Travel Tips

Going up San Pietro was one of my favourite things that I did in the Vaitcan City and Rome. Although, be warned, the climb is a long one. San Pietro is the tallest building in the city area and therefore (a) you must go up many, many steps and (b) you get the best views of the Vatican City and Rome!

But please, if you do go up to the very top - do not scrawl your name and the date of your trip on the top of the dome. While some people may think this is cool, I just see that as graffiti and ruining a beautiful building with black permanent textas and pens! So if you want the moment to last - take a picture instead.

Me at the top of San Pietro. I may look like I have a lot of room around me to move - but I didn't. It was extremely crowded at the top and sometimes you had to wait a while for people who were right up against the railing to move, so you could take your pictures.

The rooftop of San Pietro with Apostles and Saints.

Sitting on the rooftop of the basilica looking up at the dome. After climbing all the way up to the top and back down to the roof, my friends and I decided it was a good time to sit down in some shade on the roof and have a break. My feet were killing me!

Walk all around the top of the dome so you literally get to see all of the city around you - there are quite a few beautiful gardens in the nearby area of San Pietro.

I liked looking down at the streets close by and seeing the patterns and curves of the streets with the buildings lining them. There are no tall (skyscrapers) buildings in Rome/Vatican City, the tallest structure is San Pietro and no other building is allowed to obstruct its view in the city skyline - which I think is great, Rome is a beautiful city.