Rome Private Tours?

A private tour of the Vatican would be worth it because you have hours and hours of different areas and sights to see and learn about often with crowds around you.

The Colosseum has much less to visit, but you can get tickets that include the lower level and going to the top bleachers. If you added the Forums to the Colosseum, you'd have enough to warrant a private guide.

Thank you! The tour we are looking at for the Colosseum includes the underground level, arena, the first and second tiers, as well as the Forum and Palatine Hill, 3.5 hours total, for €815 for 2 people. Seems high to me, but I do like how much it includes. Hoping to find someone with a recommendation for a similar tour at a lower cost?

Have you checked Context Tours or The Roman Guy as comparisons for costs?

I truly hope the Colosseum tour you mentioned above is not 815 Euros for 2. That's insanely high!

Thanks for the response! Yes. I did check out both Context Tours and The Roman Guy as comparisons, I like their pricing much better 😂 However, I’m interested to see if anyone has reviews on either of them, or Eyes of Rome, which is the expensive, private tour we are looking at. All reviews or advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

My wife and I did the Eyes of Rome Vatican tour fall of 2022. Started 7:45 with pick up at our hotel (as advertised), the price was €385 vs the €675? quoted now.

The good - our guide was friendly and professional. He had intimate knowledge of the museums, but not the Basilica - my wife is a Catholic (Vatican I) and constantly updated him on actual religious history. I am an architect versed in Renaissance history and I felt like I was his guide on the architecture. For a layperson it’s possibly story-style entertaining, but for anyone steeped in historical study, no.

The criticism - when their website says “the privilege of being among the very first to enter” actually means you and 500+ others already in line when arriving at 7:55 or so. Did not expect this at all. We sort of merged into line (seemed rude but the guide said this was how it was done). While the crowd dispersed after security check, and the first few artifact rooms were uncrowded, by the time we got the Hall of Maps it was claustrophobic shoulder to shoulder. Didn’t include the Raphael galleries. Sistine was even more jammed (as if that was possible) and very poorly lit (low light for limiting UV). Private access to Basilica was nice (crowds went out a different door). However our tour through the Basilica seemed rushed and the next thing we knew we were outside of security, our guide pointed to where we could grab a taxi, smiled and vanished. We were both very disappointed and quite upset. Cost was WAY more than what it was worth and I suppose a lesson learned. I sent them a scathing review but never heard back. I’m sure my review is conveniently not among their list. I could NOT recommend spending this kind of money on this tour. Very misleading marketing.

As it turns out, on our trip return thru Rome (to fly out) we spent an extra day to go back to St. Peter’s. This time to “really” see the Basilica. Arrived at 4:30pm, had a 10 min wait thru security, spent more than an hour with little to no crowd and by complete luck were in time for mass at 6pm, sunbeams streaming in through the dome. Utterly breathtaking.

That’s a long story for saying you would be better off spending your money differently than the Eyes of Rome tour. Do it yourself with a guidebook. I would have spent twice the amount to actually have it be private.

I don't take tours other than low-cost walking tours, but Context Travel has a good reputation. Someone whose opinion I trust took a Context Tour in Florence a few months ago and was very pleased.

I hope you understand that conditions in the Vatican Museums can be very crowded, and there's a limit to what a tour guide can do about that, no matter how knowledgeable they are. I went to the Vatican Museums in the first half of March 2023 (probably a somewhat busier time than February). Not every space was sardine-like, but in many areas one could not move freely. Some areas were nearly empty--the ones no one wanted to see (except me): the Pinacoteca and the modern religious art collection.

Thank you! Yes, we fully expect crowds and to still have to wait in lines, that’s not a problem. We’ve never really done a trip like this so just trying to gauge the best route to go for an experience without being part of a group of 25 strangers. Thanks!

Lexi,
The Colosseum and Forum are so easy to visit on your own. We have visited them several times independently. The price you were quoted for a private tour seems very high. Have you checked out Context Tours? or The Roman Guys? We love Rome and have returned many times. I wish you the same wonderful experiences as we have had in our ten trips to Italy. Book tours if you feel more comfortable.
Your itinerary for your first trip to Italy is perfect and just like our first itinerary.
We didn’t go south of Rome until our 8th trip to Italy.

Thank you Suki, this is very helpful! I will look into The Roman Guy, we did book another tour through them already :) Have you used them for the Vatican before? Or do you have a good recommendation for a Vatican tour? Have you done the dome climb, it looks intimidating, but also like a bucket list experience!

The Vatican Museums schedule has changed this month. There used to be an early-entry option that got you inside at least an hour before the general public. No such option exists now. The Museums open at 8 AM. Whether they will be marginally less crowded at 8 AM than at 9 AM or 10 AM I do not know. There have been reports in the past that they can be a bit quieter in the late afternoon. The problem with targeting that time period is that the Museums are huge and take a lot of time even if you give them a quick once-over. I don't know how a first-time visitor could determine what time to show up in order to finish up 15 or 30 minutes before the closing time. (They will start ushering people out way ahead of time; that's standard in Europe.)

