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(Last Updated On: 11/08/2023)

If you live in Europe and you’ve got a weekend to spare (or an entire week!), say “yes” to Visiting the Vatican City via rail and enjoy it at full speed!

 

Planning on Visiting the Vatican City?

Since 1929 the Vatican has been an independent state and the smallest one in the world. Still, that never diminished its glory, beauty, and its tremendously inspiring cultural and historical significance. Although spanning over just 0.44 square kilometers, Vatican’s got plenty of attractions to keep tourists busy: from St. Peter’s Basilica to the Sistine Chapel (and everything else in between), you’ll love every second spent in the Vatican.

As far as Visiting the Vatican City via rail goes, there is a modern electric train available for all Vatican enthusiasts. The train is connecting the Vatican City railway station with the Pontifical Villas.

Here are a few star attractions in the Vatican you want to visit and get the most of your Italy experience.

 

 

St. Peter’s Basilica is the most known when Visiting the Vatican

The magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica is the centerpiece of the Vatican, built on what is thought to be where St. Peter’s burial place.

St. Peter’s Basilica is practically the sum of famous artists’ work. Absolutely awe-striking, the art in St. Peter’s Basilica begins before you enter the church. You’ll first see Bernini’s statue of Constantine along with the remains of Giotto’s mosaic above the main doorway. They grace the portico, and the 185m long and 46m tall nave rises to a dome 119 meters above! Naturally, there’s also Michelangelo’s famous Pietà that you won’t believe your eyes! See the richly decorated Chapel of the Sacrament, Bernini’s magnificent Baroque bronze Baldacchino, the Papal altar and so much more.

Rimini to Rome Trains

Florence to Rome Trains

Verona to Rome Trains

Naples to Rome Trains

 

Sistine Chapel

Spectacular in its own right, the Sistine Chapel is yet another site you’ll get to see if you are visiting the Vatican City via rail. Built by Pope Sixtus IV in 1473-84 and restored from 1980 to 1994, Sistine Chapel holds frescoes by many artists. Do names Michelangelo, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Botticelli, Rosselli, Ghirlandaio, and Signorelli mean anything? Well, they helped make the walls of the Sistine Chapel the peak of the Renaissance painting. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment painted inside the Chapel is considered the most dramatic and most significant achievement of European art.

Sistine Chapel is where the conclave to elect a Pope is held. Daily, hundreds of tourists admire it, and – you can be one for them, too!

 

visiting the vatican sight seeings

Museo Pio Clementino while Visiting the Vatican

One of the best things about Visiting the Vatican City by rail is that it allows you to see virtually all the essential sights in the Vatican.

Vatican Museums feature a systematic arrangement display designed by Popes Clement XIV and Pius VI from 1769 to 1799. These galleries are a treasure-trove of significant pieces and highlighting just a few is very difficult! Each has something unique to offer:

  • Sala a Croce Greca holds richly decorated red porphyry sarcophagi of Constantine’s daughter, Constantia, and his mother
  • Sala delle Muse shows Belvedere Torso, a first-century-BC Michelangelo-admired work by Apollonius of Athens
  • Gabinetto delle Maschere has a glorious mosaic floor of theatrical masks from the Villa Adriana in Tivoli
  • Cortile del Belvedere holds the Apollo Belvedere, one of the most famous statues in the Vatican
  • Galleria delle Statue features the finest ancient candelabras – the Candelabri Barberini – also from the Villa Adriana at Tivoli

Milan to Rome Trains

Bologna to Rome Trains

Siena to Rome Trains

Lucca to Rome Trains

 

Pontifical Villa Barberini

Pope’s summer residence, The Pontifical Villas – Barberini Gardens has been open to the public since March 2014. The entrance is kind of difficult to find as it is not signposted. The gardens of this magnificent place are over 2000 years old, springing over three levels. They are stunning and well set out, and the final level shows the seals of various popes boxed in hedges.

 

To enjoy your travel while Visiting the Vatican City via rail, Search your origin and pick Rome on Save a Train website to book a train ticket within minutes and start your Vatican thrill sooner than you’d expected!

 

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