Tips for Papal Audience this July?
 

Our family of five will be attending the Papal Audience this July. We are having the tickets sent to us ahead of time by requesting them by fax, which is what the Papal office requires. Hopefully they don't take more than 3 weeks to get here in Canada. Any tips for making the morning the best possible, like what time to arrive, where to sit/stand, how to get tickets if ours don't arrive in time?

My trip report tells about my experience getting tickets for the Papal Audience and Rome. We didn't end up going. My report tells why.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-adventure.cfm

With the letter in hand you will still need to exchange that for tickets. That would be at the Bronze doors or from a Swiss Guard. We saw the latter handing out tickets at a guard station around the corner and on the backside from the colonnade toward the Vatican museum. If we would have taken those it would have saved me a couple of hours in line at the Bronze Doors. Urgggg!! I did that the day before the actual audience.

Suggest to arrive for the Audience 3 hours in advance if you want to sit.

Bring water and sun protection for the hot July.

Toilet stations are to the right if you are standing looking at St. Peter's .

Thanks finecheapboxofwine. I've read a few posts about this in the last half hour and it sounds like a crap shoot trying to get tickets. There is currently a lot of disarray in the whole ticket obtaining system according to what I read.
Then to get there at 6 am? Yikes! I'll try. I'm wondering if I get in line for seats at 6 am, can the rest of my family just get there at 8/8:30 and join me in line or is that 'butting in'?

I don't know. I imagine it might be difficult to save seats provided they open the flood gates before your family arrives. As said, I only got so far as getting the tickets and didn't follow up with the rest. The tickets the guards were handing out at the unofficial guard stand were the same as at the Bronze doors. I don't know how many they have so to be sure you would need to go the Bronze door route but it it still no special seats or entry times. And someone else might respond to say you can arrive later.

There are no papal audiences in July.

JULY 2015

All General Audiences are suspended.

From Official Vatican site at http://www.vatican.va/various/prefet...dienze_en.html

Pope Francis reduces his public engagements in July/August without going away on holiday or staying at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo.

The Holy Father is in South America for the first two weeks of July and then will most likely be in Castel Gandolfo for the remainder of the month.

Oh, what a shame for 3xmom!

I am disappointed! I saw also a few hours ago, on the Santa Susanna website, that there are no Papal Audiences in July. I will have to just enjoy knowing I will be near where he resides when I visit the Vatican. Thanks everyone!