Tour guide in Rome

Thanks, Paula. I'll check it out.

Have not personally hired this guide but highly recommended by a colleague a few years back when she visited Rome. an American and art history graduate. Theresa Potzena
[email protected] Hopefully, she still conducting tours and her rates are amenable.

We're planning to hire Francesca Caruso on our next trip to Rome, based on outstanding things I've heard about her and after listening to her on Rick's radio program. Here's what someone else wrote: We hired a guide for a full day in Rome. I have to tell you, it made all of the sights so much more meaningful. Even our teenagers loved her and loved her stories and descriptions of all the sights. She was really wonderful, incredibly knowledgable and spoke perfect english. Her contact info: [email protected] (EDITED: apparently this email address does not work) 339-261-6482 And there's this blog that raves about her: justgirlsjustitaly. It even has a video clip of her. Double click on the photo where it tells you to. (It's not obviously an embedded video.) Her English is flawless, but her gestures confirm she's Italian. :-)

Would love to Know too! Thomas Hamlett

We used Context Travel a few years ago and were extremely pleased. However, they are very expensive. Here is one half day tour you might want to consider:
http://contexttravel.com/city/Rome/walking_tour_details/Roma_Antica_from_the_Roman_Forum_to_the_Colosseum And another: http://contexttravel.com/city/Rome/walking_tour_details/Classical_Rome But since there are 5 of you, you might want to consider taking one of their private walks.

My email to Francesca Caruso bounced back. If anyone has current contact info, post it here,please.

I have also used Context Travel for a combined coloseum, forum, palatine hill tour. It was limited to 5-6 people. They use "docents" rather than the typical tour guide. The docents usually have advanced degrees in ancient architecture, history, etc. Highly recommended.

Lynda, I would also HIGHLY recommend Francesca Caruso. She's an incredible Guide with a tremendous amount of historical knowledge. I managed to have a short visit with her last weekend at the Tour Reunion, and as always she's enormously popular with everyone. Which E-mail address did you use? Were there any messages when it was "bounced back"? You might try [email protected] (that's the one I have on file). If that doesn't work, post another note and I'll try and find an alternative. Cheers!

Agree with the other posters....Francesca without a doubt is THE BEST guide in Rome. Enjoyed her on our first trip to Rome (a Rick Steves Heart of Italy group tour). On our second trip, when we did the Scavi Tour under St. Peters', a guide who was a part-time contract worker for the Vatican was our tour guide. I just casually asked is she knew Francesca, and the response was a big smile with a "yes, she is the VERY BEST guide in Rome." ..............and that was from her competition :) www.ricksteves.com/news/tournews/guides/francesca_08.htm She absolutely made the ancient sites in Rome come alive, in a very engaging and interesting way. All our fellow tour members also adored her. She's worth every penny. If the other email addresses don't work, call or email Europe through the Back Door, Rick's company, and someone there will know how to get in touch with her for sure.

This is enormously helpful. I had an outdated email for Francesca and will get in touch with her using this one. Many, many thanks.

We used Rich Brunn rome-day-tours.com, because we did not want to be one of a crowd to tour for our first trip to Rome. We shared the tour with one other couple and found Rich to be very knowledgeable and personable. We toured Ancient Rome and the Vatican with him and learned a lot about the history. Rich actually had some very clever ways to get through the crowds which was much appreciated.

I highly recommend Walks of Italy at walksofitaly.com
This is a company founded by an art historian from New Orleans. It is very well-run and provides highly educated, entertaining guides. We toured both the Vatican and Villa Borghese with them recently. Our guide for the Vatican tour was an Italian woman with vast knowledge of the treasures of the Vatican museums. Our guide at the Villa Borghese was an art history graduate student from the US, also top-notch. They offer tours in Rome and Florence and are reasonably priced.

I used Easitaly and loved our guide. She picked us up at our hotel and took us to the Forum. She was very knowledgable and tailored our tour to our specific interests.

I used Easitaly and loved our guide. She picked us up at our hotel and took us to the Forum. She was very knowledgable and tailored our tour to our specific interests.

[email protected]
We used Federica for 2 private tours this past fall and were extremely happy with her expertise, friendliness, and colorful way of bringing everything to life. We visited the Colliseum, Forum, and Pantheon one day with her for 3 hours and the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, another day for 3 hours. Very memorable time. Very helpful, too, with explaining how to get tickets ahead of time for the Vatican. Easy to communicate with her.

Hi, my wife and I had a great 4 hours with Francesca Caruso. We saw the Coliseum, Forum and Capitoline Hill. It was a highlight iof our trip. We had seen some of this before, but we came away this time with a much better aprreciation of what we had experienced. She will make up an itinerary for you when you let her know about your interests. We reached her a [email protected]

Would someone please mention the prices (!) for these tour guides? Please.

Federica charges 50 euros per hour with a minimum of 3 hours. That doesn't include entrance fees or transportation. Hope this helps!

Rich started with 50 Euro per hour for just my husband and me. When another couple was added it was 35 Euro per hour. His tours were definitely worth the money.