Vatican City

Despite being just one seventh the size of Central Park, the Vatican packs in plenty of history and intrigue.

At least one of the Vatican City’s cash machines has instructions in Latin, presumably for the benefit of the Catholic clergy from around the world who come to visit. It has a population just north of 800, but is a site of great religious, historical, cultural and political significance, and the Vatican Museums alone received 6.9 million visitors in 2019. More letters are sent each year from the Vatican’s postcode than any other in the world according to the Universal Postal Union. Inscribed in 1984, it’s status is due to “a great history and a formidable spiritual venture”. Opened in 1934, the Vatican City’s rail network is the smallest in the world, consisting of just two 300-metre tracks, two freight sidings and one station, Città del Vaticano. So good, in fact, that many Romans are said to make the trip there every week to post their letters and documents from the Vatican’s box in St Peter’s Square instead of using Italy’s less reliable national postal service (if you’re tempted to do the same, make sure you pop that postcard in the square’s yellow rather than red postbox). In summer, visitors throng St Peter’s Square to cross the line from Italy or queue for ticketed entry to the Vatican Museums. Among them, Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, the Raphaels and Da Vincis of the Pinoteca Room – and Emperor Nero’s Porphyry Bathtub, built for his Golden Palace out of incredibly rare stone and thought to be worth around £1.8 billion. It may be a country in its own right, but there are no border checks for visitors to the Vatican – and many visitors are disappointed by the lack of souvenir passport stamps too. Despite being teeny, the state crams 120,000 works of art into its museums and galleries. The Vatican City has a huge consumption of wine per capita, with an average resident knocking back 54.26 litres of the stuff – or just over 72 standard bottles – per year (for comparison, the French drink 46). You’re unlikely to find hundreds of empties in their recycling bins, however.