I am trying to book a tour of the Vatican for my family of 3. Do you recommend Context tours or Vatican Tours more? Or should I just book with Amex? Appreciate your advice.
Posted by
Kamloops
26 posts
Hi,
We decided the best fit for our family of 4 was a private tour with Context (thank goodness for credit cards!) We were there the first day the Vatican was open after the conclave. Tour was wonderful, we told them ahead of time that we wanted our kids to have a good time, that was most important to us. We had a 4 hour tour and honestly at the 3 hour mark, we were all exhausted! So much to see and miles of walking!!! I would book one of their group tours if it fits with your time frame, it did not fit with ours. Another great tour is Eating Italy Food Tours. Have fun!
Posted by
San Jose, CA
1994 posts
I also highly recommend Context. I've done more than a dozen of their tours in multiple cities and only had amazing experiences. They'll adapt to your interests and level of involvement in what you're seeing; and the guides are really well qualified for the tours they lead. I, for example, don't like Michelangelo's fresco work (find it bombastic), so while the rest of the group was admiring the Sistine chapel ceiling, the guide talked me through the theology of the ceiling, which really did interest me. I had been to St Peter's and the Vatican museums multiple times on several trips before taking the Context tour, but it still really enhanced my appreciation. The groups are limited to 6 and will go with fewer (typically 3). The small groups are particularly important in a crowded place like the Vatican museums; you can wind you way around the bigger groups to get to what you want to see. On my last trip to Florence I used another company (recommended by RS with timing that worked for me), and I was really disappointed with the hassle of the larger group, and the guide's canned talk aimed at the lowest common denominator.