Postcards a plenty
Even if you don’t send mail anymore, I think it would be hard to argue that receiving a postcard with the Vatican stamp and postmark would be pretty darn cool.
And so, in our travels in the history rich city of Rome, we did the typical touristy thing and bought some postcards (which I might add are plentiful and on every corner).
Involve the kids
Then, after our morning of sightseeing and gelato, we corralled the kids for a postcard writing session.
I use the word ‘corralled’ because it did take some convincing, but once they got started they wrote over 15 cards!
Tips for sending postcards from the Vatican:
1) Check the Vatican’s post office hours before you drag the kids there on foot. Or make sure you stop for gelato…again.
2) Bring the addresses with you or make sure your data plan on your phone covers searching for postal codes.
3) You don’t have to go into the Vatican museum (and pay admission) to have access to the Vatican post office. Look for the location to the left of St.Peter’s Basilica.
More tips for posting mail in the yellow post boxes
1) Get the kids to pick their own postcards to send to friends and buy whatever kitschy, tacky postcards they choose. Easier to get them to write them afterwards.
2) Have the kids mail a postcard to themselves. So fun to receive a postcard from yourself from the Vatican.
3) The postal code for the Vatican city is 00120 and you need to use Vatican City stamps vs Italian stamps; remember it is it’s own country.
4) If you are not near the Vatican and need to buy stamps while in Italy it is highly advised to buy them, not at the Italian Post Office (which often runs out), but at your local tobacconists.
Postcards and gelato make a pretty great combination in my view. How about you? Do you love gelato? Postcards?