I'm mid downloading the (many) RS Aps for VFR tour next month. My question is: what is the difference in the guided tour and the "visit to" in the brochure description? Do I need the walking tour for either? Both? (There are a LOT of tours t download.)
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14966 posts
I just took a quick look at the VFR itinerary and am not sure which you are talking about. Can you be more specific?
As a general answer, I would say the ones that say guided tour mean either your guide or a local guide will take you thru a museum and you wouldn't need the walking guide unless you wanted to go back and spend more time there. A visit to means you go to the museum as a group, enter as a group and then are own your own for a specified amount of time. A museum audio guide might or might not be furnished.
I've done both on some of the tours in Paris - been to the Louvre with an RS group and had local guides (twice) and been to the Louvre with an RS group and were on our own after a brief orientation (once).
Posted by
Atlanta
5280 posts
Having taken a number of RS Tours, I'd say Pam's second paragraph pretty much mirrors our experiences.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The "visit to" the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel does mean that you'll explore on your own because of the difficulty of keeping a group together with the crowds there in the past couple of years. If you take one of the museum's headsets, then you have to return it at the main entry, but if you're just listening to your own device, then there's a small chance of being able to exit near the Sistine Chapel. Your guide should give you the latest advice.
At St. Mark's Basilica in Venice and St. Peter's in Rome, I think that guides are not allowed to lecture inside. So again, you may want those audio tracks in addition to your guidebook.