3 Things to See in Vatican City | Notes from the Archive
exploring the world's smallest country
*SHARED TO THE BLOG IN SEPTEMBER 2025.
ARCHIVE / aar•kive / (noun): a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.
Welcome to a new Notes from the Archive post, a series in which I am sharing some of my old & well documented travel notes to the blog. I’ve been keeping detailed notes and journals from my travels abroad long before I ever started sharing that content to this little corner of the internet. For some reason, it only dawned on me recently that, although not as thorough as my note-taking and journaling of today, this information could a. be useful to someone out there planning a trip, b. offer a glimpse into my travel days of yore, or c. just be fun for me to relive briefly under the pretense of being useful — so I figured why not share them here!
If you have stumbled across this post on a deep-dive through the blog archives, hello! I have done my darndest to make sure every piece of information shared here is just as relevant today as it was the day it was scrawled in my journal. I would also like to take a moment here to apologise in advance for any poor-quality photographs. You have been warned.
Today’s Notes from the Archive post — 3 Things to See in Vatican City — is the companion piece of sorts to my One Week in Rome, Italy post. In that post, I detailed everything myself, my then-partner, and four of our gal-pals got up to during our 2011 sixth year holiday to the Italian capital. For the duration of our trip, we stayed in an apartment just a 10-minute stroll away from Vatican City, so we spent a lot of time traipsing back and forth across this beautiful little country. Can I tell you about it?
3 fun facts
In keeping with the theme of today’s post, I thought I’d throw in three fun facts, just for good measure 😉
contrary to popular belief, Vatican City is not actually a part of Italy — it’s its own country! Not only is it the smallest country in Europe, but it’s also the smallest country in the world! It covers an area of just 121-acres in total.
on top of that, Vatican City is the only country in the world to be entirely located within another city! City-ception!
the entirety of Vatican City — as in, all 121-acres — has officially been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! It is the only country in the whole world with such a listing. Wild!
3 things to see in vatican city
There are really just three main attractions in the whole country, one of which is paid, while the other two are free.
paid attractions
Vatican Museums // easily one of the most jaw-dropping museums I’ve ever been to — an I’m an art history major! We saw countless pieces of priceless art; from sculptures such as the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoön, and the Belvedere Torso, to paintings by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Giotto. To say I was in art history heaven would be an understatement. All of that is, of course, before you reach the pièce de résistance, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. If you’ve never seen it before: it’s HUGE, with every inch of wall and ceiling covered in the most tiny + intricate details. It’s beautiful and awe-inspiring, and also somehow ridiculously obnoxious & mind-boggling at the same time? Definitely one of those things you just have to see with your own two eyes. A must visit. Address: Viale Vaticano, 00120 Vatican City
*FYI: we joined a tour around the Vatican Museums with our guide from the Colosseum / Forum / Palatine Hill, which cost us €8 each. Today, full-price self-guided tickets are €20, tickets for 18-25 year olds are €8, and there is an additional €5 fee if booking online.
free attractions
Saint Peter’s Basilica // walking inside here is something that everyone should experience at least once; I have never felt so insignificant in my life. Everywhere you look, there’s decorations dripping in gold, and everything is ginormous: the pillars you walk through to enter, the statues, the baptismal font, etc. — it all has the most spectacular dwarfing effect. Be sure to check out Michelangelo's Pietà when you’re in the Basilica, it is truly one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever seen in real life. The experience is marred slightly by the bulletproof glass & 25-foot distance between you and it, but I didn’t let that hinder my gawping and you shouldn’t either. An absolute must visit. Address: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Seeing il Papa on Sunday morning in Saint Peter’s Square // we didn’t actually plan this before our visit, but, in hindsight, it’s pretty cool! Every Sunday at 12pm, the Pope appears at one of the windows in the Papal residence for a short address to the many people gathered in the square to see him. We just so happened to be crossing through the square at the right moment in time and caught a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI addressing his flock; fun! Would recommend. Address: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
And there we have it: 3 Things to See in Vatican City! My second ever Notes from the Archive post — short yet sweet! I hope you enjoyed it, friends!
Ciao,
Victoria xo
*Date of trip: 27th June - 4th July, 2011*
related posts
30 Countries in 30 Years, Part II
One Week in Rome, Italy | Notes from the Archive
Italian Adventures Part I: Florence
