Museum in Vatican City

A visit to a museum in Vatican City is the best way to step into the past and understand the city’s culture. From art and history to science and innovation, museums here offer something for every interest. MakeMyTrip lists 3 must-visit museums in Vatican City for 2025, making it easy to plan your trip. Exhibits are well curated, with guided tours and interactive displays that keep both adults and children engaged. Whether you’re fascinated by ancient artefacts or modern installations, each museum tells a story worth exploring. With Vatican City museum prices starting from INR 6983, spending a few hours inside is affordable yet highly rewarding. This December, discover a new side of Vatican City with MakeMyTrip’s handpicked museums.

Discover Centuries Through Exhibits and Collections: Museums in Vatican City

When going for a trip to Rome, setting a few days aside for exploring the Vatican City is a must since this city brims with attractions and landmarks dating back to the earliest of times. The heart of the Catholic Christian following, the Vatican City, is also well-known for its well-preserved and curated museums. At each museum in Vatican City, visitors find an enchanting number of historical artefacts and art collections that have been amassed over the centuries by the Catholic Church.

The popular museums in the Vatican City comprise displays and exhibits from a wide variety of collections, interests and subjects. Among the specialised museums worth exploring here include the likes of the Vatican Museums, the Pio Clementino, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum, the Raphael Rooms, and the like. For historical explorers, museums like The Gregorian Egyptian Museum, while art lovers and enthusiasts must include the likes of the Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana and Pio Clementino Museum on their Vatican City trip itinerary.

Explore the Diverse Museums of Vatican City

Art Museums

1 - Vatican Museums

Start your Vatican City museum tour with the expansive Vatican Museums. One of the largest museums in all of Rome and certainly the most comprehensive museum in Vatican City, the Vatican Museums is a collection of museums and exhibits situated in the heart of the city. These are public museums accessible to all visitors. Their speciality is the vast collection of displays and exhibits that have been amassed and curated by the Catholic Church and the Papacy throughout the history of various centuries. Top exhibits within the museum in Vatican City are displayed in its various segments, spanning various arts and artefacts. The popular segments of this collection of museums include the likes of the Sistine Chapel, the Gallery of Maps, Castel Gandolfo, the Lapidary Gallery, the Raphael Rooms, the Spiral Staircase, etc.

• Address: Located at Viale Vaticano, 6, 00165 Roma, Vatican City. It is within walking distance of St. Peter’s Basilica and other popular city attractions. The site is easily accessible from various means of transportation, like buses, trains, taxis, trams and metros. The nearest metro stations to the museum in Vatican City are Cipro and Ottoviano-Musei Vaticani.
• Hours of Operation: Open Monday to Saturday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm (Sundays closed except last Sunday of the month)

2 - Museo Pio Clementino

A museum in Vatican City dedicated to ancient art, Museo Pio Clementino is a part of the Vatican Museums and deserves a special mention for its extensive collection of art exhibits, including paintings, sculptures, and various artefacts displayed as part of archaeological finds. It spreads across 12 rooms exhibiting preserved ancient art collections. The Hermes is the most popular ancient Roman sculpture displayed here.

• Address: Located at VA, Cdad del Vaticano, 00120, Vatican City. It is situated along the main routes of the Vatican Museum Vatican City and is easy to reach through buses, taxis, metro, or even by walking from nearby attractions like St. Peter’s Basilica. The nearest metro station to the museum is Ottavia on Line A. Bus routes passing nearby include 23, 32, 34, 49, 81, etc.
• Hours of Operation: Open Monday to Saturday from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm (Closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of the month)

History Museums

1 - Apostolic Palace

The Apostolic Palace is also known as the Papal Palace, as it is known as the residence of the Pope. Although a palace, it is nothing short of a museum in Vatican City because of the extensive displays of Papal history that it exhibits through various segments that are open to the public.

