Guided tours advertised on Viator

Viator is a third party that sells local tours. Viator doesn't actually provide any other service than being a web advertising and payment platform, and linking sellers to buyers (of local tours). The actual local tour operator will confirm via e-mail and you will have their phone number. If they don't e-mail you, you should e-mail them to confirm (it will be very clear who will actually be providing the service). You will have a PDF voucher that guarantees your spot. They typically pick you up from wherever you're staying, so there is no problem with "finding you". If something goes awry and the tour doesn't happen (unlikely), then you can contest the credit card charge and say that you pre-paid for a service you did not receive. All the electronic confirmations will serve as a paper trail, so not to worry. I've taken at least 5 such tours in various countries (Mexico and Europe) and there were no problems. Read the tour reviews first and see if the tour is worth taking.

Viator is a re-seller of other companies tours.
Rather than use Viator, look on Trip Advisor to find the same exact tours that are being offered, go to the company website and deal with the companies themselves. Save yourself stress and the tour companies save 25% commission that they have to pay Viator for the booking.

To add to Ms. Jo's very good point, Viator is now owned by TripAdvisor and so please be wary when you see a yellow more info button beside a tour listing in TripAdvisor. These yellow buttons will route you through the Viator booking system, allowing TripAdvisor to take a 20-25% commission from the tour company. Look instead for the direct link to the tour company's website, and book directly with them.

My preference is to choose companies do not have the yellow buttons, as they tend to be small independent outfits who have refused (and usually cannot afford) to hand 20% of their turnover to Viator. The absence of a yellow button means that they have resisted TripAdvisor's bully-boy tactics. These brave souls are worth supporting.

So far, I only searched the open internet for tours in Rome, and the tours advertised on Viator looked the most comprehensive or the longest. I haven't tried searching tripadvisor for guided tours yet.

Rather than use Viator, look on Trip Advisor to find the same exact tours that are being offered, go to the company website and deal with the companies themselves.

Unfortunately, this won't work because Trip Advisor owns Viator. In turn, Viator won't reveal which local company actually leads the tour until after one has already paid for it. Yes, it's very one-sided but that's the grip that Trip Advisor has now over some of these companies. Having said that, when I tried to book with a known local tour company, their website was so rudimentary that there was no way to pay for the tour with a credit card (or to compare). All the website had was a request form, making it difficult to compare pricing of one tour with another, or within the same company. Trip Advisor knows this and they exploit this black hole of sorts. As a customer, I am pretty sensitive to convenience - if Trip Advisor/Viator is the only way I find out about a tour and they make it easy for me to book it (and assuming I feel the value is good), then I just book it. It's way too tiring to fill out multiple request forms with different moms and pops just to get prices...same with hotel rooms. Sadly, these third parties have gotten so big that it's really hard to "go back" to more manual and ethical ways to book things.

Try "Walks of Italy" for booking directly with the tour operator. There is a 10% discount for this company in the RS guidebook, or at least there used to be. We used them. Others swear by Context Tours. Hopefully, word of mouth like this will help good companies survive outside the TA grip.

All guides in Italy must be certified by law, so you'll be getting a real guide and not someone who is a self-proclaimed guide. The guides seem to work for several companies or whoever books them for whatever day.

Another reason to book directly if possible: there have been instances reported here of communication breakdowns between Viator (before it was part of TA, though) and the actual tour operator. In these cases the operator refused to refund the money they claim they never received, and Viator refused to refund the money they claimed they'd forwarded. The tourist didn't get a tour but did get a headache. Just like airfare--it's best to book directly if at all possible.

Suppose a tour guide does not know how to set up a website. Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier for him or her to just advertise on Viator or Tripadvisor? I do not have a philosophical problem with the existence of Viator or Trip advisor or any similar websites I don't know about yet.

I want to know how I can make sure that I find the tour group. Why should I expect them to pick me up at my hostel? I don't assume the tour guide would pick me up at my hostel and my hostel is out of the way. I could be wrong. Will the tour operator have a sign? How else will I recognize the tour guide?

If you are booking a private tour, the guide would probably come by your hotel. These are usually about 200 euros and up for a few hours, plus tip, maybe lunch.

But in the case of a group tour, the company will give you a meeting time and place. Others will be there milling around waiting. If you ask the others, they may be waiting for the same tour or another. Then at least one person from the tour company will arrive with a clip board, sign, maybe headphones and announce the tour. This person will have your name and you check in. They may distribute radio headphones to the group participants, so the guide can speak in a normal voice. Most people get to the tour meeting places 5 or 10 minutes early. Sometimes tour guides are wearing clothing with the company name, or in Italy they have to wear their badges where they can be seen, around the neck or pinned to clothing.

You should be fine. I'm terrible at directions and following directions, but I've never missed a tour. Is this what you wanted to know?

