CNN
 — 

The faithful will be flocking to Rome to honor the death of Pope Francis, who died on April 21, with his funeral scheduled for Saturday April 26 at 10 a.m..

Given his relatively liberal policies and habit of phoning up members of the public for a chat, it’s possible that many non-Catholics will want to pay their respects, in addition to the nearly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world.

Foreign visitor numbers in Italy are already reaching all-time highs — and Rome is even fuller than usual this year because of the Vatican Jubilee, which will see an estimated more than 32 million pilgrims crowding in alongside regular visitors, who numbered 37.3 million last year.

That means that making your way to pay your respects may be difficult.

“We will see a huge media presence, much more than for Pope Benedict, since Francis is a current pope,” Mountain Butorac, who leads pilgrimages to Rome and tours of the Vatican as The Catholic Traveler, told CNN prior to the pope’s death. However, he added that he believes the crowd numbers will be similar to those for Benedict’s funeral: “I don’t expect numbers even close to [the funeral of] Pope John Paul II.” Around four million mourners flocked to Rome for the 2005 death of John Paul II.

The conclave — the meeting of cardinals to elect a new pope, usually two or three weeks after the previous pontiff’s death — will “be a big draw for people to come to Rome,” said Butorac, adding that unlike in the case of Benedict, time-strapped mourners may have to choose between traveling to Rome for the funeral or the conclave.

Pope Francis’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday April 26 at 10 a.m.

Before the funeral, there will be a period of lying in state. Francis’ coffin was transferred from his papal residence at the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica early on Wednesday, April 23.

Following a ceremony inside the basilica, the public will be able to file past the coffin. The basilica will be open until midnight Wednesday, from 7 a.m. to midnight Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. At 8 p.m. there will be a ceremony for the closing of the coffin.

The funeral, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, will take place in St. Peter’s Square outside the basilica, and will be open to the public. Tickets are not required — but expect extremely long lines. There will be a final Commendation and Valediction, before Francis’ coffin is taken inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the remainder of the service.

His body will then be taken to Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, just over two miles east of St. Peter’s, for burial. The route has not yet been announced.

The religious elements of a pope’s funeral are laid out in the “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” (Latin for “Funeral Rites for the Roman Pontiff”). However, popes can still weigh in on plans, as Francis did when he approved an updated edition of the liturgical book in 2024. Francis wrote in his 2025 autobiography, “Hope,” that the proposed funeral was “excessive” and that he arranged to “lighten” it. He also chose his burial place, and will be the first pope in over a century to be laid to rest outside the Vatican. He regularly worshiped at Santa Maria Maggiore, and last made a surprise visit there on April 12.

Vatican rules stipulate that the pope must be buried between the fourth and sixth day after his death. The funeral then officially triggers nine days of mourning known as the “Novendiales,” which will see masses for Pope Francis held daily until May 4.

During this period, cardinals from across the world will be arriving in Rome, ready for the conclave, the date for which has not yet been announced.

“Every cardinal has a titular church here, and so usually two days before the conclave begins, they will have a Mass at their church,” said Butorac.

“The day before the conclave, there is a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. This is also open to the public. All the cardinals will be there. After this, they head into the Sistine Chapel, not to be seen in public again until the election of the pope.”

The conclave to elect the next pope can start no sooner than 15 days after the previous pope’s death (which would be May 6), though the exact date will be determined by cardinals in the days ahead.

During the conclave, while the cardinals are secreted away in the Sistine Chapel, crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to pray, hoping to be there when they see white smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel, meaning that a new pope has been chosen.
Shortly afterwards, the newly elected pope will greet the crowds in the square from his balcony.

You don’t need a ticket to be in the square, but you will need to pass through security to access it, said Butorac.

For those who wish to witness it, on day one of the conclave, there is just one vote, in the evening. On the following days, there are four votes: two in the morning, two in the late afternoon. Twice a day, until a pope has been elected, the ballots will be burned. Black smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel means no pope has been chosen. White means there is a new pope.

