Vatican City: The Holy See

Visiting The Holy See is one of my childhood dreams, we are very thankful to have the chance of visiting Vatican City. Dubbed as the city within a city, The Holy See is one of the most famous tourist destination in Italy. It is also a city of rich history and magnificent architecture.

Tip1: From Rome, Italy, take subway train to Vatican City.
Tip2: Bring a map to familiarize the city including the subway train stations.
Tip3: Do travel early, subway stations are quite full during peak hours.
Tip4: Take care of your belongings, police is quite visible in the city. For any assistance, please approach the officers.
Tip5: Before entering the Vatican wall, there are cafes and food carts in the area. Paninis ( sandwiches ) are available for breakfast and snacks. 

Tip6: Sts. Peter and Paul square is a secured area, Vatican police takes care of the peace and order of the place.
Tip7: To enter the square, everyone's subjected to X-ray and metal detectors. Do not bring any prohibited substances and weapons.
Tip8: We went there to attend Papal audience, for information please see this website http://www.papalaudience.org/ . It is a wonderful experience to attend the Papal audience so please include this in your itineraries.

The tickets can be obtained in many ways, some of the churches in Rome are offering Papal audience tickets. The tickets are for free, some of the churches only ask for donations in return.

Tip9: Sts. Peter and Paul square has it's own souvenier shop, please buy your souveniers inside the square. But there are also souvenier stores outside the square.

Tip10: After the Papal audience, visit the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. It is allowed to take pictures but no flashes, you will surely admire the cathedral. I also advise to keep the solemnity of the place and refrain from making so much noise.

Tip12: Also, you can follow directions inside the cathedral to visit the underground mausoleum of the popes.
Tip 13: Visit the Vatican Museum, the popular statues of the Roman Mythology characters are in the museum. There are also incomparable treasures in the museum which are  all worth to see.

Tipl4: Do not pass the chance of visiting the Sistine Chapel. We did not take any photo in Sistine Chapel, it is not allowed to take pictures but some still chose not to follow. We decided to keep the memories in our minds and not in our camera.

Tip15: After strolling around the square, you can also visit Castel San't Angelo. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

Tip16: Do take note of  the train schedule to plan your trip back to Rome.

Visiting Vatican City is a fulfillment specially to Catholics like us. May God bless us all! Peace, love and light.