The closest car parks to the Vatican are private garages in Prati and Aurelio, bookable from about €5–7 per hour, but the cheapest option is an ATAC park-and-ride: Cipro, by the Vatican Museums, and Stazione San Pietro, by St Peter’s, cost €2 for 12 hours. Blue street bays around the Vatican cost €1.00 per hour, and the area is not a ZTL. This guide covers each car park with prices, where to park for the Museums or the Basilica, and how to avoid the ZTLs across the river.
Do you need a car? Not for the Vatican: Metro A stops at Ottaviano and Cipro. If you are touring Lazio or Tuscany, compare prices at Rome Fiumicino Airport on DiscoverCars and read our guide to car hire in Italy.
You cannot drive into Vatican City, so every visitor parks in the Rome districts around it: Prati to the east and north-east, Trionfale to the north and Aurelio to the west and south. None of these districts is a ZTL. Roma Mobilità lists five limited-traffic zones in Rome (Centro Storico, Tridente, Trastevere, San Lorenzo and Testaccio), and the closest, Centro Storico across the Tiber and Trastevere to the south, do not cover the streets around St Peter’s or the Vatican Museums. Some streets in the Borgo between the two are pedestrian or reserved, so follow the signs rather than the sat nav.
Your choice depends on where you are going. The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel are entered from Viale Vaticano on the north side, close to the Cipro and Ottaviano stations on Metro A. St Peter’s Square and the Basilica lie at the end of Via della Conciliazione on the east side, a short walk from Prati and from Stazione San Pietro.
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| Option | Price in 2026 | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Aurelia Parking – Vaticano (Parclick) | From €5 for 1 hour | St Peter’s, from the west |
| Super Garage San Pietro (Parclick) | From €6 for 1 hour | St Peter’s Square, Via Gregorio VII |
| Autorimessa Effeffe – Musei Vaticani (Parclick) | From €7 for 1 hour | Vatican Museums entrance |
| SABA Cola di Rienzo | €4 per hour, €35 per day (€22.90 online) | Prati and Castel Sant’Angelo |
| ATAC park-and-ride Cipro (Metro A) | €2 for 12 hours | Vatican Museums on foot |
| ATAC park-and-ride Stazione San Pietro | €2 for 12 hours | St Peter’s on foot |
| Blue lines in Prati | €1.00 per hour | Short stops |
Parclick lists several private garages around the Vatican. Prices are the lowest shown when we checked and change with the date and length of stay; most are covered and some ask you to leave the keys.
| Car park on Parclick | Address | Price from | Nearest sight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aurelia Parking – Vaticano | Via Carlo Pascal 34 | €5 for 1 hour | St Peter’s (Aurelio side) |
| Super Garage San Pietro | Via Gregorio VII 85 | €6 for 1 hour | St Peter’s Square |
| Autorimessa Effeffe – Musei Vaticani | Via Luigi Rizzo 90 | €7 for 1 hour | Vatican Museums |
| Parking degli Eroi | Via Luigi Rizzo 70 | €18 for 5 hours | Vatican Museums |
| Garage Mazzini | Via Monte Santo 8 | €5 for 4 hours | Prati (Mazzini), then Metro A |
| Autorimessa Pulso e Cirulli | Circonvallazione Trionfale 15 | €30 for 1 day | Vatican Museums |
Covered, staffed garage at Via Carlo Pascal 34 in the Aurelio district, west of the Vatican walls. Parclick lists it from €5 for one hour. It is open from 6:00 to 1:00, but on public holidays, every Sunday in July and August and from 10 to 24 August only from 6:00 to 10:00 and 19:00 to 1:00. You leave the keys with the staff; height limit 3 m. Book Aurelia Parking on Parclick.
Covered garage at Via Gregorio VII 85, the main road that runs south-west from St Peter’s Square. Parclick lists it from €6 for one hour. Book Super Garage San Pietro on Parclick.
Covered garage at Via Luigi Rizzo 90 in the Trionfale district, north of the Vatican Museums entrance. Parclick lists it from €7 for one hour. Parking degli Eroi at number 70 of the same street is listed from €18 for five hours. Book Autorimessa Effeffe on Parclick or Parking degli Eroi.
SABA’s car park at Via Ennio Quirino Visconti 82–84, near Via Cola di Rienzo and Piazza Cavour, with 90 spaces, open 24 hours. The drive-up rate is €4 per hour or €35 per day; SABA sells a 24-hour online ticket for €22.90. From here Castel Sant’Angelo is close and St Peter’s is a walk along the river or Via Crescenzio. Height limit 2.3 m.
Garage Mazzini (from €5 for four hours) suits a long Museums visit if you do not mind a metro ride from Lepanto or Ottaviano, and Autorimessa Pulso e Cirulli on Circonvallazione Trionfale is listed from €30 for a whole day. SABA Cola di Rienzo can also be booked through Parclick.
