My wife and I are going to Rome for 1 week then Florence for 1 week in mid September. We have never used a tour guide on any of our previous vacations (with the kids). Since we have a fair amount of time is it worth it to have a guide? I think I would prefer a private guide rather than a group tour. It's our 25th anniversary and I want it to be a nice part of our trip if we go with a guide.
Craig
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32404 posts
Craig, I've found that having an expert local Guide often provides a much more interesting look at the the history and culture of each area, and I learn far more than if just wandering around on my own. Both Rome and Florence have so much interesting history! You might consider hiring a local Guide for at least one day of your visits to each city, or for visits to specific sites (ie: Vatican Museum, Uffizi, Accademia, etc.). The Guidebook has listings for Guides in each city. In Rome I would highly recommend Francesca Caruso. She's incredibly knowledgeable and provides outstanding tours. Congratulations on your 25th and happy travels!
Posted by
OP
Anacortes, WA
3 posts
Ken, Thanks for the response. I'm going to contact Francesca and see what kind of itinerary she would recommend for us.
Craig.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
www.toursbylocals.com - we've used them a couple of times with great success. Find the city you will be visiting then you'll see all of the local guides. You can read reviews about each of them, too. Have fun.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
http://www.contexttravel.com/city/rome/all-walking-tours Site above lists many walking tours in Rome. We hired a personal guide for two days and saw Ancient Rome, Medieval Rome, and Christian Rome through art and architecture. Definitely worth the money. We saw Rome in two days and then took two more to browse around on our own. I recommend a tour guide, a personal tour guide is best I think.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
I have taken 11 RS tours and on all of them we have had local guides at different locations. All of those local guides have provided a real asset to our tours in that they almost always live (born?) in the location for which they are guiding. Our RS guides know an encyclopedia of knowledge of the overall tour but to have local guides is great.
Posted by
OP
Anacortes, WA
3 posts
Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm going to take the plunge and arrange for a tour guide. Now I just have to figure out which tours.
Craig