Vatican City – attractions and tips for your visit

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: August 2026 | Vatican City is the world's smallest independent state and is located in the middle of Rome. Despite its small size, the country is home to some of the world's most famous sights, including St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. We visited Vatican City during a trip to Rome and took a guided tour of the impressive museums. Here we share our experiences and tips for a visit to the world's smallest country.

What is Vatican City?

Vatican City is the world's smallest independent state and is located as an enclave in the middle of Rome. The country is the center of the Roman Catholic Church and is home to St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

The small state covers only about 0.44 square kilometers, but despite its size, it has many of the functions associated with an independent country. It has its own administration, postal service and security forces, and the Vatican City even issues its own euro coins.

Vatican City was formed in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy. The treaty resolved a long-standing conflict over the position of the Pope and granted Vatican City the status of an independent state.

It is also good to distinguish between Vatican City and the Holy See. Vatican City is the country and territory itself, while the Holy See is the central leadership of the Catholic Church, headed by the Pope. The world's smallest country

Visiting Vatican City

Visiting Vatican City works a little differently than visiting many other countries. You don't have to go through any of the usual border controls to enter St. Peter's Square, but can simply walk there from Rome.

However, it is important to distinguish between the different attractions. St. Peter's Square is open to the public without a ticket, but you need a ticket to enter the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. St. Peter's Basilica is normally free to enter, but you need to go through a security check and there may be queues.

The Vatican Museums have a separate entrance a short distance from St. Peter's Square, so if you want to see the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica, it's wise to plan your visit in advance and allow at least half a day.

Attractions in Vatican City

Despite being the world's smallest country, Vatican City is home to some of the world's most famous works of art and religious buildings. The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and St. Peter's Square are among the most popular attractions.

Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums are not really a single museum, but a vast complex of museums, galleries, halls and palace rooms. The collections were built up by the popes over several centuries and include everything from ancient sculptures and Roman objects to tapestries, maps and Renaissance art.

We visited the museums with a guide, which made it easier to understand what we were seeing and finding through the huge collections.

Among other things, we passed long galleries filled with statues, tapestries and paintings. The buildings themselves are also so richly decorated that it is sometimes difficult to know whether to look at the artwork or the walls and ceilings.

The artworks are fantastic, but there are so many that after a while we almost felt "full" and had difficulty taking in more works.

Raphael's Room and the School of Athens

One of the highlights of the Vatican Museums is Raphael's Room, Raphael's Rooms. The rooms were decorated by Raphael and his workshop in the early 16th century and are among the Vatican's great art treasures.

The most famous work is the fresco The School of Athens, where Raphael gathered several of the great philosophers and thinkers of antiquity in a magnificent architectural setting. In the center are Plato and Aristotle, surrounded by Socrates and Pythagoras, among others. Even for those who are not particularly interested in art, it is special to suddenly stand in front of a work of art that has been reproduced countless times before.

Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is one of the great highlights of a visit to the Vatican Museums. The chapel is most famous for Michelangelo's paintings, not least the enormous ceiling depicting scenes from the biblical creation story. Here is the iconic scene where God's and Adam's fingers almost meet, as well as Michelangelo's powerful fresco Last judgement on the altar wall.

The chapel is still an important part of the Vatican's religious life. It is here, among other things, that the cardinals gather for the conclave when a new pope is to be elected. After all the halls and corridors through the Vatican Museums, it feels almost surreal to finally enter a room that you have heard about so many times. However, photography is not allowed here, which is why we cannot show any pictures.

St Peter's Church

St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Basilica, is one of the world's largest and most important churches and one of the major attractions of Vatican City. The current church began construction in the 16th century on the site of an older basilica, and several of the Renaissance's leading architects and artists were involved in the work.

The interior is enormous and filled with artwork, chapels and monuments, including Michelangelo's famous sculpture Pieta and the enormous dome which is also associated with Michelangelo. Those who wish can also climb the dome to get a view of St. Peter's Square and Rome. Expect security checks and occasionally long queues to get to the church.

St. Peter's Square

In front of St. Peter's Basilica, the monumental St. Peter's Square spreads out. Designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 17th century, the square is framed by enormous colonnades that almost seem to embrace visitors.

In the middle of the square stands an Egyptian obelisk, surrounded by two fountains. Large crowds gather here for papal audiences, church services and other important occasions.

St. Peter's Square is also one of the places where it really becomes clear how strange Vatican City is. One minute you're walking down a street in Rome - and the next you're standing in the middle of the world's smallest independent state.

The Pope and the Swiss Guard

The Pope is both the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the head of state of the Vatican City. Vatican City is thus a very special state formation where religion and state are closely intertwined.

Another well-known symbol of the Vatican is Swiss Guard, whose colorful uniforms are hard to miss. The guard was founded in the early 16th century and is tasked with protecting the Pope and guarding certain parts of the Vatican.

To become a Swiss Guard, one must meet a number of specific requirements, including being a Swiss citizen and a Catholic. The Guard is small, but has become one of the Vatican's most photographed institutions.

Tickets to the Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums are one of Rome's most visited attractions and it is wise to book your ticket in advance, especially during peak season. The Vatican Museums ticket also includes a visit to the Sistine Chapel.

There are both regular entrance tickets and different types of guided tours. We chose a guided tour ourselves, which was a good way to get more context for everything we saw.

Please note that the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica do not have the same entrance and ticketing system, so please check what is actually included when booking a ticket or guided tour.

Our experiences from the visit

We visited the Vatican Museums with a guide and it turned out to be a good choice. The museums are huge and without a guide it would have been difficult to understand what to focus on.

The guide held up a little yellow gadget so we could find her in the crowds – and it was really needed. In some places there were a lot of people and the group had to stick together so that no one would get lost along the way.

We saw an incredible amount of art, statues, tapestries and magnificent rooms. Towards the end we felt like we had had our fair share of paintings for a while… At the same time, it was fascinating to see some of the world's most famous works of art in person.

The biggest impression was made above all by the enormous and richly decorated rooms, Raphael's The School of Athens and of course the Sistine Chapel. The entire visit also gave a sense of the enormous art and cultural treasures that can be found within this very small country.

Video from Vatican City

Peter has filmed and edited a short film from the world's smallest country. Don't miss checking it out!

See more in Rome and Italy

If you visit Vatican City, it means that you are in the capital of Italy, Rome. Although Rome is a large city, this city feels cozy and pleasant. It is cozy just to stroll around the alleys and squares, but there are also a lot of interesting sights to explore such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Read more here:

• Things to do in Rome
• Colosseum and Roman Forum