• Address: Located at Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. You can reach the Palace Museum either by train, bus or taxi. The closest train station from here is Stazione San Pietro, while buses 40, 62, 64 and 81 have stops nearby.
• Hours of Operation: Open from Monday to Saturday between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm (Closed on Sundays)

2 - The Vatican Grottoes

Also called the Vatican Crypt, the Vatican Grottoes are an underground network of chambers with a complex design. Within these chambers can be found various historical artefacts and relics put on display, which make it one of the best museums to explore.

• Address: Located at Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. You can get to the Vatican Grottoes through the stairs right behind St. Peter’s Basilica, which you can reach via bus, train, metro and taxi.
• Hours of Operation: Open all days from the Vatican City museum hours 7.00 am to 7.00 pm between April and September; from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm between October and March

Science & Technology Museums

1 - Museo della Radio Vaticana

The Museo della Radio Vaticana portrays the 90 years of the journey of this modern science and technology equipment and system of media broadcast through its fast evolution. Displaying this fine piece of history through various equipment and system exhibits, this is a top-rated science and technology museum in Vatican City. Activities to try out here include the likes of listening to audio narrations of the radio journey.

• Address: Located in Palazzino Marconi, which is Vatican Radio’s first historical seat within the Vatican Gardens at Via A. Canal, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. You can reach this museum in Vatican City by getting down at Ottaviano Metro station on Line A or taking bus 49, whose stop is a walking distance from the museum.
• Hours of Operation: Open from Monday to Saturday between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm (Closed Sundays except the last Sunday of each month)

2 - Gregorian Egyptian Museum

Although primarily an archaeological museum, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum in Vatican City has dedicated segments that provide great insight into the scientific and technological developments and achievements of the Egyptian civilisation. You can find artefacts from a vast collection of exhibits related to hieroglyphic inscriptions, papyri, sarcophagi, mummification, engineering and construction, craftsmanship, mathematics and astronomy, etc. It is accessible through the Vatican City museum entrance.

• Address: Located at Viale Vaticano, 00120, Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. You can reach here via the Metro Line A, with the nearest metro station being the Ottaviano station. Via bus line 81, 492, etc., get down at Rodinella stop, which is the closest to here.
• Hours of Operation: Open between Monday and Saturday from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm (Closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of each month)

Cultural & Speciality Museums

1 - Stanze di Raffaello

A popular cultural museum in Vatican City, Stanza di Raffaello is known for its immersive Renaissance painting masterpieces that have religious themes painted in fresco style. The fascinating paintings are portrayed in four rooms with extensive size and are a part of the Vatican Museums.

• Address: Located on the Apostolic Palace’s second floor at Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. Reach the Vatican Museums and walk 10 to 15 minutes to reach here.
• Hours of Operation: Open between Monday and Saturday from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm (Closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of each month)

2 - Ethnological Museum Anima Mundi

This unique museum in Vatican City showcases exhibits and artefacts from various cultures across the world collected over the centuries, and their diversity. It displays over 80,000 items spanning various ethnological works of art and collected objects. These unique objects are thousands of years old.

• Address: Located at Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale VA, Viale Vaticano, 00120 Roma, Vatican City. Reach the Vatican Museums complex and you can get to the museum after a walk of few minutes.
• Hours of Operation: Open between Monday and Saturday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm (Closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of each month)

Children’s Museums

1 - Museo delle Illusioni Roma

Although not within the Vatican City, Museo delle Illusioni Roma is the closest museum for children accessible from the city. This museum of illusions displays more than 70 attractions which involve science, psychology and particular physics and challenges the perceptions of little minds with various illusionary optical and interactive shapes.

• Address: Located at Via Merulana, 17, 00185 Roma RM. You can take a bus, travel via a subway, train or even tram to reach this museum from Vatican City.
• Hours of Operation: Open daily from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm

Special Events and Night Tours in Vatican City Museums

Vatican Museums Evening Tours

The evening tours of the Vatican Museums are one of the most enjoyable tours, conducted from April to October, taking through modified routes, covering most prominent exhibits with extended hours of access.

Vatican Museums Night Tours

Going on a night tour for the Vatican Museums exploration allows one to visit the exhibits with fewer people around. On these tours, visitors can often cover areas that are usually not accessible to the public during the day, exploring rare artefacts.