Tours in Rome

Sorry...bad communication. There are actually 2 separate tours: 1-ancient Rome, 1-the Vatican (museum, chapel, basilica..If I remember correctly). the tour is private. I checked with Ron awhile ago and he wasn't available. I don't remember if she mentioned walking, but I initially told her that my mom doesn't move around well for long periods of time. Anyway...I was just curious if this was a standard price.

Three hours is not a lot of time to ancient Rome let alone add the vatican to it. The tour of the vatican museums offered by the vatican lasts 2 hours. You could book them at:

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

If her tour is advertised as a walking tour then transport would not be included. I would send her an email to see exactly what is included in the tour.

Donna

Check with Ron in Rome to see what he has to offer. (His website alone offers valuable information for people visiting Rome.)

I agree that three hours isn't much time for both Ancient Rome and the Vatican combined. And yes, for that price, transportation would not be included. But then, you can easily get between both sites using public transportation.

This sounds like is a private. and only the outside of the vatican. I would call Ron in Rome and book with him

Ron is moving to Copenhagen in August. I don't think he will be doing tours after mid July. If you are going before them you may want to contact him. You can also contact Stefano at romecabs.com. They give wonderful tours of the city.

Donna

That price is pretty standard for a licensed tour guide in Rome. If your mom has trouble walking, she will probably recommend using taxi transfers which are easy to come by and inexpensive.

I am currently traveling in Rome and came across FREE tours. Three are offered daily, rain or shine, no reservations required, and free, though the common custom is to tip the tour guide. The guides tell you that they are art historians and are licensed by the city of Rome. I went on all three of these tours with a different guide every day. For free these tours are great and if you have general questions about Rome as well, they seem to be able to answer you. I was unsure how much to tip. The first guide (to St. Peter's outside) was ok and I planned to give 2 euros but everyone else was giving paper money (5 euro-20 euro) so I didn't give any. The second tour, City Center, the guide was more personable and I tipped 5 Euros (figuring what I didn't do earlier would make up for this). The third tour, taken today, was not as good, perhaps the guide was not as enthusiastic (Colisseum). Nonetheless the tours are free and you can look into it at www.romefreetour.com. I was told they have similar tours in other major European cities such as Paris, Berlin, and London, plus Boston in the US and places in South America as well. Not sure how to find out about the other tours but navigate the site.

Thank you all for your recommendations. We booked the Vatican tour with Federica and decided to venture around Rome by ourselves. I have taught ancient history for the last 7 years, so I have some knowledge of the sights. One month to Italy!!!