Originally Posted by
ontheway
Since June 2 is a Saturday I had originally planned to do the Vatican on Friday, not as crowded..
The Vatican will be extremely crowded
whenever you go.
Here's the link to its 2012 calendar where'll you see that it's not closed (chiuso) on June 2:
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...dario2012.html
(The Vatican is a sovereign city-state. The Festa della Repubblica is an Italian holiday).
Regarding touring the gardens - in case you don't know already - the Vatican offers its own tour (I like that the price includes entrance to the Museums and Sistine Chapel). Here's a cut and paste of its description:
VATICAN GARDENS
Full price ticket: 31,00 Euro. Reduced ticket: 24,00 Euro. Admission Ticket included.
A tour of the Vatican Garden is unique, as it takes the visitor through 2000 years of history. Besides the natural beauty of the gardens, the Vatican City is rich in monuments and precious works of art. Duration of the tour is about 2 hours.
The ticket also enables the visitors to continue, on their own, a tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
Here's the link:
http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/...action=booking