Vatican City - advice please

stickytape

stickytape

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Tomorrow on our last day, we'll planning to go to the Vatican - unfortunately due to time constraints, it will have to be by driving - plunking trnaoirt or walking is not possible - has anyone been And is aware of a place to park (safe!) either outside or close to the Vatican? Thanks!!!
 
stickytape said:
Tomorrow on our last day, we'll planning to go to the Vatican - unfortunately due to time constraints, it will have to be by driving - plunking trnaoirt or walking is not possible - has anyone been And is aware of a place to park (safe!) either outside or close to the Vatican? Thanks!!!
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I don't know of anywhere close to park, but time constraints and the Vatican? It's not a quick job to visit. Getting in took us over an hour
 
boyfalldown said:
I don't know of anywhere close to park, but time constraints and the Vatican? It's not a quick job to visit. Getting in took us over an hour
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Well we have a whole day, (not flyingtil2100) but I'd have liked to get out of the city area and go a bit more wickedness!
 
Remember that The Vatican and St Peters are two different things and should be visited as such.

You're looking at over a hour queuing for each. Give yourself 4 to 5 hours for the Vatican and 3 for St Peters once you get in. To save time you can book preferential tickets for both but they are dearer, obviously.

I remember vaguely of some car parking down by Hadrians Castle. Google earth it
 
What do you mean by the Vatican? Most people want to see St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. The queue at the Basilica is mainly for the security checkpoint, but the queues for the museums can be pretty dreadful, an hour is conservative at this time of year. The Sistine Chapel is at the far end of the museums and there really isn't way of short circuiting this. You can cut down on the queuing by buying tickets in advance, online, or joining one of the guides that you'll find outside the museums. They get the tickets without queuing, and it might be worth it just for this.You don't actually have to take the tour if you don't want to. One way or another, you're still talking about most of the day to do it all justice. Remember that the Vatican and the Basilica have dress rules too, for men and women, and they do enforce them.

Can't help you with parking. I've never really fancied driving in Rome..!
 
st peters is awesome as a person of faith i found it just to be amazing.
if you can get up to walk to the top the cupola, the view is fantastic.
 
stickytape said:
Well we have a whole day, (not flyingtil2100) but I'd have liked to get out of the city area and go a bit more wickedness!
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Wickedness? Have they raised the age of consent from 12 yet?
 
Good luck driving through Rome and finding somewhere to park, you'll need it.
 
Harriers9 said:
Remember that The Vatican and St Peters are two different things and should be visited as such.

You're looking at over a hour queuing for each. Give yourself 4 to 5 hours for the Vatican and 3 for St Peters once you get in. To save time you can book preferential tickets for both but they are dearer, obviously.

I remember vaguely of some car parking down by Hadrians Castle. Google earth it
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Thank you! I eventually found some parking free for 3 hours! Had a good walk around St. Peter's (not inside) and then down by the river had a nice relax and good food... very enjoyable!
 
MartynK said:
What do you mean by the Vatican? Most people want to see St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. The queue at the Basilica is mainly for the security checkpoint, but the queues for the museums can be pretty dreadful, an hour is conservative at this time of year. The Sistine Chapel is at the far end of the museums and there really isn't way of short circuiting this. You can cut down on the queuing by buying tickets in advance, online, or joining one of the guides that you'll find outside the museums. They get the tickets without queuing, and it might be worth it just for this.You don't actually have to take the tour if you don't want to. One way or another, you're still talking about most of the day to do it all justice. Remember that the Vatican and the Basilica have dress rules too, for men and women, and they do enforce them.

Can't help you with parking. I've never really fancied driving in Rome..!
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Good point! So we made it but rather than stress out, we just found some parking and enjoyed a relaxing walk around St. Peter's and then some nice food further up the river! Car signed back in (no excess thankfully!!)

Next time, hopefully, will do everything but for now this will suffice to tempt us back, maybe later in the year after Miami.

Thanks for all the tips. Invaluable. :)
 
Swissy said:
Good luck driving through Rome and finding somewhere to park, you'll need it.
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Was quite stressful! Thankfully I soon got used to the other side of the road driving (I'll leave it being the right side argument for another time!)

However the rental (Fiat 500) was a strange car! Perhaps it's just Italian cars.. but this is a very peculiar auto transmission! I when going up hills it would frequently struggle and almost cut out! It had a lever for you to shift the transmission as well.. very odd compared to my congenital PArk and drive! It would also go out of drive and into neutral frequently.. very odd!
 
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