As a family of 5 with three teen/tween boys we will be in Rome for a week. Is it worth it to do a Colosseum tour? Vatican tour? we will be there in April. I've heard good reviews about Walks of Rome and The Roman Guy. Each tour is close to $100/person so it's pretty pricey. Advice appreciated.
Posted by
Washington DC
28450 posts
There are three site-specific tours often mentioned here; the first two definitely book up well in advance.
- Vatican scavi tour (underground)
- Colloseum underground tour (which I think may now also include other areas not covered by the general-admission ticket--or perhaps there is now more than one special-tour option.
- A tour of the Vatican Museums that gets you in before they open to the general public; otherwise, it appears you will be shoulder-to-shoulder with other tourists as you view the Sistine Chapel.
I suspect the young boys would enjoy the underground stuff, but it certainly isn't mandatory. My philosophy about the Vatican Museums situation (based on other people's reports--I saw them before the big crush) is that you're either interested in them or not. If not, don't feel like you have to go and tolerate the miserable crowds; it's not like there aren't other great sights in Rome. If you are seriously interested, you probably need to pony up the money for early access. If there is such an option on the Vatican Museums website, it will probably be the least expensive way to get in early. I think the Dark Rome tours are a bit less expensive than Walks of Italy's Pristine Sistine tour.
I've enjoyed moderately-priced walking tours (10 to 15 euros) in a number of cities but have never taken one of the pricier general tours, so I can't provide any guidance there. I'm sure they are worthwhile, but we all have to deal with budgets (in terms of time as well as money). Since you are a group of 5, you might consider a private tour that could be targeted to your family's particular interests--perhaps sights where you think a professional guide would be most useful. That might not cost more than 5 tickets for a public tour. (I could be wrong; I haven't researched this.)
A walk along the Appian Way and a visit to Ostia Antica would probably go over well. Rick has a free audio guide for Ostia Antica.
Posted by
189 posts
In 2015 we took our grandson and one of his friends to Italy. They were 17 at the time. We went on the Colosseum Underground tour. The boys enjoyed the tour a lot. I'm not familiar with other tours but I can recommend the underground tour. Our guide was excellent.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
The scavi tour mentioned has a strict age limit of 15. No one under 15 is allowed to take the tour so I suspect the OP wouldn't be able to do this.
For the colosseum and Vatican museums tours I would just book through the official websites. These tours are very good and use the headsets so you can clearly hear the guides. You can ask any questions you want without issue. These tours last between 1.5 and 2 hours depending on the site. The colosseum regular tour costs 5 euros each in addition to the 12 euros entry fee. Be aware that all three kids will gain free entry to the colosseum so they will only pay the cost of the tour. The Vatican tour costs 33 euros per adult and 24 euros for the kids.
Donna