Vatican Gardens: How to Visit and What You Will See

The Vatican Gardens can only be seen on a visit organized by the Vatican Museums: in a guided group or with an audio guide on an electric bus, booked in the official shop at tickets.museivaticani.va. You cannot wander in on your own, and they are not included in the regular Museums ticket. They cover about 22 hectares, half the state’s territory, with fountains, a grotto, a medieval tower and Italian-style gardens. The price of each option appears in the official shop when you choose a date.

Can you visit the Vatican Gardens on your own?

No. They have been the Pope’s place of rest since 1279 and are part of the state, so access is controlled. There are two formats:

Option	What it is like	Where to book
Guided group tour	On foot, with a Museums guide	Official Vatican Museums shop
Electric bus route	With an audio guide, aboard an electric bus	Official Vatican Museums shop
“Vatican Gardens without barriers”	The only Museums guided tour open to wheelchair users	Official Vatican Museums shop

In the official shop, the Gardens appear as an area of their own, alongside “Vatican Museums and Collections”, the Castel Gandolfo complex and the Via Triumphalis Necropolis. The Museums warn that their only official sales website is tickets.museivaticani.va and that there are sites with similar domains that charge much more.

The visit starts in the newest part of the state, where the large new gardens were laid out, according to the State of Vatican City’s website.

What do you see in the Vatican Gardens?

The Museums highlight ten spots. These are the ones with the most history:

• Casina of Pius IV. A villa with a loggia and oval courtyard, begun in 1558 under Paul IV and finished under Pius IV (1559–1565). It was designed by Pirro Ligorio. The central basin, which used to hold fish, is now home to turtles.
• Fountain of the Eagle. Commissioned by Paul V Borghese, whose coat of arms is the eagle on top. It was made by the Dutchman Jan van Santen (Giovanni Vasanzio) to imitate a natural cave, with cascades running down into a large pool. It had hidden jets that soaked visitors by surprise.
• Lourdes Grotto. A life-size copy of the French grotto, given to Leo XIII in 1902 by the Bishop of Tarbes. Inside is the original marble altar from the Lourdes grotto, donated to John XXIII.
• Tower of St John. A bastion of the 15th-century wall. It was raised in 1962 and John XXIII used it as a summer residence. Nearby is the bronze bell of the 2000 Jubilee.
• Madonna della Guardia. A small temple Genoa gave in 1917 to Benedict XV, a Genoese. The Pope is said to have gone there to pray every morning.
• Italian garden. Geometric parterres designed after 1929 by the architect Giuseppe Momo and the botanist Giovanni Nicolini. It includes the Shell Garden, next to the railway station, and the Rose Garden, at the highest point.
• Statue of St Peter. Besides a bronze statue of the apostle, in the woods there is a marble St Peter in chains by the Florentine sculptor Amalia Dupré, donated to Leo XIII in 1887.

The list is completed by the Fountain of the Zitella and the Square Garden. Among the buildings in the grounds is Vatican Radio, and there is an olive tree donated by the Government of Israel.

The Gardens in figures

Fact	Value
Area	About 22 hectares (Vatican Museums)
Share of the state	About half of its 44 hectares
Highest point	60 m above sea level
Woodland	About 3 hectares
Origin	1279, under Pope Nicholas III
Current layout	Designed by Giuseppe Momo and Giovanni Nicolini after 1929, in four years of work

A brief history

Nicholas III moved the papal residence from the Lateran to the Vatican in 1279. Inside the walls he had built, he planted an orchard, a meadow and a garden. At the end of the 15th century Innocent VIII built the small Belvedere palace, and Bramante designed the great Belvedere Courtyard for Julius II. Its helical ramp is the famous Bramante staircase.

Pius V added rare plants thanks to the botanist Michele Mercati. In the early 17th century, Paul V restored Trajan’s aqueduct and filled the gardens with fountains. At the end of the 18th century Napoleonic troops plundered much of the vegetation, and Gregory XVI restored them in the 19th. After the Lateran Pacts of 1929 the buildings of the new state had to be built, and the gardens took their current shape.

How much does a Vatican Gardens ticket cost?

The price depends on the option (on foot or by bus), and the official shop shows it when you choose a date and time. We do not copy it here because it depends on the option and the official website is the reference. Two general Museums rules do help:

• They are non-refundable. Official Vatican Museums tickets cannot be refunded, so choose your day carefully.
• Free entry. The Museums do not charge children under 7 or people with a certified disability of 67 % or more. Check in the shop whether this applies to the Gardens option you choose.

None of the Vatican tickets and tours we sell includes the Gardens. If you only want the Museums and the Sistine Chapel, you need a different ticket.

Tips for your visit

• Dress as you would for the Museums. The same code applies: no tank tops or low necklines, no shorts above the knee, no miniskirts and no caps.
• Choose the option that suits your fitness. The gardens cover most of the Vatican Hill and have slopes. If walking is a problem, the bus or the “without barriers” visit are better choices. For more details, see Vatican Museums accessibility.
• Combine it with another official visit. The same Museums run the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo and its gardens, on the outskirts of Rome.
• To understand the state they surround, read our guide to Vatican City.