Vatican City travel dress guide

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, a walled enclave inside Rome that most visitors see in a single day: St Peter's Square, St Peter's Basilica and its dome, and the long galleries of the Vatican Museums that end in the Sistine Chapel. For travellers, its clothing question is unusual. The weather matters less than the rules, because every one of these places has a dress code, and it is checked at the door.

The short version is shoulders and knees covered for everyone, no hats in the museums and long trousers for men in the basilica. The details differ slightly between the museums and St Peter's, and those differences catch people out, especially in summer, when Rome is hot, the queues are outdoors and shorts feel like the obvious choice.

Our guides here quote the Vatican's own visitor pages, so you can see exactly where each rule comes from, and then turn them into outfits that work for a long day on your feet in any season.