Essential Tips For Avoiding The Crowds When Visiting The Vatican
Going to the Vatican is a quintessential activity when in Rome. If you didn’t go, it would be like going to Paris, without seeing Notre Dame. Or London without seeing Westminster Abbey. Or missing the Sagrada Familia in Spain. Plus, bonus that Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, so you get to knock 2 countries off your bucket list for the price of one! However, just like these other beautiful and famous churches, the Vatican is just as busy and touristy. So if you’re like me, and not a crowd person, you tend to cringe at the thought of them. But, lucky for us, there are lots of tips to avoid the crowds when visiting the Vatican. So, let’s get into it.
Before we get into crowd aversion at the Vatican, let’s address the elephant in the room—affiliate links! Here’s the scoop: In this blog post, you might stumble upon some affiliate links. Don’t worry, clicking on them won’t cost you an extra penny, but it might earn me a tiny commission, you know to keep the coffee flowing. Now, I promise I would never recommend or endorse anything that I haven’t personally tried and loved. So rest assured that my travel tales remain untainted, and you’re in safe hands
Book Early! And I Mean Waaay Early!
Bar none the best way to avoid the crowds is to book early. I’m talking like 6 months in advance early. Basically as soon as you know you are going to Rome, you should look into booking tickets for the Vatican Museums. At the very least, book “fast-pass” timed entry tickets as soon as possible. Believe me when I tell you that the line to enter in the Vatican wraps around the whole country! Literally! If you don’t plan in advance you will be in for a very hellish (no pun intended) day of waiting with the crowd, and then seeing everything with the crowd. I’m really trying to make sure you don’t feel like you’re a salmon swimming upstream.
The Gardens and The Necropolis
If you plan extra carefully, you can visit places in the Vatican where only a limited amount of people are allowed. These are special tours of the Vatican Gardens or the Necropolis. If you’re able to snag those, not only will you be visiting a portion of the Vatican most people don’t get to see, but you’ll be eliminating the crowds, almost completely! The Gardens are an often underrated part of the Vatican, even though they make up about 80% of the country. And the Necropolis is the resting place of Saint Peter. So, anyone making a religious pilgrimage to the Vatican will definitely want to coordinate that tour.
Travel Tip: When visiting the Vatican, keep in mind that there is no air conditioning, and Rome/Vatican-City are extremely hot in summer. This coupled with crowds can easily create a situation for heat exhaustion. Bring plenty of water, a small portable fan, and take breaks as necessary. We literally had people in our group that felt faint.
Book A Tour
If you are hell bent (okay pun intended on this one! lol!) on seeing the museums and the Sistine Chapel, then one of the best tips I have for avoiding, or at least navigating, the crowds when visiting the Vatican is to book a tour. Let a tour guide do the heavy lifting. Vatican City may be the smallest country in the world, but it is huge and much easier to visit when you have someone that knows what they are doing. Where to stop, where to look, and the history behind it all. Keep in mind that the Vatican holds the largest private art collection in the world. If you don’t have a guide that can help explain the art and sculptures, then the whole experience won’t be as meaningful.
Avoid Holy Days and Events
One of the biggest tips I have visiting the Vatican is to avoid holy days and holy events. Firstly, you can’t even visit the Vatican museums on Wednesdays because the Pope holds mass. Secondly, you would want to also avoid other important holy days, like Easter Sunday. In 2025, specifically, they are holding a Catholic Jubilee. Therefore, the already crowded Vatican will be even more so. And it might be better to avoid this year altogether.
If you can’t go to Italy in 2025, where should you go? Take this fun travel quiz to find out!
Go to the top!
My final tip for avoiding the crowds at the Vatican, is to go to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica. Did you even know you could go to the top of the Basilica? Probably not. Because most people don’t. Which means you also probably don’t know that there’s a cafe up there, and the best views of Rome. You can also climb to the top of the Basilica’s dome, but this is not recommended for anyone with fear of tight spaces. It’s a narrow, twisty, stair climb to the top. It is also over 300 stairs so also not recommended for anyone with mobility issues.
I don’t have a picture from this area because, you guessed it, we didn’t go :(. It’s definitely on my list to get back to. We were just so tired and hot by the end of our tour, that we just couldn’t make it. Not to mention the hubs has a fear of tight spaces.
Travel Tip: A couple of other tips to remember when visiting the Vatican is to cover up. You need to have shoulders and knees covered in order to visit. Further, you cannot badmouth the Pope, the Vatican, or the catholic church while in the country of the Vatican. So don’t ask your tour guide inappropriate questions.
Other Things To Do In Rome
The Vatican will take at least a half day, and can take a full day. However, if you have more time, then there are of course tons of other things to do in Rome.
The Trevi Fountain
Like the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain is another place that is usually crawling with tourists. In order to get the best pictures with the least amount of people, try to get there as early as possible. Like when the sun is coming up early. We got there at 6AM and there was still a decent amount of people there. But we were able to take some good pictures.
The Colosseum
My best advice to avoid the crowds at the Colosseum is to book a tour. Specifically, a tour that goes onto the arena floor and underground to see the doors where the gladiators and animals were let into the arena. It’s a cool way to experience the Colosseum, get away from the heat, and see things that most people don’t get to see. Tours for the arena floor need to be booked early, so don’t wait!
The Catacombs
Rome, like Paris, has catacombs. However, they are much older! Like by about 1000 years! Unfortunately, unlike Paris, there are no bones left as the catacombs were grave robbed over the years. But, there is lots of ancient history, and you can see how small ancient Romans were. Spoiler: Hollywood may make them seem huge, but the average male clocked in at 5 feet.
After the catacombs, you can see the bones of the Capuchin Monks arranged in interesting designs. Again, this is a holy place, dress appropriately.
As you can see, my tips for visiting some of the most touristed spots of Rome are very similar to my tips for visiting the Vatican. I really hope you’re able to use them to your advantage and they help you navigate and avoid the crowds!
Have you ever been to Rome or The Vatican? Any additional Tips? Let me know in the comments!