Family-friendly tour guide for Rome sights & museums - recommendations?

We tried Walks of Italy for the Vatican when we took friends. We were impressed with their knowledge and would definitely recommend them.

I truly love to wander the city on our own, but we had friends use a private guide, Alessio Vicari Tours, and they loved his demeanor and exuberance and love of the city ! You can find him on Facebook.

Yes, use a tour guide, it is much more efficient for your time. You can flounder around a lot without guidance! Here are two recommendations that I have used.

Sara Magister (https://contexttravel.com/about-us/our-docents) - Expert in all things Roman as she is Roman, and has degrees in history and art.

Federica D'Orazio (http://www.touristinrome.com/) Also a Roman, and we used her with a family of 12, ages 7 - 70.

I have used both and they are both wonderful.

We were very pleased with Angel Tours. I think a live guide is always better because you can ask questions and get some insight on the side. Not sure what you mean or want with "kid friendly." The Vatican museums is full of art work with low appeal for kids - period.

Thanks for the replies so far. What I mean by kid friendly is a tour guide or company experienced in hosting groups with children and prepared to tailor presentations and information to make it interesting and palatable to children and adults alike. I know some companies do 'treasure hunts' in the museum or offer quizzes - that kind of thing. My 12 year old is crazy about art, but I want to make sure the 6 and 9 year olds stay interested and engaged as much as possible.

This isn't a human guide but may be of interest?

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/servizi-per-i-visitatori/audio-e-videoguide/audioguida-family-tour.html

My only concern is that it can be really hard for children to see around a heavy crowd of adults, and the going may be slooooow. In general, the mob at the Vatican Museums can be a trial for anyone, and especially very short people!

At 6-2 I forgot about short people. Kathy raised an excellent point. At 5-4 that was my wife's big complaint about the museum.

Frank, I'm just a hair under 5'2" and had a real time trying to see over all the heads in front of me! Young children are going to be looking at a lot of backsides. :O(

Hate to say it but if I was to choose an art museum for kids, I'd do Galleria Borghese for the sanity of crowd control, smaller size, and because of the 2-hour time limit: not long enough to wear out small persons. Fascinating building and collection; we prefer that one BY FAR to the Vatican, and there's the extra bonus of a ramble through Villa Borghese (park).

Thanks, Kathy - I cannot in good conscience skip the Vatican...no matter how crowded it might be, we have to do it.

Has anyone taken Walks of Italy "Pristine Sistine" tour with kids? It looks like a great tour.

The Vatican Museum is the one place I won't take my kids so...be prepared. It's much much more crowded than you think. Like unable to stay together in waves of people crowded. My kids have been to all sorts of sights and museums (Louvre, British Museum, Alhambra, Mer, and on and on) but the Vatican Museum is a whole other level. Be prepared.
Note: I mean the museum specifically. St. Peter's is crowded too- but it is more open and easier to see things in. So I will bring my kids there but not the museum until they are teens and probably taller than me ;)

Pristine Sistine isn't geared to kids but if yours are patient it might be better to try it and miss some crowds - at least they can see something.

We are going with our three boys (eighth, seventh and sixth grade ... yes, they eat a LOT lol) and we decided to go with a kids private tour. We leave in April, but we have been very impressed with https://rometourswithkids.com/ because they tailor it to your group.

Has anyone taken Walks of Italy "Pristine Sistine" tour with kids? It
looks like a great tour.

We haven't done that one (rarely take organized tours) but while people speak very highly of it, I noticed that you had some budget concerns regarding a day trip to Pompeii in an earlier thread? The WOI tour would be very expensive ( $554 or so U.S.$) for 6 people, if budget is still of concern.

I've also some concern for your 81 year-old father; does he have the stamina for 3-hour (or longer) tours - either booked through the Vatican itself or through another provider - that involve a lot of walking/standing?

Regarding trying to do a tour after a papal audience, your children (and elderly father) will have been expected to sit for a very long stretch among a huge crowd of people by the time the audience is over, assuming you are planning to arrive early enough to get seats. You know your kids' tolerance levels best but all-in-all, that doesn't sound like an especially kid-friendly day to me?