2. Get Awestruck At The Vatican Museums
It’s near-impossible to speak of traveling to Rome and not mention the Vatican Museums. The mind-blowing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Raphael Rooms, the Pio Clementino Museum antiquities, and Pinacoteca painting gallery which features Raphael’s Transfiguration and Caravaggio’s Deposition, are standout artistic works that set the tone for your entire visit. Time your basilica perusal to coincide with the 9 am opening of the Museums (closed Sundays unless it’s the last Sunday of the month). By tickets online in advance to skip that colossal line. Just know that you can’t see everything here in just a short visit, so hone in on the few pieces that speak to you, saving the rest for a subsequent trip to Rome.
