Safety in Vatican City

Dress code: You will not be admitted to the basilica or the museums in short shorts or with bare shoulders. Bring a light scarf you can throw over yourself before the checkpoint.

Pickpockets: Professionals work the crowds on the square and the packed buses. Wear your backpack on the front, keep nothing in back pockets and stay alert in the crush.

Sun: In summer the open squares offer no shade at all and the marble radiates heat. Wear a hat, use sunscreen and refill at the fountains regularly.

Touts and scams: Ignore anyone offering a free tour or fast-track help. Buy only through the official portal or an established international ticketing site.

Security screening: Everyone goes through metal detectors at the basilica and the museums. Knives, tripods, glass bottles and oversized backpacks are all refused.

ID for concessions: Students and young visitors must carry an original passport to claim a reduced ticket. Without it you pay the full adult price, no discussion.

Vatican City is the world's smallest state, 0.44 square kilometres entirely inside Rome. It has no crime of its own, but St Peter's Square is one of Italy's most productive spots for thieves.

Pickpockets on the square. They work precisely where people tilt their heads back and take out phones: at the colonnade, in the security queue, and in the crowd before the Wednesday papal audience. Backpack on your chest, phone out of your back pocket.

"Skip the queue". Around the square and along the walls, people offer museum tickets bypassing the line. Some work for legitimate agencies at a mark-up; some sell what you can buy yourself on the Vatican Museums' official site. The difference reaches three times the price.

"Guides." Official guides hold a licence and a badge. Street offers to walk you through the museums mean paying more.

Souvenirs. The shops around the Vatican sell identical goods at differing prices. Blessed items are also sold in the official shop inside.

Restaurants around Borgo Pio. A premium for the location and "tourist menus". Walk a couple of blocks away.

The dress code is the one rule that gets people turned away. St Peter's Basilica and the museums do not admit bare shoulders or knees. This applies to everyone, men in shorts and vests included. In summer dozens are turned away daily, and buying a cover-up by the wall is expensive. Dress in advance.

Security. Entry to the square and the basilica involves metal detectors and bag checks as at an airport. Large rucksacks, tripods, knives and liquids will not pass. The museums have a cloakroom, but with a queue.

Photography. Photography is prohibited entirely in the Sistine Chapel and guards enforce it strictly. Elsewhere in the museums it is permitted without flash.

Drones. Prohibited over the Vatican and central Rome.

Conduct. This is a working church and a state. Loud conversation, eating and drinking are not permitted in the basilica.

Jurisdiction. Vatican City is a separate state with its own law and gendarmerie. There is no border as such, but the legal system is its own.

Beyond the colonnade. Everything outside is Italy, and Italian rules apply there.

Vaccinations. None.

Water. The drinking fountains on St Peter's Square give excellent water free. Refilling a bottle is normal practice.

Heat is the main medical risk. In summer the square has no shade at all, and the security queue stands in the sun for an hour or more. Heatstroke occurs regularly, which is exactly why an ambulance is stationed on the square. Go early, bring water and a hat.

Queues and crowds. On papal audience days and at Easter the square fills with tens of thousands. Crushing is a real risk for people with heart conditions and for small children.

The basilica dome. The climb is 551 steps, with a narrow sloping staircase at the end where you cannot turn around. Not for anyone with claustrophobia or heart problems. The lift reaches only the terrace.

Healthcare. The Vatican has a medical post, but serious cases go to Roman hospitals. Italian rules apply: emergency care is given and billed.

Emergency number is 112 (Italian); inside the Vatican, 06 6988 3333.

Vatican City has one of the world's highest levels of security per square metre.

Who guards it. The Swiss Guard is responsible for the Pope and the entrances; the Vatican Gendarmerie handles order and security within the territory. Italian police operate beyond the colonnade and are present on the square by agreement.

Reporting theft. The Vatican paradox: pickpocketing happens on its territory, but you deal with the Italian police because the thief walks into Rome. A carabinieri station sits beside the square. Your insurer needs a denuncia, filed there.

Cameras. The territory is densely monitored.

Crowds. The main risk is not a criminal but crushing and dehydration in the queue.

What actually matters. Three things threaten you in the Vatican: pickpockets on the square, sun in the queue, and the dress code at the door. Everything else here is safer than almost anywhere in the world.

Emergency number is 112.