Giardini Vaticani

Boring, boring, and boring. We spent $ 135 dollars for combo guided garden tour and unguided museum tour. I might have given the gardens 2 stars if it was sunny, but it was cloudy. Yet the gardens are very humdrum and huge. Tour was 2 hours. In beginning, I was so excited and you get earphones to listen to the commentary, and linger far from group to explore or take photos yet still hear the guide.
Then you just noticed how green everything was. A lot of trees, bushes, and gravel paths. I think elderly people would love this place, but the gardens themselves were not enchanting, not many flowers. There were a lot of funky looking fountains and grottoes. They were no Bernini’s that’s for sure.
This tour is not for young children or teens. They had the boredest expressions of all time. Even the Sistine Chapel would be a snooze fest for them so I don’t know why there were thousands of European, mostly Spanish school children here hogging up the space. When I was in grade school or high school, we never went to any art galleries period and I grew up in Washington, DC, home of one huge spacious art museum, National Museum of Art.
Our garden guide was good, but the place was just uninteresting. I went by all the fabulous 5 star ratings from TripAdvisor. Plus I highly doubt the Pope walks in that garden. Too far away from his living quarters and many steep hills, and he is elderly. Bring walking shoes for sure and don’t bother with a jacket. It was only 60 degrees F and I was sweating endlessly because of all the walking and still wore light T-​shirt. Then the tour ended and we started the tortuous 1.5 hours of seeking the Sistine Chapel, then getting the heck out of there.
I have a gazillion photos which I will post later.

Well if you want to get away from lot of tourist this it. The place is quite and not as many people go here compared to St. Peter Basilica and Vatican museum, plus its fun on a good weather day.
If you are a nature loving person then you would enjoy the greenery and beauty of plants, flowers, trees.