Staying near Vatican City and Tour Advice

Sandra, what a wonderful way to celebrate. Take a look at the Context Rome website; they do great, very small group walking tours with well educated guides... superior to anything I've experienced with other companies. And FYI, unless you know of a special Mass scheduled for your time in Rome, Wednesday is the Papal audience, not a public Papal Mass (although there are multiple public Masses in St Peter's every day). The two times I've gone to audiences, I had tickets (although I don't know if there are sections you can get into without tickets). I got the tickets with the help of my pastor. The American Catholic parish in Rome, Santa Susanna, also used to be a source of those tickets; I don't know if that's still the case, but you could check their website. Another possible source might be the North American College in Rome, but I'm not sure of that; it's where I picked up my tickets, but my pastor had arranged for them to be there for me.

Congratulations!! How wonderful. How long will you be in Rome? Rick Steves book on Rome has great info, including about accommodations and recommended sights and tour ideas. I have relied on his books for the last 20 years and am heading back to Italy this time solo for 6 weeks next month. This time I have booked an apartment through Airbnb.com near the Vatican for 10 days. I chose the Prati/Vatican area this time because of the time I want to spend visiting there, and because there are great articles about how nice the area is, including from the http://www.RonInRome.com site. However, it is not really central for seeing other areas, unless you take public transportation.

Here are some links to info that may be of interest to you: http://www.rometoolkit.com/whattodo/vatican.htm Papal Tickets and pilgrim info: http://www.pnac.org/pilgrim-information/tickets-for-papal-audiences-and-events/ No tickets are required for St. Peter's: http://saintpetersbasilica.org/index.htm Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel do require a ticket and you can arrange an optional tour that includes St. Peter's: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceTipoVisita=26&step=2 I previously took a fun cooking class in Tratevere: http://cookingclassesinrome.webs.com/thechef.htm I have read great reviews of a day trip cooking class not far out of Rome, you can take the train and will be picked up from the station: http://www.conviviorome.com/Convivio_Rome/Home.html You may also want to check out Katie Parla's blog: http://www.parlafood.com/

You can visit the Vatican on your own without taking an expensive tour or buying an expensive "all inclusive" ticket. You can book a tour or tickets of the Vatican museums and basilica directly with the Vatican. It's really a great tour. There is also a free tour of the basilica everyday. You can find out about tours and tickets here: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do or http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm#tours for papal event tickets look here: http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm#tickets These are official sites, not private companies that will upcharge you., Donna