My last day in Rome is to be spent visiting the Vatican, so I took the Metro Line A from San Giovanni Train Station to Ottaviano Station via Termini Station, and made the short walk to Saint Peter's Basilica.
Saint Peter Basilica
On arrival at Saint Peter's Basilica, I passed through the security checkpoint (the line for the security checkpoint wasn't too bad early in the morning).
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| Arriving at Saint Peter Basilica prior to passing security |
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| The majestic Saint Peter Basilica |
The first thing on my agenda is to climb to the top of St Peter's dome. This experience was definitely the highlight of my visit to the Vatican and one of best memories from the Rome trip.
From the main entrance to the interior of the Basilica, I turned right and made my way towards the ticket office and entry point for the dome climb. The tickets for the dome climb comes in two options of Stairs or Elevator. It is worth noting that although the elevator option is only a few euros more expensive than the stairs option, it really only cuts the amount of stairs you climb to roughly half (i.e. only 320 steps as opposed to 550 steps).
I decided to choose the cheaper option of climbing the whole way to the top. One thing that's worth pointing out is that the stairs are one of the narrowest and smallest I've ever been in. At some points you're climbing up the stairs on an angle as the walls are angled in the direction of the dome.
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| Midway point of the dome climb and exit point of the elevator. The rest of the way up will need to be via the stairs. |
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| The interior of the dome as seen prior to the second stage of the climb |
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| Looking down at the interior of the Basilica prior to the second stage of the climb |
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| Nearly there... |
Upon reaching the top of the dome, I was met with excellent views looking out from a height I had yet to experience in Rome. This experience is definitely highly recommended to all visitors who are in a good enough health to climb the required stairs. Some of the amazing views you will see from this point are shown below....
After some time, I started making my way back down to the base to visit the interior of the St Peter Basilica.
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| The stairs were not very enjoyable as you had very little room or natural lighting |
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| A chance to rest... |
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| Entering the Saint Peter Basilica from the main entrance |
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| The Main Altar |
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| St Peter Statue |
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| Dove Window |
Vatican Museum
After the basilica, I walked towards the Vatican Museum and was instantly met with a long line of people waiting to buy their ticket to the Vatican Museum. The Vatican Museum is not one of the museums that are included in the Roma Pass, so it is highly recommended that you pre-book your ticket online from the Vatican Museum's website so that you can skip the line.
Walking past the long line of people waiting to buy their tickets, I was very glad to have pre-purchased my tickets online as the summer heat in Rome would have made it an uncomfortable wait.
As I explored the Museum, I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the experience. Perhaps it's due to the lack of flexibility or freedom to dictate what you see when compared to other museums. e.g. in order to get to the Sistine Chapel, you have to follow a prescribed path through rooms and rooms of artifacts with no option to skip past them (Although I believe some organised tours offer the chance to see the Sistine Chapel via a shortcut not available to the general public).
Exiting the Sistine Chapel, I had a late lunch of pizza from a cafe inside the Vatican Museum before taking the tube back to central Rome, where I spent the afternoon exploring the streets further before going back to my hostel to pack up.
Check out the rest of my Eurotrip 2015 trip journals below:
- Day 1 Eurotrip | London - Egyptian Mummies at the British Museum
- Day 2 Eurotrip | London - The Tower of London and the Big Bus Tour
- Day 3 Eurotrip | Paris - The Eiffel Tower
- Day 4 Eurotrip | Paris - The Orsay Museum and Arc De Triomphe
- Day 5 Eurotrip | Paris - Versailles and Louvre Museum
- Day 6 Eurotrip | Gimmelwald - The start of a swiss adventure
- Day 7 Eurotrip 2015 | Gimmewald - Hiking around Gimmelwald
- Day 8 Eurotrip 2015 | Gimmewald - The Schilthorn Experience
- Day 9 Eurotrip 2015 | Rome - Travelling to Rome
- Day 10 Eurotrip 2015 | Rome - Ancient Rome
- Day 11 Eurotrip 2015 | Rome - The Vatican
- Day 12 Eurotrip 2015 | Venice - Saint Mark Square
- Day 13 Eurotrip 2015 | Venice - Doge's Palace and Correr's Museum
- Day 14 - 16 Eurotrip 2015 | Amsterdam - Part One
- Day 17 - 20 Eurotrip 2015 | Amsterdam - Part Two