guided tours in Rome

I used Context Rome on my last trip in May for the Palatine Hill, Forum, and Colosseum tour. It was an incredibly thorough tour given by an archaeologist with a PhD. from Oxford. It was highly intellectual, but very informative. It was 4+ hours long (waaayyyy too long). At the Colosseum, we finally had to say "enough is enough" and we left. Their tours are for groups of six or less. We probably would have had a better time, but we had just gotten off of the plane from the States and were terribly jet-lagged.

Through Eternity's tours are very entertaining. You'll learn a lot but the info is presented in a fun way. It won't feel like a college lecture.

We used Through Eternity for the Forum/Colosseum Tour & also for the Palatine Hill Tour. We were very pleased with both tours. It was a small group for the Forum/Colosseum tour (less than 10 people) and for the Palatine Hill tour, we were the only ones on the tour so it was like having a private tour guide. We had the same guide for both tours & she was really good. She made it interesting & entertaining.

We used Presto Tours for the Vatican Tour (3 hours) & it was also an excellent tour. The guide was wonderful & as the Vatican can be very overwhelming, he broke it down easily so we could understand and had a great sense of humor so it was a great tour.

Have a great trip.

We used Context Rome and our guide was a native of Rome. It was a great tour and four hours passed quickly. The guide provided interesting details and history about Rome that we had never read about. It was definitely $$$ well spent. Our first tour of the Forum and Colosseum was on our own and we were very jet lagged and were unable to appreciate these great sights. Fortunately we returned and learned to really love Rome.

Stephanie,

I have a few suggestions......

You might check the Italy or Rome guidebooks for listings of Guides in Rome. One that I would recommend highly is Francesca Caruso. She provides an exceptional and interesting tour and would be perfect for a small group. You can contact her directly at [email protected]. Also have a look at www.roninrome.com/guide-service for a local Guide.

Happy travels!

The vatican offers a two hour tour of the museums. You can book it at:

biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

It is a great tour and ends just before the Sistine Chapel.

If you don't want to much in the way of intellectual tours I would suggest just getting a good guide book and doing tours on your own. There are some really great books out there that will give you good information but not overload you with a lot of "stuff".

YOu might want to check out some downloadable tours as well. Pocketvox.com offers really great downloadable tours that will take you through the forums and other sites. You can follow the route and listen to the information as you want to or forward to the next section. My hubby and I used these tours on our first trip to Venice and loved them. They were very entertaining and easy to use.

RoninRome.com is a great website for tons of Rome information. I would suggest reading through his blog to find some really great suggestions.

Donna

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.

We used Through Eternity for 3 different tours while in Rome and found all the tours to be great. I'd definitely use them again and would highly recommend them. I think you would really enjoy the information and how it is presented. We also appreciated the small groups which made it even better.

hi Stephanie,

I don't know if Franchesca gives private tours but she is one of Rick Steves favorite guides in Rome and you could probably contact office at Rick Steves to get her email. she is wonderful and after you have a tour with her, you will want to live in Rome!!! Mary

We used Ron Phillips of Roninrome.com and he was absolutely excellent. He picked us up at our b&b and took us one day to ancient rome, and the next day to the vatican. Worth every single euro we spent, and then some. We can't recommend him highly enough. Contact him and see if he is available. Have a great trip!