The pattern of voting continues each day with a break every five days until a new Bishop of Rome is selected. Once that happens, the ballots are immediately burned to produce the white smoke.

“The times are usually public, so people know when to be in the square,” said Butorac. “There are also no seats — so expect to stand for hours.” The voting can take hours, so be prepared to wait.

Rome has two international airports. Fiumicino, around 17 miles (27 kilometers) southwest of the city center, is Italy’s busiest airport and the hub for non-European airlines.
Ciampino, southeast of the city, is much smaller and closer to central Rome. It currently serves budget airlines with intra-European routes as well as two destinations in Morocco.

From Fiumicino, the Leonardo Express train departs every 15 minutes for Termini station in the city center. Alternatively, taxis charge a fixed rate of 55 euros ($58) to destinations within the city walls. Buses to Termini take 50 minutes and cost 9.90 euros ($10.40) return.

From Ciampino, a taxi costs a fixed 40 euros ($42), or buses to Termini take 40 minutes and cost 9.90 euros.

While flying into Rome is obviously direct, it’s worth considering flying into other major Italian airports, too. Rome’s Termini station is a hub on Italy’s high-speed railway line, meaning Milan is just over three hours away, and Naples around an hour.

Rome will be incredibly busy, so it makes sense to stay near St. Peter’s — though be aware that hotels are already heavily booked throughout 2025 because of the Jubilee. Vatican City sits on the west side of the Tiber, across the river from the historical center of Rome. The rione (district) of Prati is right above it, and is your best bet, accommodation-wise. Campo Marzio, in the historic center, is just across the water — anywhere near Campo de’ Fiori or Piazza Navona is also an easy walk to the Vatican.

Not finding anything? The nearest metro stop to the Vatican is at Ottaviano. Stay anywhere around Piazza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps) or the cheaper areas around Piazza della Repubblica and Termini train station, and you’ll be just a few minutes away by metro.

While many hotels appear to have hiked room rates over the next few days, there are some with availability at more reasonable prices. Checking Booking.com on Tuesday after the funeral and lying in state was announced, there were various two- and three-star hotels around Termini for around 500 euros ($574) for three nights from Wednesday to Saturday. This isn’t the time to go all out with a five star — the luxury Bvlgari hotel, for example, which is within walking distance from the Vatican, was selling rooms for the same dates (three nights) for 8,310 euros ($9,539).

If you’re looking for just one night and the pickings are looking slim, it could work out as more affordable to stay longer. For example, Hotel Lancelot, a family-owned three-star near the Colosseum, has implemented a three-day minimum stay during the lying-in-state and funeral period; however, it has not raised its reasonable rates. A single room for three nights is 420 euros ($482) as of Tuesday.

Vatican City is one of the most popular places to visit on a Rome trip, but this is a time when it shuts down its tourism operations and returns the buildings to what they were built for. The Sistine Chapel, for example, will hold the conclave, while St. Peter’s will be used for the lying in state. The museums will also be closed on Saturday 26 April, and all tours of the Vatican Gardens and the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis are suspended, according to a statement on the Musei Vaticani website.

Instead, if you have time to sightsee, you’ll need to leave Vatican City — but there are still plenty of sites with papal links in Rome. A 10-minute walk from St. Peter’s Square is the colossal Castel Sant’Angelo, originally built as the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian, and then used as a papal fortress. It was here that Pope Clement VII holed up during the Sack of Rome in 1527, eventually escaping the city.

If you’re here to pay respects to Francis, you’ll probably want to spend some time in church. Luckily, Rome’s basilicas are museums in their own right, so you’ll be sightseeing as you go. Prime amongst them are the city’s three other “papal basilicas” — which rank just below St. Peter’s for importance to the Catholic Church. San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo Fuori le Mura each have a “porta santa” (holy door), and a papal altar. The latter, at the end of the increasingly trendy Via Ostiense, is said to be the resting place of the apostle St. Paul.