Incidentally, the Museums sell out in advance even in the dead of winter--they just don't sell out so far in advance. Keep a very close idea on the Vatican Museum website to see how tickets are selling for the two weeks before your visit, so you'll know if you need to buy tickets right away.

Thank you acraven! Since this is all new to me... Can I ask what purchasing a ticket for the museums directly through the Vatican does for you? Are you then "on your own" to visit the museums? Would I need to purchase separately for the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's?

I’m just going to throw this out there, but on our last trip to Rome we contacted Sonia Tavoletta as a private guide for The Vatican/ St. Peter’s Basilica. Several forum members have used her as well and you can type her name in the search bar to see the comments. We had a first time visitor with us who was likely making his only trip, so we wanted to maximize his experience. She was an excellent guide - knowledgeable and engaging and really walked us through the process to set up our tour. I know she does other sites as well.

The Sistine Chapel is part of the Vatican Museums and covered by the same ticket. St. Peter's is free but with a regular ticket to the Museums you must exit and walk around part of the exterior of the Vatican complex to reach the door to the basilica, where you will find a shockingly long security line. The basilica opens at 7 AM most days, I believe, and conventional wisdom has it that showing up super early will mean a much shorter security line. I cannot vouch for that because I am not a morning person and didn't manage to get to St. Peter's last year.

Some tours that include both the Museums and St. Peter's are allowed to take their clients through a back door between (or near) the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. That is a huge time-saver, because you avoid the walk and the security line. However, there have been occasional reports from tour clients who were unable to use that door, so it's not something you can count on 100%. There's also the issue that to use the door, you have to leave the Sistine Chapel/Museums with your tour group. If you want to backtrack and spend some extra time in the Museums after your tour moves on, you will not have access to that special door. The Vatican itself doesn't offer combination Museum/St. Peter's tours, but some private companies have done so in the past. They include Walks of Italy.

The Museums have changed their entry procedures and their tour offerings this week, so it's hard to know how the new options will work out (and I didn't take a tour myself, anyway). This website will list your choices after you choose your preferred date of visit and the number of tickets needed:

https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home/calendar/visit/Biglietti-Musei

The Museums are usually closed on Sundays. I think (not sure) St. Peter's is closed for tourist visits on Wednesday morning. You'll need to verify the St. Peter's situation separately, because the Museum calendar won't provide that information.

The basic admission tickets are listed first; they are 20 euros per person plus a 5-euro booking fee (I think also per person). Part of the way down the first page are the Vatican's own tours of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (combo tour) for individuals. Those cost an extra 20 euros per person. You'll be asked your language preference. For the random February date I chose, both English tours were already sold out, so if you're interested in a tour conducted by the Vatican (which will be cheaper than commercial alternatives), you should check immediately to see whether something is available for a date that works for you.

There are audio guides available for folks who want to tour on their own or can't book a tour because they're all sold out. I don't remember what the fee is for the audioguide, but it's considerably less than 20 euros.

Here is the link to the Vatican Museums ticketing site - put in your dates and see what's available directly from them:

https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home

Lexi, €815 for 2 is very, very high; I'd definitely look for different options. While I haven't personally used these resources. Context, Francesca Caruso, Marta Marsili, Sonia Tavoletta have all been previously recommended by forum posters whose opinions I personally would trust, and some by Mr. Steve's himself.

Francesca Caruso
https://francescacaruso.com

Sonia Tavoletta
[email protected]
https://www.travelinitalia.com/about-us.html

Marta Marsili
[email protected]
https://www.guidedtourofrome.com

I've also seen positive mentions of Through Eternity tours, and Marisa at Tours By Locals. Cost for private guides will range, of course, depending on length of tour, the guide's experience, education and reputation, and sometimes by number of participants so you'd need to contact them for estimates.

I believe this is the recommended Marisa; she obviously has been heavily, very positively reviewed, and also provides her pricing online.

https://www.toursbylocals.com/RomeItalyPrivateTours

Mentions above of the Vatican's change of early access tours: as far as I can see, any tour which mentions an 8:00 AM entry or even a 7:15-7:45 meeting time is not an "early access" tour per se. This is a recent change as the museums now open to the general public at 8:00 AM versus 9:00. I think some of us are watching to see if there are further developments in that department. As well, all pre-purchased tickets for the museums are timed-entry so "skip the line" is not a special benefit. Same for the Colosseum.

Hi Lexi,

I think you are being quoted some REALLY high prices for a private guide. We've booked with a recommended private guide for 3 hours in May for 240 Euros (and there are 4 of us). Entrance to the Colluseum (if we can get tickets) will be separate, etc. but still we're looking at 350 E max with all of that.

Carrie

Your Italian guides will be wearing their guide certification badges on lanyards around their necks. This means they have all passed the Italian government guide exams. Sometimes, being with the person with the visible badge gets you into quicker lines or through that shorter door into the Basilica.
One thing to consider is if your guide can provide radio transmission. with the headset, I found that I could step away from our guide to examine something while she was talking. It was very convenient in these crowded spaces where we would get separated by other groups. I was still able to hear her commentary. That could be an advantage to a tour by Walks of Italy as opposed to a private tour where you have to stand next to your guide.