Escorted Group Tour vs RS audio in Rome

I have not taken a Through Eternity tour, but will just comment on doing the Sistine Chapel on your arrival day. I found the Sistine and St Peter's overwhelming and am not sure I would have been able to take it in on my arrival day. I knew it was huge...but didn't realize it was that huge, and just the sheer amount of things to look at was sort of sensory overload/opulence overload/historical stuff overload. The walk thru the Vatican museum to the Sistine was pretty long as well with SO much to see even on an escorted tour.

I would be very reluctant to book a tour or any other major commitment on my arrival day. In addition to the very valid points that Pam brought up about the size of the museum and the walking involved, you never know when a travel issue might disrupt your plans. It would be very frustrating to miss out on your (pre-booked?) tour because your flight got delayed.

The Vatican is massive and you simply are not going to see everything regardless of what you do. So, I would be more inclined to pick up a good guidebook, map, and/or audio guide and explore on your own, at your own pace, and when you have the energy.

Assuming you're flying in from the West Coast, that first day will likely be miserable. If you were hopping over from England, no problem.

BTW, there are other tour services, including Context Travel. Not sure why you would have to use Through Eternity.

I strongly recommend doing the audio tour! That first day is very rough, but apart from that, you may pay for a tour and then have some kind of unexpected delay. Or a delay plus getting hit extra hard by the jet lag. Beware of trying fit in anything inflexible the first day. An audio tour will be perfectly good and informative. You need to have as much flexibility as possible, and the audio tour will give you that. Besides, if you want to linger here or there you cannot really do that with a tour group.

I agree that taking the tour is cutting it close in case travel is delayed and you will be tired. We hired Rick Steve's local guide, Francesca Caruso for our tour of the Vatican. I can't imagine anyone better than her.

I would echo what the others have said... For me, arriving at 8am sets you up for a nearly impossibly long day (I fly from the west coast also). I have done that Vatican both with a tour and by myself on two other occasions. While the tour was certainly useful, you are then subject to what the guide prefers to concentrate on. On your own, if the maps for example thrill you, you can linger and take it all in.

I dont know how your trip lays out but I prefer to always schedule walking items only on day 1. I would get to the motel, check in if possible and set off on foot. There is tons to see in Rome on foot (walk along the Tiber, pop into the Pantheon, pop into various churches etc) I hit the sack around 7-9 local time and the next day I have made the switch.

The RS audio is good... so is having a guidebook to give some context to what you are seeing. In the Vatican museum especially I would read up a bit and be ok with just walking by some really great stuff as there is so much to see. Given the times you mention, I would hesitate to book the tour especially if it was my first visit to Rome.. If you end up 2 hours late into Rome, you might not even get to the city until 11-12... Add in check in time and getting oriented also.

I have try an escorted tour in touscany (italy) 1 years ago, it was very exciting.
the site of the escorted organizzator is www.viadelsole.com .
They make cycling tours too :)

I would echo what others have said about anything to do on the day of arrival; the Vatican and Sistene Chapel are overwhelming fully rested and well fed so its hard to imagine how it would be after a flight. You might also want to be aware that when folks are saying the place is huge they aren't kidding - even if the guards allowed you the most direct path possible its still a long walk to get anywhere in there and the guards won't allow you to go outside of the flow for the most part. It is also extremely crowded; lots of people, lots of elbows and cameras, tired kids.

Having said all that we did the RS audio tour and it was very good. A bit tricky given how crowded it was but overall very good. If I go back I'd do a private tour and by that I mean splurge on a guide just for myself and my group. The larger tours, regardless of which ones you take, tend to be larger in terms of numbers. All the tour leaders I eavesdropped on were full of information.

Hope you have fun!
Lisa