Be aware that as the resting place of the pope, Santa Maria Maggiore will likely be subject to visiting restrictions around the date of the funeral. No information has been announced as of yet.

If you want to mix in some Michelangelo, there are several options in lieu of St. Peter’s.
His formidable Moses statue in San Pietro in Vincoli, a church in Monti, is a match for the Pietà in St. Peter’s — and in fact it was designed for the funerary monument of Pope Julius II, an ill-fated project that Michelangelo only completed after the death of Julius.

The spectacular church of Santa Maria degli Angeli is a ruined Roman bath that Michelangelo redesigned as a church — while his Risen Christ statue stands in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, the church behind the Pantheon.

Two of the most spectacular papal sites are located outside the capital. Castel Gandolfo was the pope’s summer residence from 1596 until Francis wound it down, preferring to live more simply. Since 2016, you can visit the Palazzo Apostolico, or Palazzo Papale (papal palace) — as well as its beautiful gardens with spectacular views over Lake Albano. It’s currently open to the public daily (check the website for opening times) although it will be closed on Saturday 26 April as a sign of mourning.

In Viterbo, around 100 minutes by train north of Rome, is the Palazzo dei Papi, or Palace of the Popes. From 1257 to 1281, the Curia was moved here from Rome, and a suitably grand papal palace was built for the occasion — which is open to visitors today. The city carried on being a favorite escape for popes even when they were based back in Rome — one 15th century pontiff even added a bathhouse to take full advantage of Viterbo’s famous thermal waters.

President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell caused alarm among some of his top advisers, who warned him that any attempt to remove the head of the central bank could cause as much market turmoil as his ongoing trade war, according to people familiar with the conversations.

The warnings — and the markets’ own volatility this week – seemed to have broken through. Trump backed off his threats to try removing Powell from the job on Tuesday, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “I have no intention to fire him.”

That prompted sighs of relief — not only among investors, but also among top administration officials, who had become unnerved by the heated rhetoric and wary of a prolonged legal battle should Trump attempt to unseat Powell.

Many Trump advisers did not ultimately believe the president would attempt to fire Powell, given the warnings he’d been receiving from his economic team — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – stretching back several months. Trump had seemed to absorb the notes of caution.

But his amped-up rhetoric over the past week had caused fresh uncertainty about his intentions — in particular, his message on social media that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough!”

Afterward, his top economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters the White House was studying whether Trump could fire Powell, and said a potential “new legal analysis” might ease market concerns.

In reality, White House officials had long determined that firing Powell would spark legal challenges and market tumult.

And if any study was actually underway, Trump suggested Tuesday it wasn’t necessary. He said in the Oval Office he “never did” have any intention of removing Powell from the job.

CNN
 — 

Since the start of 2022, Russian influencer Egor Melo has been traveling around Europe. Last year, he went to Zurich to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, celebrated New Year’s Eve in Paris, and enjoyed the historical sights of Nuremberg, Germany.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, direct flights between Russia and the EU were suspended. In September of the same year, the EU suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia, making Russian citizens face a lengthier, more expensive visa approval process to enter the EU.

Processing fees for Schengen visas — which allow non-EU citizens to travel within the 29-country European Schengen area — have increased due to the suspension of visa-free agreements, some EU countries, many of which border Russia are offering fewer consular appointments for Russians, and the EU has advised member states to scrutinize Russian applications thoroughly.

The new rules don’t prevent Russian tourists from traveling to Europe — nor is there anything illegal about their trips. It’s just making the process more difficult and expensive.

Latvia, Norway, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic have gone even further — issuing full bans on almost all tourist visas for Russian citizens.

But on his Instagram, dedicated “to showing that travel in Europe is accessible to everyone,” Melos claims he’s “been in two of these countries in the past year with a tourist visa and had no problems.”

His advice? Obtain a visa from another Schengen country. “For example, fly to Italy and from there travel to these countries.”

Melos declined a CNN request to talk about his claims.

