What time is it in Vatican City?
CET / CEST · Europe/Vatican
Back to Vatican CityNow in Vatican City
CET UTC+01:00
UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00 in summerCentral European Standard Time
Vatican City runs on the clock of the city around it: Central European Time, UTC+1, moved an hour forward to UTC+2 from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. The state belongs to no European Union body, yet its clocks change on the same nights as Italy's, the one country it borders. The time zone database lists a zone of its own, Europe/Vatican, and one time holds across the whole of its territory.
Today
Daylight in Vatican City today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:03First light 06:35
- Sunset
- 18:58Last light 19:26
- Day length
- 11 h 55 min−3 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:01Sun at 46°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Vatican City and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Vatican City is from other places
Neighbours
- ItalyRomeSame time
Around the world
- London−1 h
- New York−6 h
- Los Angeles−9 h
- São Paulo−5 h
- Moscow+1 h
- Dubai+2 h
- Delhi+3:30 h
- Beijing+6 h
- Tokyo+7 h
- Sydney+8 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Vatican City
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 03:00 it becomes 02:00 CET, UTC+01:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 25 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 31 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 29 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 28 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 27 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
Much of the summer-time record is older than the state. Vatican City came into being with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, so the summers of 1916 to 1920, when clocks went an hour forward, belong to Rome as part of Italy. Inside the state's own years, summer time ran from 1940 to 1948, and in 1941 the clocks stayed at UTC+2 through the winter. It then lapsed until 1966, when an Italian law passed in 1965 took effect, and it has returned every summer since. The present rule, ending on the last Sunday in October, dates from 1996.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Vatican City
- Sunrise
- 07:03
- Sunset
- 18:58
- Daylight
- 11 h 55 min
- Change
- −3 min
Longest day of 2026: 18 June, 15 h 14 min.
Computed for 41.90, 12.45 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 05/03/26
- Long date
- 5 marzo 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- CET / CEST
- Time zone database
- Vatican
History
How the clocks in Vatican City got here
- 1970
- To today.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Vatican, as the build machine carries it. The database keeps this zone's own history from 1970 only; the years before are told above from the sources.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Vatican City
What time zone is Vatican City in?
Central European Time, UTC+1, for the winter months and Central European Summer Time, UTC+2, from the last Sunday in March. Latin gives the two names of their own, Hora Europaea Media and Hora aestiva Europaea Media, beside the Italian Tempo dell'Europa Centrale. The time zone database lists the state under the identifier Europe/Vatican.
When do the clocks change in Vatican City in 2026?
They went forward on 29 March 2026, from 02:00 to 03:00, and go back on 25 October, from 03:00 to 02:00. In 2027 the two dates are 28 March and 31 October. Both fall on the same Sundays as in Rome.
Is Vatican City on the same time as Rome?
Yes, all year. The state is an enclave inside Rome and shares a land border only with Italy, so it keeps Italian time without a single minute of difference. A clock in St Peter's Square and one across the boundary in the city outside read the same, in winter and in summer.
Why does Vatican City change its clocks if it is not in the European Union?
Because Italy does. Vatican City is not a member of the Union, and its record lists no European Union body among its memberships, but it follows the European summer-time procedure all the same. Its clocks move on the same nights and at the same moment as Italy's, 01:00 UTC, so the state never runs an hour apart from the city on every side of it.
What is summer time called in Vatican City?
In Latin, tempus aestivum; in Italian, ora legale, the legal hour, a name that refers to the law making it compulsory. Central European Summer Time itself is Hora aestiva Europaea Media in Latin and Orario Estivo dell'Europa Centrale in Italian.
What time did the Vatican keep before 1929?
Rome's. The time zone database carries Europe/Vatican back to 1890, decades before the Lateran Treaty created the state, and those early rows follow the clock of Rome. Until 1893 it ran 49 minutes ahead of Greenwich. From 1893 it kept UTC+1, the offset still in use, and summer time followed from 1916 to 1920.
What is the time difference between Vatican City and London?
One hour all year. The United Kingdom and the continent both change their clocks at 01:00 UTC on the last Sundays of March and October, so the gap never widens or closes. When it is noon in London it is 13:00 in Vatican City.