Country point Vatican City

http://www.cacher-reisen.de/podcast-player/5633/laenderpunkt-vatican-city.html

The country point Vatican City is quite easy to reach from Germany. As is well known, many roads lead to Rome – and thus also in Europe – Italy to the country point Vatican City.

The number of caches in the Vatican area always fluctuates, depending on how many events are currently active here.

Even if this small state in Rome is not in the middle of the city center, it is easy to get to. With this blog post we want to show you how to get there, what you can do and what you should probably keep your hands off. And also how you can get the country point Vatican City with some geocaches. We at Cacher-Reisen got this country point on our tour to the dwarf states of Vatican and San Marino.

Arrival to the country point Vatican City

The journey to Vatican City or Vatican is actually always via Rome. Getting to Rome is quite easy for travelers. There are cheap flights from some airports in Germany. So you can arrive at the airport in Rome in a very short time. The way to the city is long, but well organized. There is public transport here that takes passengers from the airport to the city.

A good alternative is to travel by train. For little money you have a very relaxed journey here. We were amazed by the saver price offers that you can get in Germany for the entire journey. The train runs e.g. from Mannheim or from Munich to Bologna. Most trains have a change there, which then leads on to Rome. The train journey is a good alternative for groups, because you can talk at length and even go for a short walk.

Of course, you can also arrive by car. Here you should choose the travel time carefully in order to avoid traffic jams on the motorway.

We were traveling with a group of cacher trips on the long weekend over Corpus Christi. Our journey from Munich to Bologna by train was very relaxed, entertaining and entertaining for the group.

How to get to Vatican City

When you arrive in Rome, you can buy a day ticket for public transport for just EUR 7. These can be obtained in cash or by credit card at every counter in the metro stations. With this day ticket it is possible to travel 24 hours by metro or bus. Boarding and disembarking and routes are flexible.

A drive in Rome seems rather exhausting and not useful. On the one hand, the day ticket for public transport is not really expensive, on the other hand, parking spaces in Rome are difficult to get hold of. Even if the city center of Rome, which you might want to visit after the Vatican, is easy to explore on foot, the day ticket has paid off with us.

Metro in Rome

Rome has 3 metro lines, A, B and C. Several lines meet at San Giovanni. From there, the red metro line A goes in the direction of Battistini. We had informed ourselves and knew the Ottaviano stop as our destination for getting off. For a short time we were irritated, because at the previous station there is something about St. Peter on the metro map. But as the saying goes: many roads lead to Rome and also to the Vatican. The one from the Ottaviano station is just the shortest when arriving by metro. If you want to go directly to St. Peter's Square, just get off the metro at the Ottaviano S.Pietro stop and it's only a 2-block walk to the entrance to St. Peter's Square.

Access to St. Peter's Square

On the way from the metro to the wall of the Vatican, you will be approached by hawkers about goods, but also advertised by tourist providers with many offers on tickets. In particular, you will be offered tickets needed to visit St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. If you "only" want to visit St. Peter's Square and e.g. the German Cemetery, you do NOT need an admission ticket. An entry ticket is not required for any of the previously activated caches. The line to St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel is quite long even in the early morning. To compare the ticket prices, it pays off to find out more from home and, if necessary, to book the tickets in advance. However, many, many tickets are also offered on site. We found it very difficult to compare the services/price. However, since we only wanted to get an impression of St. Peter's Square and wanted to visit the virtual at the German cemetery, we weren't very interested either.

Virtual at the German cemetery

Since we liked the virtual "Campo Santo die Teutonici e die Flamminghi" (GC7B833) so much and there is also a lot to report about it, we wrote our own blog post about it. Have a look here: https://www.cacher-reisen.com/de/Blog/Cachen-auf-dem-Deutschen-Friedhof-in-Rom::83.html

Access to the German Cemetery is similar to a check-in at the airport. If you go through the check, you have a really nice, quiet cemetery in front of you, which is also visited by many German celebrities.

Earth-Caches

On the grounds of the Vatican you cannot avoid one or the other earth cache. Two Earth Cache icons smile at us in St. Peter's Square.

On the one hand there is the earth cache AGT 40: VATICAN OBELISK by Alke04: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC487RN_agt-40-vatican-obelisk This is about the large obelisk in St. Peter's Square. Questions about grain size and appearance can be answered well on site.

On the other hand, the earth cache "Travertino di Piazza San Pietro" has been here for a good year. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC71Q8V_travertino-di-piazza-san-pietro. Owner is sirkönig. Here everything revolves around the columns that surround St. Peter's Square and their bases. Listing and questions are in English, so nothing should stand in the way of a solution. We go with a small group of cachers to the specified listing coordinates and take the photo first. Then we take care of the questions, examine the pillars, take close-ups and discuss. We are confident that the owner can accept our answers.

Other caches

On the grounds of the Vatican, listed under Vatican City, there are also some question marks and a Where I Go cache in addition to the Virtual and Earth caches. One looks in vain for a traditional here – at the moment. It is best to deal with the question marks at home, some research on the popes is necessary, but it is also fun and leads to some other cache points in the Vatican.

Stamp in passport

Similar to San Marino, one can also get an official stamp in Vatican City. However, it is no longer possible to get this stamp in the passport. Both in the post office directly at St. Peter's Basilica and in the mobile post office on St. Peter's Square, notices are already showing that there are no longer any stamps in the passport. Of course we would like to know more about it and are asking both places. We could send a postcard on which the stamp is then clearly recognizable. In the mobile post office you see it a little more relaxed, we could buy a stamp, stick it in our logbook and for 2.- EUR we would get a stamp on it. However, a stamp in the passport is no longer possible.

Should you then have cached the Vatican empty, of course you continue in Rome. There, at many sights such as the Spanish Steps or the Fontana di Trevi, there is also a virtual, an earth cache or a traditional waiting for you.

Want to travel? If you want to visit the Vatican and Rome in combination with San Marino and in a nice cacher group, you can register here and never miss a trip from Cacher-Reisen: waiting list