Trip to Italy: Day 10 (Papal Audience)

We learned that the metro was the quickest and most reliable way to get to the Vatican from our hotel. We departed a little after 7 a.m. and had a quick (typical) Italian breakfast—cappuccino and cornetto—at a café across from the hotel. We then took the metro and arrived at the Vatican around 7:50 a.m. We were in line for about 30 minutes. Before the security checkpoint, they checked our bags and asked us to leave any metal water bottles aside. I didn’t mind losing mine, but my son had a Hydro Flask with multiple stickers that were meaningful to him. Since we were both using metal bottles, we lost our entire water supply—and it was hot!

Line to enter Papal Audience

When you reach the seating area, we recommend sitting next to one of the wooden barriers if you want to see the Pope up close. We were seated in direct sunlight for about 1.5 hours. Fortunately, we were near a water fountain at the back, so we were able to cool off periodically. I recommend bringing small rags or towels that you can dampen at the fountain. It also seemed that plastic bottles were allowed, so definitely bring disposable bottles that you can refill. And bring some wipes—many of the chairs had bird droppings.

Before Papal Audience

Pope Leo XIV came out on the Popemobile around 9:50 a.m. He circled through all the wooden barriers before starting the Papal Audience, which lasted about an hour and concluded with a blessing.

Pope Leo XIV

We then made our way back to the metro station, taking our time to avoid the crowds. By the time we got there, the metro wasn’t crowded. We returned to our hotel, picked up our luggage from storage, and then took a train back to Milan.

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Trip to Italy: Day 9 (Rome and The Vatican)

I had booked tickets for the Vatican Museums, which include the Sistine Chapel. Because I booked within a week of our visit, only guided tickets were available. I strongly recommend purchasing tickets in advanced, as the walk-in line was over 2 hours long in the sun!

The guided tour was worth it, but it’s 2 hours long, so only book it if you have the time. Also, note that the entrance to the museum is not the same as the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica. The museum entrance is on the right side (toward the Ottaviano Metro station).

The Gallery of Maps

Make sure that everyone (including children) has identification that matches the online reservation. They accepted our U.S. driver’s licenses, but most people were showing passports. This isn’t required for security reasons, but to prevent scalpers from reselling “skip-the-line” tickets.

School of Athens by Raphael

I had also booked tickets for the Papal Audience back in February via the Prefecture of the Papal Household.  You book them online and wait for an email confirmation containing your reservation number and the number of tickets requested. We noticed tickets were still available even two days before, and we learned the next day that in most cases, you don’t even need to show the ticket to enter the Papal Audience, but better to be safe than sorry.

After the visit, we met with a priest friend who lived in Rome for five years and recommended a nearby restaurant Hosteria Ago e Lillo, which was pretty good. We then headed over to the Bronze Door to pick up our tickets for the Papal Audience on Wednesday. You can pick up the tickets from 3–7 p.m. It’s the same line for “online reservations,” but only one person per party can enter (at least during the Jubilee).

From there, we walked over to see Castel Sant’Angelo, which is a block away from the Basilica, toward the Tiber River.

Castel Sant' Angelo

Then we took a bus to visit the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. This is a beautiful church that hosts the tomb of St. Paul. It also features a painting of all the past popes, now including Pope Francis.

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

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