Tours in Rome

Posted by polichka3 on 06/17/14 03:18 PM

My friend and I are traveling to Rome for the first time and are wondering which areas are worth booking a tour for and which we can explore on our own. We already decided that we want to do a tour in the Vatican, since it allows us to skip lines and should in general be very interesting and enhance our experience. Please recommend Vatican tour companies that are the best and cheapest.

Also, does it make sense to do tours, in say, the Collisium? Please share your experiences and the companies you used. Thanks all!

Posted by aprilfoolproof

06/20/14 06:08 PM

14 posts

Just back from Rome; although did not do Vatican tour, we did some great tours with tour companies in other areas recommended by Rick and if you have his Rome book, there are tour discount codes for both these:

Through Eternity Tours: http://www.througheternity.com/
They offer Underground Rome; 4 hour tour few blocks start point from Colosseum - amazing and ask for guide Mario! See 3-4 underground sites with fascinating insight into Roman and Christian life in 1st century Rome forward.
Plus I see they offer Underground Colosseum tour too.

Eating Italy Tours: http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/
Great culinary walking tour in Trastevere neighborhood - day or evening choices - go to 10 different cafes/bakeries/markets, etc. All food delicious and proprietors so nice.
Guide Stephania was wonderful!

Rick has good recommendations in Rome book for Vatican tour companies to skip lines.
Ciao` Diane

Posted by Laurel

Forest Grove, OR

06/21/14 04:24 AM

11852 posts

I am very impressed by Walks of Italy's Pristine Sistine tour. I've taken it twice. The advantage is getting in early before the crowds, in a small group (only 12 people).

Posted by Back2Italy

Indianapolis

06/21/14 07:00 PM

247 posts

We traveled through Rome and went sightseeing on our own. Most places in Rome can be seen on your own happily with the RS audio tours or with a good knowledge of the places by reading about them ahead of time. There's some very good documentaries on the Colosseum and Pantheon for free on YouTube or purchased inexpensively from Amazon etc.

We did pay for a tour of the Colosseum from one of the people standing around outside the Colosseum to book tours and it was a mistake... the guide knew less about the building than we did and couldn't answer some basic questions!

In retrospect If I could do it again the one place I felt like we needed a good guide was the Roman Forum...its amazing but also very battered/in pieces so its difficult to understand unless you have a guide. We snuck up behind a group with a different guide who was very good and really brought the place to life we really wished we'd been a part of his group!

So my advice: most places can be explored quite well on your own if you do your homework. If you decide to use a guide for specific locations research and research some more to find a guide who is a good fit. Maybe give them a call or an e-mail and see how helpful/accommodating they are ahead of time.