What To Expect Staying In The Vatican District
A Visitors Briefing - Vaticam Hotel District
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| Typical Street In Prati District of Rome |
Prati District
If you are looking to find accommodation close to the Vatican Museums and St Peter's you will be staying in the Prati District of Rome. This district flanks the north side of the River Tiber, with the ancient heart of Rome on the other south side.
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| Vatican Budget Hotels |
| Vatican 3,4,5 Star Hotels |
| Vatican Hotel Map |
| District Briefing |
| Visiting The Vatican |
Prati is a middle-class suburb built on a grid pattern. The picture right is typical of what you will see for block after block. Nothing very high rise or modern.
The main avenues like that pictured below have small shops on the ground floor and the area is a major shopping district. Do not expect modern malls and large department stores or familiar branded chains.
Trionfale flower-and-food market is a worthy sight in this district and the district has one of the few working old tram routes left in Rome. A delightful way to journey to Villa Borghese to the east.
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| Main Shopping Avenue Through Prati |
Of course for the vast majority of visitors with only two or three days it is the blockbuster sights like the adjacent Vatican that is the magnet.
Going east-west through the heart of the Prati district is Line A of the Rome Metro and with 3 stations in the district you are only going to be at most 10 minutes walk from one of them. The Metro will take you to the Spanish Steps and the Colosseum, both of which have Metro stations.
Walking south from your hotel, within 10 minutes you will reach the River Tiber. By crossing one of the many bridges you will enter the ancient city of Rome. Its a maze of narrow streets with a new discovery around almost every corner. Places like the Pantheon are only a 10 minute walk away, a great evening walk before you look for a restaurant perhaps around Piazza Navona or the endless possibilities from here towards Trastevere.
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| No 19 Tram Connects Prati With Villa Borghese |
Around Prati there is a wide range of restaurants for all budgets, though of course pasta and pizza are everywhere.
Hotels Around The Vatican / Prati
There are numerous small affordable pensions in the area offering relatively cheap and good quality accommodation, these we discuss in a separate dedicated page for budget hotels near to the Vatican.
Although the area has a lot of these small pensions, its also got as many standard three and four star hotels too. There are very few chain hotels with familiar names in the district. Perhaps the notable exceptions are the two NH hotels and a Best Western franchised hotel, the Spring House.
There is a Crowne Plaza hotel called the Crown Plaza St Peter's which despite its name is about 3kms (2 miles) from the Vatican itself.
However, just going this short way away from the city does reward you with very good value rates. The grounds of the Crowne Plaza are also more spacious than anything you will get in the city and has room for facilities like a swimming pool.
For Rome, the Prati district is kind of middle of the road. The hotels around Termini Station are normally cheaper, but Prati will in turn be cheaper than hotels around the Villa Borghese, Via Veneto district.
The Vatican / Prati District - Convenient For Cruise Passengers Using Civitavecchia
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| Civitavecchia Train Station |
Civitavecchia is the very popular cruise port for Rome, on the coast about an hours drive from Rome itself. The frequent train service between Civitavecchia and Rome stops at St Pietro Station, just on the other side of the Vatican to the Prati District.
This train terminates in Rome at Termini Station, but its a very slow, circuitous route around Rome. It takes almost as long for the train to go from St Pietro to Termini, as from St Pietro to Civitavecchia.
The Vatican / Prati area is thus quite a convenient place to stay if you're staying in Rome prior or after a cruise.
Getting Around Rome From The Vatican
As mentioned before going east-west through the heart of the Prati district is Line A of the Rome Metro and with 3 stations in the district you are only going to be at most 10 minutes walk from one of them. The Metro will take you to the Spanish Steps and the Colosseum, both of which have Metro stations.
Local buses radiate out in all directions from the Prati area. There are a number of routes from the Vatican that shuttle through the heart of Rome to Termini Station on the other side of the city centre. See our Rome bus page for more details.
From just north of St Peter's Square the number 19 tram clunks its way in a circuitous route through everyday Rome before going through the Villa Borghese. Get off at the unmissable modern art museum in Villa Borghese for the short walk to Villa Borghese Gallery
All the cities Hop on Hop Off tourist buses of course pickup from just outside St Peter's Square.
Transfers Between The Vatican/Prati District And Rome's Airports & Cruise Port
Termini is the main hub for public transport in the centre of Rome and is linked directly to the Prati area by the Rome Metro..
From Termini. the Leonardo Express train runs direct to the main Rome airport, Fiumicino. You can do this airport journey cheaper by getting a train from St Pietro Station on the other side of the Vatican from Prati to Trastevere, then changing trains to frequent suburban airport trains that go to Fiumicino much more cheaply than the Leonardo Express. See our Fiumicino train page for further details.
To Ciampino Airport, Terravision run frequent airport coaches from Termini Station. From the Prati Metro stations you can go to end of Line A to Anagnina where a connecting local bus goes to Ciampino Airport. See our Ciampino bus page for further details.
Trains between Termini and Civitavecchia Cruise Port run twice hourly for much of the day from Termini. Conveniently these train stop at St Pietro Station on the other side of the Vatican from Prati.
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