How safe is Vatican City for travelers?

The queue is the risk

• St Peter's Square, the Museums queue and the metro to Ottaviano are heavily worked by pickpockets. This is one of the most reliable spots in Europe for it.
• Bus 64 from Termini has a long-standing reputation and is worth avoiding with valuables.
• Keep bags closed and in front of you, and be alert exactly when you are distracted - looking up, taking a photograph, being jostled in a queue.

Ticket touts

• People selling "skip the line" tickets outside the Museums are numerous and mostly legitimate tour resellers charging a large markup.
• Some are not legitimate at all.
• Book on the official Vatican Museums site before you travel and none of this applies to you.
• Nobody official approaches you in the street to sell a ticket.

Inside

• The Vatican itself is extremely secure with airport-style screening and a large gendarmerie presence.
• Crowds are the practical hazard - the basilica and the Sistine Chapel get very dense, and it is hot in summer.
• There is limited shade in St Peter's Square and the summer queue is fully exposed. Water and a hat matter more than they sound.