The Baltic states’ ban only applies to Russian citizens who cross the external Schengen border — not entry from other Schengen countries.

“Once you are in the Schengen zone, you can travel within the Schengen zone anywhere, because there is, in principle, no internal control (…) This is not unlawful. This is the Schengen system,” Sarah Ganty, co-author of a 2022 Yale Journal of International Law paper that opposed the visa bans, told CNN.

Melo isn’t alone in continuing to travel. The interior minister for Latvia reportedly condemned data presented at an EU meeting, which stated that 565,069 Schengen visas were issued to Russians in 2024: 90% for tourism. It’s a massive drop from the four million issued pre-pandemic in 2019, but an increase of 25% from 2023. The visa refusal rate for Russians diverges strongly among member states — from 1% to 65% in the first half of 2024, according to an EU report.

“The stabilization of Schengen visa issuance” has contributed to the growth in demand for travel to Europe, the vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (ATOR), claimed in an interview with Russian publication Vedomosti.

One well-known travel blogger from Russia, who asked to not have their name included for fear of future visa applications being denied, agreed with ATOR. They’ve recently visited Norway — a country that stopped issuing visas to Russian tourists in May 2024.

“Right now, obtaining a visa requires many additional documents that weren’t needed before, such as purchased flight tickets, hotel bookings, or even tax certificates,” they said. “Jokes about needing a doctor’s note (to travel) soon are becoming more common.”

But they still see travel as accessible.

“Let’s be honest — getting an EU residence permit, like a Spanish digital nomad visa, isn’t that difficult right now. Some people are opting for a three-year EU residence permit instead of a visa, which has also become a common practice,” the blogger said. “For example, if you have children living in the Baltics, the easiest way to get there is through Italy, France or Spain. The scheme is simple: you fly to Rome, spend some time there, and then travel through the Estonia-Russia border after first flying to your relatives.”

No direct flights means that “Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Serbia” had become the main transit countries for those living in Russia’s West, while “if you live in the Russian Far East, for example, in Vladivostok, it might be easier to fly through China,” according to them. But there are ways to avoid the extra costs when returning to Russia.

Even without an EU residence permit, it is possible to enter Russia through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the travel blogger said.

“That’s why, in the summer, there are long queues at the Narva-Ivangorod border, as flying to Tallinn is cheap, and many people with tourist visas prefer to return via the Estonian-Russian border rather than through, say, Istanbul or Antalya.”

Russian travel companies are still offering tours to countries that have supposedly blocked visas for Russian tourists. For example, one company, YouTravel, is currently offering a 15-day road trip through Finland, Sweden, Norway and Latvia in June. All these countries, apart from Sweden, have banned Russian tourists. The agency says it will assist in obtaining a visa free of charge.

So how easy is it really to obtain a visa? Asked about the process to obtain a visa to Latvia, which has a complete ban on issuing tourist visas to Russians, a sales assistant at St Petersburg-based agency Visateka said they could help obtain entry “through a third country.” They advised that the easiest document-wise for a June travel date would be France.

For the equivalent of $300, the sales assistant said Visateka could reserve flights and a hotel, and prepare documents to take to the French embassy for a visa appointment. Visateka claims that for France, Italy and Spain, the chances of having a visa approved were around 93%. Their website claims that in the first two weeks of April, they’ve obtained 20 visas for Russian citizens to enter Latvia, 93 to Lithuania and 20 to Poland.

“Last year, we visited Riga to see the Christmas markets,” Daria from St. Petersburg told CNN. She requested her last name be omitted in fear of her next Schengen visa application being denied. With a Spanish visa, she flew to Istanbul, then to Madrid, before boarding a flight to the Latvian capital on the same day.

“No questions were asked at the airport,” she said about the use of her Spanish visa to visit Riga. “It’s common practice.”

“I’m not part of this war, I don’t support Putin. I don’t understand why I should be discriminated against and treated as if I’m a threat.”

