20 min
45 min
A · 19
8.3 / km²
4
0
400
+5% vs city
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Staying in Borgo & the Vatican
Borgo is the wedge on the Vatican's doorstep: Via della Conciliazione running from Castel Sant'Angelo to St Peter's Square, with the old pilgrim lanes of the Borgo Pio surviving to the north of it. It is the closest you can sleep to the basilica without being a cardinal.
For one kind of trip it is unbeatable. You can be in St Peter's Square at seven before any queue exists, walk into the Vatican Museums when they open, and cross the bridge into the historic centre in twenty minutes. Castel Sant'Angelo and its ramparts are inside the district and are the best view in Rome at sunset.
The rest of the time it is a pilgrimage service area. Almost every shop sells rosaries, the restaurants along Conciliazione charge more for less than anywhere else in the city - Wikivoyage says as much - and after the basilica closes the streets empty completely. There is no metro station in Borgo itself: Ottaviano on line A is a ten-minute walk through Prati. Two nights here at the start of a trip works well; a week does not.
What works
- St Peter's Square in five minutes, before the queues form
- Castel Sant'Angelo and its rampart walk are inside the district
- About 20 minutes on foot across the bridge to Piazza Navona
- Quiet and completely safe at night
What does not
- Wikivoyage notes the shops near the Vatican charge especially high fees
- Nearly every business serves pilgrims - souvenir shops and set menus
- Empties entirely once the basilica closes; nothing open in the evening
- No metro in Borgo - Ottaviano is a ten-minute walk through Prati
The shops near the Vatican have especially high service fees, whereas places near the Trevi Fountain will be more reasonable.Moving along Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle and crossing the Tiber river into the Vatican area you see the imposing Castel Sant' Angelo, built as a Mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian.