A visit to the Vatican is not just a daytrip to another tourist destination – for a believer, it can be a genuinely important event in their life. Beyond just the visit itself, you can also immortalise that memory in a little souvenir that you can bring back with you. What can you buy in the Vatican? We’ll go over a couple things today.
Pictures with Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI
One of the cheapest and most obvious souvenirs you can get in the Vatican are images of the beloved Popes. You can find souvenir cards with the images of Popes John Paul II or Benedict XVI on sale in the Vatican itself as well as all around Rome. It’s a good ol’ reliable classic. Cheap and good.
Vatican Post stamps
Though this may not seem like that big a deal, the Vatican City, as a city-state, must have a post office. And it does. Its postal code is 00120. Its post office has been issuing its own stamps since the Vatican City came to be in 1929. Even if you’re not interested in sending your loved ones postcards from the Vatican, you can always stock up on unique Vatican stamps here. You can buy individual stamps or whole packages that you can arrange into beautiful patterns. There are stamps with Popes and various other artworks.
The post office is open from 8am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday and 8:30am to 1:30pm on Saturday. You may want to double-check here if you’re reading this well in the future, it shifts around a bit.
Rosaries
Could there be a better gift for a Catholic than a rosary straight out of the Vatican? Perhaps, yes, but it’s still pretty good. You can find all sorts of rosaries here, ranging from cheaper ones, made of less valuable materials, to much fancier ones. Prices range from a few euros to a few hundred.
Devotional medals
Alongside rosaries, you can also find plenty of medals with various images. Just like for the rosaries, the range of products on offer here is massive. From simple medals to really fancy stuff. Prices vary from a few euros to hundreds again, in the case of medals made entirely of silver.
Keyring and pendants
Another suggestion for a cheap gift from the Vatican is simply a pendant for your keys. As per usual, you can find cheap kitsch and really fancy stuff, depicting the classic view of the Vatican, through the classic I <3 Vatican City to those with symbols of the Holy See and the papacy. Prices from a few euros upwards.
Cross
Another staple of the Vatican is, of course, to purchase a cross necklace or a standing crucifix. As with everything in and around the Vatican, the price range is very wide, as is the quality of workmanship and the quality of the materials used to produce a given item.
L’Osservatore Romano
Every country, no matter how small, publishes local press. In 1861, the L’Osservatore Romano press was established – it’s the official newspaper describing the activities of the Holy See and the Pope, published in several languages (Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Polish and Malayalam). The newspaper’s editorial office is located in Via del Pellegrino in Vatican City. A copy costs very little so it’s a good budget souvenir too.
Commemorative coins
A fun fact about the Vatican is that it’s a country not in the European Union which has the right to mint its own euro coins. If you’re lucky enough, you may get change in Vatican euro coins. If you’re not so lucky, you can also buy special commemorative coins. Sadly, these can be a bit pricier than a newspaper – for instance, a €2 issued for the symbolic 100th birthday of Pope John Paul II was valued not at €2 but at €18 (and a copy made of better material for €37). You can find plenty of options and packages of special commemorative coins, though prices can reach hundreds and sometimes a thousand. Fortunately, most of the usual popular coins are much cheaper, sometimes even as little as they actually represent as currency.
Postcards
You’ll find an enormous variety of postcards in the Vatican. You can buy a postcard with a local stamp and send it from the Vatican or you can still rebel against the intended use of postcards and just bring one back home with you. Costs around €1 a piece. One of the most popular but also quite expensive souvenir shops near the Vatican is the Galleria Savelli in Rome at Piazza Papa Pio XII.
Souvenirs with a blessing
You can also ask for souvenirs in the Vatican to be given a blessing. Remember that vendors cannot sell items blessed prior and you have to ask for it to be blessed. It likely won’t be Pope Francis coming down from his beauty sleep to bless your rosary, but it’s still an interesting option to even have.
Blessing
And, finally, we have something for free. That is, if you manage to see the Pope, of course. The easiest way is through a general audience – admission is ticketed, but tickets are available for free. The event is usually organised on Wednesdays whenever the Pope is in the Vatican.
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