or Weekend Coffee Share link-up #164 below.
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Natalie the Explorer 
Fantastic visit Natalie and would have been awe inspiring. How talented was Michaelangelo
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Ali, Michelangelo was exceptional. His vast body of work is a gift to the world.
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What a day that must have been. You must have had sensory overload.
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Margaret, It was a wonderful day. Since it was my second visit, I knew what to expect and simply enjoyed the tour and the guide’s information.
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How interesting that you’ve been able to visit Vatican City on more than one occasion!
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Yes, I feel fortunate to visit some countries like Vatican City more than once.
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A good idea to join a tour for a place that’s as popular as this! And a good tour guide can really enhance your experience especially in these huge museums when it’s hard to know where to start.
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Sarah, The half day guided tour was just right for me. It saved so much time (no line up); the tour guide knew exactly where to take us and pointed out the most important things, explained the history, answered questions, etc. It was enjoyable and educational experience.
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What an amazing experience. Engaging a tour was a good idea.
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Darlene, I was very happy with my decision and the morning tour. It was an enjoyable and educational visit.
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Natalie, thank you for your engaging post of the tour of the Vatican! I never realised about the museum and it’s immense collection and St. Peter’s Basilica sounds amazing – lovely of you to share about this special visit and obviously one that is hugely rewarded with a tour guide.
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Annika, The massive art collection at the Vatican Museums is mind blowing not only in volume but also the history and artistry behind each piece. St. Peter’s Basilica is grand and stunning. The tour guide did an excellent job and made the visit enjoyable and educational. Thank you for stopping by. I hope your holiday in Sweden has been wonderful.
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Natalie, visiting your blog always makes me want to get out and see things.
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There are a lot to explore and enjoy out there 🙂
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This is such a fascinating place! No “Free City Tours” like everywhere else in the world, huh? 🙂 I’d love to visit Vatican City one day, especially the basilica.
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St. Peter’s Basilica is free to visit under the current Pope. Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel require tickets. Funds are needed to maintain the sites that receive millions of visitors every year.
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The architecture and art there are really inspiring. Your photos are beautiful, Natalie.
-Soma
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Thank you Soma for your comment. It was easy to take beautiful photos as Vatican City is beautiful and I lucked out with the weather that day.
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So much majestic art, both the sculptures and the architecture all around. Thank you for sharing.
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You’re welcome, Maria. Vatican City’s architecture and artworks are awe-inspiring.
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I bet!
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That sounds like a wonderful tour!
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Yes, it was.
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Thanks for sharing your tour – so fantastic to see these pictures.
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You’re welcome, Barbara. I’m happy to share.
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I’ve visited Vatican City several times and there is always so much more to explore. Thanks for sharing your experience, Natalie and have a lovely weekend. x
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Good for you to have visited Vatican City several times, Sue. Thanks for linking up. Have a great weekend.
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Hi Natalie, I was just hearing a lecture on renaissance and Michelangelo. Thanks for sharing pictures from the Sistene Chapel.
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I hope you enjoyed the lecture. No photography was allowed in the Sistine Chapel so my photos were in the Vatican Museums, the courtyard, St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square.
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Oh is it so! Somethings need to be visited in person then.
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The Vatican is exactly how I’d envision it to be. Great photos.
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Thank you Ally for your compliment of my photos. Vatican City is grand.
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You got really great photos. I’ve not been but been to Rome a few times…lovely to get this inside peek!
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I lucked out with the weather and Vatican City is beautiful so it was easy to get great photos. Maybe next time you’re in Rome, you’d consider visiting Vatican City.
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Lovely images of your trip, Natalie. It also brought back wonderful memories to me.
Here is my entry this week. https://wanderingteresa.com/day-trip-to-aveiro/
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Thank you Teresa for your PPAC contribution. I look forward to seeing Aveiro through your lens.
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Thanks too Natalie!
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Over 20 years ago we went on a small group tour of Italy. It was amazing, every bit of it. We got a similar tour of Vatican City one morning. It was very very crowded and we couldn’t see much, but husband and I went back that afternoon when the rest of our group was taking a nap at the hotel. Then we got to wander through St Peters and some of the museums again at our own speed, having learned about them that morning. Later that night we actually SAW THE POPE speak from the front of the building. We were four or five blocks away. They had set up huge televisions so people could see him. We have no idea what he was saying, it wasn’t in English. But it was very very cool.
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What a memorable visit for you, Dawn. There is a weekly Papal Audience in St Peter’s Square with huge screens.
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We must have accidently stumbled onto one of those.
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Richard and I were in Vatican City in 2022. Your photos made that trip feel like yesterday. Thank you for the wonderful memory jog.
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Hi Donna, I remember reading your posts about your Camino in Italy and your visit to Vatican City. What an amazing trip.
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I’ve always been fascinated by Vatican City and have not been yet. Great to see your pictures. The artworks must be breathtaking to see.
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Gail, Yes, amazing artworks and rich history in Vatican City. Thank you for linking up.
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I did the tour years ago but I think I would appreciate it more today.
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My second visit was great as the tour guide took care of the logistics and I just enjoyed viewing the artworks and listening to her explanations.
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The two times I was there I was amazed at how many people ran through one of the greatest museums in the world to see the Sistine Chapel. Yes, it is amazing, but so is the rest of the museum! Did you do the tour of the dome? That is very cool! Anyway, a guided tour sounds fantastic, though I think there is something to be said about being able to linger in private corners and taking it all in. Glad you had a good time!
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The Vatican Museums are amazing with so much to see. I visited the dome in my previous visit and didn’t do the tour of the dome this time. There seemed to be a lot more visitors to Vatican City now and the lineup was quite long. I was very satisfied with the guided tour.
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Oh, I’d love to see that someday! I am fulfilling on dream by going to France in two weeks. So excited!
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Fulfilling dream is so important and how wonderful to have a trip to France to look forward to.
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lovely scenes. Remembering my mother’s and sister’s from decades ago. thank you.
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Thank you Lizl for stopping by. I’m glad my post brought back good memories.
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Two regrets from my years of living in Europe—no Rome and no Athens. Your post helped to fill a corner of the void. I hope to get there someday. Until I do, thanks for sharing Vatican City with us. Joe
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Joe, I love Rome and Athens. I’m pleased to share Vatican City with you. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week ahead.
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The smallest country has the largest church. That is interesting to me. I wonder why there was no talking. I imagine the workmanship to be magnificent.
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I think the no talking rule in the Sistine Chapel is to let visitors enjoy the artworks and be respectful in the chapel. The chapel gets crowded with big tour groups so if all the tour guides speak and in different languages, it would not be an enjoyable experience.
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It is so very beautiful. I visited it 30 years ago. Your pictures are so amazing. So very nice. Thanks for sharing them. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
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Patrick, I’m glad my post brought back memories. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great week ahead.
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Phew! Just sneaked in under the wire 🙂
https://pigletinportugal.com/2024/05/21/piglets-14th-blogiversary/
What a fantastic trip. I always wanted to visit the Vatican but very much doubt we will get there now.
We had a La Pietà replica. Unfortunately it was one of the casualties of our move to Portugal due to lack of shelf space.
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Thanks for linking up and congrats on your blog anniversary.
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I didn’t know that about Vatican City. So interesting.
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Vatican City is a powerful country with plenty to discover in spite of its size.
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Did the time for closing the link change? I got mine in but noticed when I went over this morning to visit that it was closed. I want to make sure for future, since sometimes I don’t get around to it til sunday. It probably said on a past post, I just don’t remember.
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There is no change to the linkup start and end time. You have successfully added your link (#22).
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oh my gosh! I just realized it’s monday and I was thinking it was Sunday….good grief!!!
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https://travelswithali.com/2024/05/28/glimpses-of-glasgow/
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Thank you, Ali, for your link. I look forward to seeing Glasgow through your lens.
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Excellent photos of the Vatican Natalie. I really like your interiors of St Peters Basilica.
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Thank you Shawn. I was pleased how well the photos turned out, especially those taken inside the Basilica.
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