Two ATAC park-and-ride car parks are within walking distance of the Vatican, so you do not even need the metro. Both charge €2 for 12 hours and €3 for 16 hours, are paid from Monday to Saturday between 6:00 and 22:00, and are free outside those hours and on public holidays unless a sign says otherwise.
| Car park | Address | Spaces | Tariff | Walk to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cipro (open-air) | Via Angelo Emo | 284 | €2 / 12 h, €3 / 16 h | Vatican Museums, or Metro A from Cipro station |
| Stazione San Pietro (underground) | Via della Stazione di S. Pietro 52 | 125 | €2 / 12 h, €3 / 16 h | St Peter’s Square |
| Battistini (open-air) | Via Lucio II 120 | 177 | €1.50 / 12 h, €2.50 / 16 h | Metro A terminus, then to Cipro or Ottaviano |
Cipro fills first on weekdays, because commuters use it too. If it is full, Battistini at the western end of Metro A is cheaper and only a few stops from Cipro and Ottaviano. Coming from the south or east, you can leave the car at a park-and-ride on the other end of Metro A (Anagnina) and ride straight across the city to Ottaviano; those car parks are listed in our Rome parking guide.
Around the Vatican the blue bays follow ATAC’s city tariff: €1.00 per hour, because the area is outside the ZTLs. €4 buys eight hours in a row, and €0.20 buys 15 minutes at a meter. The paid hours are printed on each sign. Pay at the meter or with one of ATAC’s partner apps, and leave the meter ticket on the dashboard. Yellow bays are for residents only. Free white bays exist in the residential streets of Prati and Trionfale, but they are rare close to the Vatican and some limit non-residents to three hours with a parking disc.
There is also an underground car park beneath the Gianicolo hill, south of St Peter’s, with its entrance on Via Urbano VIII. Its operator publishes no tariff online, so we do not quote one.
| Your visit | Where to park | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Cipro park-and-ride or Autorimessa Effeffe | Both are on the Museums side |
| St Peter’s Basilica and Square | Stazione San Pietro, Super Garage San Pietro or Aurelia Parking | Short walk to the colonnade |
| Vatican plus Castel Sant’Angelo | SABA Cola di Rienzo | Between the two, open 24 hours |
| Full day in Rome with the Vatican | Battistini or Cipro park-and-ride and Metro A | €1.50–2 for 12 hours |
| Trastevere dinner after the Vatican | Leave the car in Prati or at Stazione San Pietro | Trastevere night ZTL from 21:30 on Fri and Sat |
The general audience is usually held on Wednesday mornings in St Peter’s Square, and the Angelus on Sundays at noon. On those mornings the streets around the square are full of coaches and pilgrims, so book a garage in advance or use the park-and-ride and metro. The Vatican Museums are closed on most Sundays, so check the opening days before you plan the drive.
Vatican parking cost estimator
See car parks near the Vatican →Pre-filled with the ATAC blue-line rate in Prati (€1.00 per hour). The Cipro and Stazione San Pietro park-and-ride car parks cost €2 for 12 hours; SABA Cola di Rienzo charges €4 per hour or €35 per day.
Super Garage San Pietro on Via Gregorio VII (from €6 for 1 hour on Parclick) and the ATAC park-and-ride at Stazione San Pietro (€2 for 12 hours) are both a short walk from the square. The “Saba Vaticano” car park under Via della Conciliazione quoted on many sites is not in SABA’s list of Rome car parks.
The Cipro park-and-ride on Via Angelo Emo (€2 for 12 hours, 284 spaces) or Autorimessa Effeffe – Musei Vaticani on Via Luigi Rizzo (from €7 for 1 hour on Parclick). Both are on the Museums side of the Vatican.
No. Visitors cannot drive into Vatican City. Park in Prati, Trionfale or Aurelio and walk in.
Roma Mobilità lists no ZTL for the Vatican area. The nearest are the Centro Storico ZTL across the Tiber (Mon–Fri 6:30–18:00, Sat 14:00–18:00) and Trastevere to the south. Some Borgo streets are pedestrian, so follow the signs.
The ATAC park-and-ride car parks: Cipro and Stazione San Pietro cost €2 for 12 hours, Battistini at the end of Metro A €1.50. They are free outside 6:00–22:00 Monday to Saturday and on public holidays.
Blue bays in Prati and Aurelio cost €1.00 per hour, or €4 for eight hours in a row, under the ATAC tariff for areas outside the ZTLs.
No. SABA runs three car parks in Rome: Cola di Rienzo in Prati (€4 per hour, €35 per day), Villa Borghese and Via Mantova. Cola di Rienzo is the nearest to the Vatican.
No: Metro A to Ottaviano or Cipro is the easiest way in. A car makes sense if you are touring Lazio or Tuscany; pick one up at Fiumicino Airport.