The Vinsky online travel forum is populated with similar stories. One holder of a French visa shared their experience of flying via Vienna, then taking a plane to Riga in the evening: “I was worried about what to say, but in the end (at Vienna airport) they asked exactly zero questions.”

Another, who had been granted an Italian tourist visa, said they flew to Rome and then on to Riga. One traveler from Moscow asked, “If you enter Italy with an Italian visa and fly from Milan to Amsterdam a few days later, what are the risks?” Another responded, “Once you get a visa, you’ll be able to travel along the route you’ve planned without any stress.”

Regarding the increase in visas issued in 2024, the EU Commission told CNN that it “closely monitors the implementation of the guidelines through the Blueprint Network.” The Blueprint Network is the EU’s framework for monitoring migration. “The Commission is working with Member States to promote consistent implementation of the guidelines.”

Last year, Hungary extended visa exemptions to Russians and Belarusians, and according to the European Travel Commission’s statistics, Russian arrivals to Hungary increased by a third. In April 2024, Romania restarted issuing short-stay visas to Russian tourists on a discretionary basis after experiencing a drop in tourist revenue, another ETC report states. In early December, Italian visa centers in Moscow reduced processing times for visas.

As the war grinds into its fourth third year, frustration is growing. Rihards Kozlovskis, Latvia’s minister of internal affairs, has called on EU countries to join Latvia in banning Schengen tourist visas for Russian citizens. Speaking at a meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, he said it is member states’ “moral duty to deny such a service.”

“We are facing both illegal border crossings and acts of sabotage, such as the burning of the Museum of the Occupation, drones crossing the border, propaganda attempts to influence public opinion, etc.,” Kozlovskis said. “Therefore I urge all member states to take this threat seriously.”

The Russian travel blogger CNN spoke to said he would be “disappointed” if such sanctions were introduced.

“Russia has its own restrictions on travel to so-called ‘unfriendly’ countries. Police officers, judges and government employees are already prohibited from traveling, so those connected to the state are not going anywhere anyway,” he said. “I don’t think ordinary Russian travelers pose any kind of threat to the Latvian minister with their presence.”

A European Commission spokesperson said that the organization had “adopted clear sets of guidance to support Member States to deprioritize visas for Russians and focus on security and border control. Heightened scrutiny should be performed in a way that preserves the right to seek asylum and prevents risks of non-refoulement.”

Ganty, the law academic, argued that such bans were never lawful. She described the de facto national-level ban against Russian citizens — introduced by Poland, Finland and the Baltic States — as a breach of EU law.

“These Russians who are applying for Schengen visas have mainly been depicted as tourists having fun in Europe, but there are lots of people who have family members across the border, there are people who are dissenters, there are health reasons why someone might need a short-stay visa,” she said.

“I think we really need to continue the dialogue with Russian citizens, especially those who are trying to flee the regime and oppose the regime. I think it’s really important to be welcoming towards them.”

When Mark Temynsky, a Ukrainian-American and fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, visited Montenegro in 2023 with his cousins, he was surprised at the number of Russians who were also there — and the reaction they got from the Russians while posing with a Ukrainian flag by St John’s Fortress, a historic landmark overlooking the town of Kotor.

“We got some looks and stares from Russian speakers who were making comments (…) we’re just taking photos with the flag,” he said.

“In Greece, as well as in Cyprus, when I was there in August of 2023, it was still very heavily visited by ethnic Russians and Russian speakers who were on holiday there and just again — from a moral perspective — it just did not sit with me that these people are supporting the country’s war and then go on vacation.

“I have many family and friends in Ukraine who haven’t been on vacation in several years because they don’t know where to go, and many of them are not permitted to leave the country and fear for their safety. It’s very strange.”

He said he wants the EU to go further with bans on tourist visas.

“I would argue that European countries aren’t doing this to punish the Russians, just for the sake of punishing the Russians. It’s to explore other avenues to put additional pressures on Russia. And I think at this point, you gotta get creative, and if this is another way to do that, then I think there’s no harm in trying to see what happens.”