Some Rome sights: tour vs on my own

Group tours can save time; we did one that was able to use the tour-group line and get immediately into the Pantheon instead of waiting in line. We did a food walking tour that went thru Trastevere and a bit of the Jewish Ghetto; good food, informative, we felt it was worth it although more expensive than just a group walking tour. We took a group tour thru the Borghese Gallery and thought we got a lot more out of it than we would have just going thru with a guidebook.

I have been to Rome many times, most recently last May. I find tours in general helpful when you want more context and details on the history and culture. I can only comment on the places I have visited.

• Orientation walk can easily be done on your own. The RS guide book provides enough information about the places you will see. The advantage of doing it on you own is that you can go at your own pace. Stop along to get a bite to eat, shop, or just pop into a local church to see some outstanding art work.
• Borghese Gallery tour guide allows you to get a greater understanding of the history of the Gallery and the artwork. The Gallery itself has excellent guided tours at a reasonable cost. The tours allow enough time at the end to revisit favorite works of art and to visit the gardens.
• Jewish Ghetto. I wish I had taken a tour. I have visited the Jewish Ghetto multiple times on my own, had dinner there, and each time I stumble upon something of historical importance. A guide would have made my visits much more meaningful. When I go back next time, I will get a guide.
• Trastevere is a place to wander and get lost. You can just follow your nose and there are some many wonderful places to eat. However, I would recommend a food tour. We have gone on the Eating Europe's tour twice and each time we have eaten at different places and learned even more about this wonderful part of Rome.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I do think I will look for guided tours of the Ghetto and the Borghese Gallery. And maybe a food tour or other group tour here or there as a way to connect with other travelers.

If you have any specific recommendations for group tours or food tours you especially enjoyed in Rome, I'd love to hear about them.

Another vote here for food tours! Our tour with Eating Europe in Rome and the tour guide, Fabio,was top notch. One does not leave hungry! We are returning to Rome in January 2025 with plans to book another food tour with them.

We did the devour sunset food tour of trastevere.

https://devourtours.com/tours/rome-trastevere-gourmet-food-wine-tour/

Your orientation walk can likely be done on your own, but I will throw out a recommendation for Through Eternity Tours. We did this evening walk from Piazza Navona to the Spanish Steps and the insight we got from the guide was outstanding.https://www.througheternity.com/en/rome-tours/rome-evening-walking-tour.html

We went on a RS tour this past April. Arrived in Rome 2 days earlier than expected because of flight changes. We could not get reservations to most attractions with the last minute change. We were happy to find the following 2 options last minute and highly recommend both.
1. We recommend the small group walking tour, Between Holy Doors. We booked on Viator but you can book on the site below.
Roberto (owner) is so knowledgeable and this tour was our favorite tour in Rome.
We are planning to attend his Trastevere Walking Tour when we return to Rome in October.
https://treasuresofrome.it
2. This was our first time to Rome and chose a golf cart evening tour the first night. Knowing we would have jet lag but wanted to get familiar with surroundings. Perfect tour and guide was excellent.
Booked on Travelocity. Rome: City Tour by Golf Cart with Gelato: 06:00 PM. Small group.
There are a few companies that do this. I can recommend the one we went with.
https://www.wheel.tours/

Personally, I wouldn't get a private guide for any of these places. In the Borghese what would a guide say "look at this"? But I went there with much prior knowledge as I teach art in my History classes and art is my passion. Take a walk with amazement in your orientation places. Ostica Antica will probably be sparsely touristed. Enjoy the site in it's glory.

I suggest you gain some knowledge of a hierarchy of places to visit, learn about them, and be open to discover without worrying that you need protection of a guide. Join a small group for tours if you must. But whatever works for you, do it.

I think those prices are steep. It's often possible to find on YouTube ten minute videos of people giving a "walking tour" of Trastevere or Ostia Antica. I think if you take a look at those you will get a sense of whether walking around on your own with a guidebook is just fine, or whether it looks like an onsite guide is going to be worthwhile to you. Of all the things you've listed, Tivoli might be the one where a guide significantly deepens your appreciation of the place.

Another good way to make this decision to spend time at a library or bookstore looking at a picture book of the Borghese Gallery or Ostia Antica.

If you have a very special interest in something like aqueducts or Jewish history, make sure before you pay the fees that the guide is as knowledgeable as you are.

We booked a tour of Borghese Gallery through their web site. It was not expensive and quite good. Unless you know a lot about art already, I can’t imagine appreciating a private tour. But we really did like having a tour, although our original motivation was that was available at the time slot we wanted.