Any recommendations?
Posted by
new york
1004 posts
Context Travel is very well regarded.
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4463 posts
Context Travel is very well regarded.
And has become very pricey... especially for private tours.
Welcome to the forum, srsmcom. I don't have a recommendation, but as a prior Context Travel user who has been priced out by their rising charges, that organization would not be my first choice. More recommendations will come, but you can also use the Search bar at the top of the page to look for other threads on this topic.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
LOL. Wrong. A quality guide, for 3 eight hour days? I would expect at least $500 per day, but that includes transportation and all entrance fees.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17764 posts
A current similar thread:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/guides-in-rome-and-floence
Each guide will have their own pricing depending on the attractions they cover but just as a look-see, Liv Tours (has seen some recommendations on the forum) is charging 1159 € for an 8-hour, 1-day private tour of Rome, and 969 € for a "Full Day Colosseum and Ancient Rome" 7.5 hr. private tour. Pricing is for 2 adults.
Honestly, I don't know as a private guide for 3 days is necessary to explore Rome; you might look at private tours of just a select few of the larger attractions instead? In addition - and strictly IMHO - I'd never try to do any "Rome in a Day" tour unless 1 day is all the time I had for the Eternal City.
Posted by
new york
1004 posts
Dave: Why would you not recommend Context, aside from the price? Their guides are considered some of the best in Italy...many with postgraduate degrees in architecture, history, etc.
Posted by
3743 posts
The OP isn't asking if we think they can afford a private guide for 3 days Rome - they're asking for recommendations.
We used Askos private guides for 3 days from our base in Pompei in 2022. It was expensive, but absolutely worth it to us. They offer their services in Rome. I highly recommend them.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks to all for good advice. Kate, I think your suggestion to get private guides for selected tours is perhaps the best. As for Price, I have learned to get what you pay for. I’ve ordered Rick’s Rome book because he usually recommends private guides. We used his recommendations in Athens and Lisbon and they were simply spectacular.
As to the comment of doing Roman a day, spot on. My wife and I did that on a Regent cruise about 10 years ago and of course it was a chaotic blur. I was lucky enough to visit Rome on business often during my career but my wife hasn’t and I wanna do it well this time. We will spend three days there before boarding a Regent cruise.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17764 posts
I was lucky enough to visit Rome on business often during my career
but my wife hasn’t and I wanna do it well this time
Good for you, and I'm sure you will!! If you need some suggestions for quality tours of individual attractions, post the question in the Italy forum, and you could also do a search of that forum for previous threads on the topic. Here's that forum:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy
To search, type "Rome, tours, private" into the search box with the magnifying glass at the top of any page (including this one) and click "go."
On the page that comes up, click "Travel forum" under "Filter by Type."
Then click " 1 year and newer" or "2 years and newer" under "Filter by date". Ta-da!! You'll have many thread to browse for guide suggestions. Give a shout if it's still confusing?
Oh, and a belated welcome to the RS Forum Gang! :O)
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4463 posts
ekscrunchy...
Price is the biggest reason. I've done a number of tours with Context over the last decade, both group and private. Tours and guides have generally been quite good (though I had an "average to below average" guide for a private tour in Tokyo in May). All except Context's most popular tours are only available in private form now and are fairly expensive.
I used 4 private guides in Prague over 8 days in October. I did much research on the guides and booked them through each guide's own website. All the tours were with locals, were very good, and in general had a bit of a "warmer" (more personable) feel than most of my prior Context tours. Context offered similar tours in Prague to the ones I took that were around double the price; I don't see that they could have provided more value than what I got with the guides I found on my own (of course, doing my due diligence to make sure they were good guides).
It's also worth noting that many of the Context guides are independent guides with whom Context contracts. I met my favorite Berlin guide through Context, but he has his own private company through which he does tours, too, and I have done a number of tours with him outside the Context platform.
I do think Context's strength is guides for art museums. I had a terrific guide in the Rijksmuseum 2 years ago (and, of note, cost for that tour was about "market price"). I also had an excellent guide in the Berggruen Museum in Berlin somewhere around 2017 or 2018, but Context retired that tour shortly after I did it. The guide encouraged me to contact Context to express the value of the tour, which I did. I got a response thanking me for my comment but indicating that the tour indeed was going to be retired because of lack of interest. My guide for a (group) Uffizi tour was a PhD-level art historian on staff at the Uffizi; she was obviously very knowledgeable and worth the premium paid for a Context group tour.
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4463 posts
srsmcom--
I agree with the suggestion to find private guides for things that may be of particular interest to you and/or lend themselves to a guide, as opposed to hiring a guide for 3 days in Rome.
Posted by
new york
1004 posts
Thanks for the explanation about Context.
I also agree about hiring a guide for the sights that most interest you, rather than a general "tour of Rome in a day" type of guided tour. I rarely hire guides, but I did hire a woman who works with RS, years ago, for a tour of the Roman forum and it was wonderful. She made sense of what might otherwise be (to me) a lot of scattered stones. I think her name was Francesca (forgot last name) but she was terrific.
IF anyone happens to have a recommendation for a guide in Naples, I'd love to get a name.....
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17764 posts
I think her name was Francesca (forgot last name) but she was
terrific.
Francesca Caruso.
Sonia Tavoletta has also seen many positive recommendations from forum posters whom have used her. Here's one of the previous threads earlier this year where both are mentioned:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/best-private-tour-guide-in-rome
Here's just one of the RS videos with Francesca:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/travel-classes/monday-night-travel/jubilee-rome
...but I did hire a woman who works with RS, years ago, for a tour of
the Roman forum and it was wonderful. She made sense of what might
otherwise be (to me) a lot of scattered stones
The Colosseum/Forum/Palatine is one of those attractions (combined) that benefits from a tour. IMHO. The Colosseum is easy, really, with just an audioguide but the other two are complex enough to need a good guide to get one's head around what you're looking at. Parco archeologico del Colosseo doesn't offer a tour which includes all three so a private guide or small-group tour is necessary to efficiently cover ground.
I wouldn't personally insist upon a tour which includes the underground of the Colosseum as you can see into much of it from above, tours can't spend a lot of down there, and there have been any number of issues with tours/guides being unable to land the necessary tickets to access it, resulting in last-minute cancellations. Then again, if you find a guide you'd like to use, chat with them about your options if especially interested in that piece?
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks to all. Context seems to be the best option for doing their Expert Led Rome Welcome tour; Signature Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill; Early Entry Vatican,/Sistine; and Borghesa Gallery Tour. Total Price is $2300. Booking. I will check out one of the recommended individual private guides.
We are joining a Regent Cruise departing from Civitavecchia. They offer a three night pre-cruise Rome package for $5000 which includes three nights at the fine Millennium Grand Palace Hotel ,but their tour is nothing more than a 3 Hour drive by bus tour, a Vatican tour, and a one day visit to Tivoli. Terrible value. The grand Palace is a great hotel and I have book that for three nights refundable, airport pick up and no advance payment for $1700 all inclusive.