Bets: Your answer is what I wanted to know.

I am going to sign up for some small-group tours I saw on Viator: the "Jewish District Walking Tour", one of the tours that takes 4 hours and goes to the Colosseum and Roman Forum, one that goes into the Vatican museum, and probably one that goes through Pompeii. That is 4 tours, plus a ticket to the Borghese gallery, and the Academia and Uffizia in Florence... If you could be honest, would you say I am doing too much work on making all these reservations or that I am nuts for not just traveling with a group tour for the whole trip? Not that it matters because I already made 3 hostel reservations and I would rather make all these reservations and travel without the tour group, although my reasons may be irrational.

Just because there is a yellow button to push on Trip Advisor doesn't mean you have to push it. As I said in my post, go to the company website.
A tour company that doesn't have a website wouldn't be in business very long. Rome has over 700 tour companies, so you are spoiled for choice. If nothing else, ask on the Italy forum here for tour company recommendations, or ask on the Trip Advisor forums for peoples' recommendations. The forums are all volunteer, just like this one, so no one is working for Viator.
Doesn't Ricks book recommend any?
Tours will have maps and details about where and how to meet them. They want you to find them.

You are doing great traveling on your own and choosing tours and tickets independently. You'll appreciate the independence. But do look at Walks of Italy and Context Tours, as well as any others in the RS, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and other guide books available at your public library.

Rick's guidebook recommends several tried and tested group tours and private guides with whom you can book directly. Since you mention a walking tour of the ghetto, I'm reminded of http://jewishroma.com/, which may be the tour provider that Viatour is booking for you. It's recommended in Rick's Rome book (p. 202, in the same section where he describes a self-guided walk). That area is not covered as well in the bigger Italy book. It's been well reviewed in this forum, if you want to search; I think that she (Micaela) encourages her customers to do so.

Mike, having read over the other responses here quickly, they all give good and accurate advice. When I find out about a tour I am interested in, perhaps through Viator or TripAdvisor, I will first try to do some digging on the internet to find the group which is actually providing the tour, since Viator is merely an (often useful) intermediary. In digging, in a popular area you may find that several groups actually give similar tours to that same site or area, sometimes different lengths of time, or different times of the day, or different days of the week, or including different stops along the way, at varying costs, and often with a link to reviews that may give various levels of positive comments. Then you can pick and book, according to your interests, schedule and budget. I have taken various day tours in Europe and around the world, and cannot even remember any that were not legitimate or which were not good tours, providing just what they said they would, whether booked directly or through Viator. The quality or personality of the guides might vary a lot. If something comes up on your end, you are sick or delayed in transit or lost trying to finding a meeting point, or whatever, you want to be able to reach the actual provider, not Viator. In Italy, many diverse very good tours are offered by Walks of Italy, Dark Rome, Context Travel and others. Their guides are trained, certified and excellent, often with academic backgrounds related to the sites you are visiting -- art, history, architecture, etc. Guiding is a big and competitive business in Italy. These companies usually have great web sites explaining their selection of tours, have direct online sign-ups, and may have discounts for children, for seniors, for multiple tours, and at least with Walks of Italy, they have had an additional 10% Rick Steves discount if you ask for it. Walks of Italy also has a US office with a US toll-free number, and the staff there are very helpful and good in answering questions or concerns. By the way, many parts of Italy will be very hot and crowded in July, and I think a good guide would be helpful in steering you through that. When you can, you might think about tours that begin early in the AM or late in the afternoon, rather than the hot heart of the day. Enjoy wonderful Italy! For some of the tours you mention, I don't think you really need a guide, especially the Borghese Gallery and the Academia in Florence, both excellent, but easy to visit with a guidebook from RS or any good one.

Please look at www.toursbylocals.com for local certified guides of the places you are visiting. You choose the destination and then you'll see all of the available guides as we as their prices, tours and reviews by customers. I've used them for several European Tours.

Context tours says all their guides are experts in the topics and sites, which I would think is appealing, but in the fine print, they say they don't take you to the basement and third level of the Colosseum. Walks of Italy gives a better description - and their description mentions that they do take you to the basement and 3rd level of the Colosseum - not that I would know whether the less commonly seen areas are worth it, and they give participants headphones. Thanks for suggesting the two tour operators, they look like the best, and if I am wrong, oh well, I wouldn't want to worry about the difference.

We took Viator tour in Brussels before our RsTour last year. It went smoothly. Been only once but I booked another one for us in Barcelona before we meet up with our Barcelona and Madrid tour in June. That's all the info/experience I have .

When I was planning my Italy trip (where I am now), I looked at Viator tours and in the detailed description it was clearly stated who the tour operator was. I booked one tour through Viator because it was cheaper than booking directly with the tour company.