Rome Tour Guides

There are several listed in the RS Rome 2011 book. Have you bought that yet? Especially if it's your first time to Rome, it's a must. Happy travels. Rome is amazing.

Two we used last October: - Francesca Caruso is a private guide and can be reached via email at [email protected].
- Walks of Italy does a great Vatican Musuem tour. http://www.walksofitaly.com/.

Sig, I would also recommend Francesca Caruso! She's an outstanding Guide with an incredible knowledge of the history. Happy travels!

I have been recommending another Francesca ever since I had her as a guide several years ago, and everyone I know that has hired her has been very happy: Francesca Romana del Fattore You can email her at: [email protected] She specializes in the Roman Forum and the Vatican. Tell her Anthony from Florence sent you if you do!

We used Through Eternity Tours 2 years ago and are going to go with them again this May. Small groups, excellent guides who give you that extra personal touch. Gabriele took us to see all the pope "mobiles" that are housed at the Vatican. Who knew? It was neat to see them all.
Enjoy your trip.

Sig,
How about Rick Steve's? If you own an Iphone or Ipod Touch you can download his tours off of his new app. We did this last year in Paris and Rome and it was great. Now when I am at home walking the dog I pick a city or site and listen to Rick as I walk. I would also recommend Federica D'Orazio as a guide [email protected] we used her for half a day in the forum and Colliseum and she was great. Good Luck.

Get in touch with Francesca...you'll be happy you did. Terrific. My teenagers even loved her!

Throwing one more option out there: we went with Rich Brunn on our trip to Rome in 2009. He's an American who's been doing Rome tours for years. He was highly informative and reasonably priced, especially for a private tour (which is what we did). He does organize small group tours too, which would be cheaper. You can check out his website here: http://www.rome-day-tours.com/index.html

Fransesca wasn't available when I contacted her for our dates, but she recommended a few others. Alessandra Mazzoccoli ([email protected]) was one of the guides Fransesca recommended, and has been great via email. She's even called the Colosseum to get an update for me regarding the hypogeum and 3rd level tours. She charges 50 euros/hour I have a 4 hour tour of St. Clements, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum scheduled with her in the afternoon on the 28th of May. I will post a review after the tour, but I have a good feeling since she was recommended by such a respected guide. And now that I've typed all that I just re-read the OP and realized that you will also be going in May, so you probably can't wait for my review, lol.

Thank you for all the feedback and ideas.

We have just returned from Rome and had a wonderful time. Taking the advice of previous posters I contacted Francesca Romana del Fattore at ([email protected]). She said she would happy to be our Rome tour guide but is currently waiting to hear if she will be invited to take part in archaeology dig. That is her major. She did say that if she was invited she would have a colleague stand in for her. Francesca emailed me to say she was ed for the dig and provided me with a replacement. Her name was Francesca Pagliaro and her email address is ([email protected]). We contacted Francesca Pagliago and made arrangements. Communication with both women was timely and perfect English. I cannot tell you how pleased we were with Francesca P. She is a Art major which was great at the Vatican but her knowledge of the Roman ruins was excellent. She is not only knowledgeable about her work but she obviously enjoys her job. She was punctual, pleasant, patience, and just fun to be with. Although there were only four of us, she does cruise ships as well. This is her profession and she does it well. You will not be disappointed.

Alessandra Mazzoccoli ([email protected]) Just returned from 17 days in Italy and we hired Alessandra for a 3-hour private tour of the Ancient Sites. I cannot say enough good things about her - she was responsive to all emails prior, helped us coordinate tickets when the Roma Pass wasn't available, was punctual, professional -and most importantly, brought to life the Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon in a way we would have never appreciated had we done it on our own. Highly recommend her services. She was a pleasure to be with and learn from. One of the highlights of our trip.

I just contracted with Francesca for a tour of the Vatican and Sistine in Oct. glad I caught this on the board. Curious, do you tip a private tour guide?

We did Walks of Italy for the Colloseum (includes Forum, Palatine Hill). Very educational and professional.

This post is 2 1/2 years old.

Yes, it is an old post but its a good question that was just asked ~ do you tip a private tour guide ~ and I would say yes. Guides work really hard. Just my humble opinion that if it went well they are worth a tip.

Thanks Lisa.