A reasonable tour guide for Budapest and the Vatican

I have to say, I thought the audioguides available for rental at the Vatican was quite sufficient.

Kathee, I'm sorry I can't help you w/Budapest but w/the Vatican, my 1st reaction was to get in touch w/ the Franciscans. They are noted to be great tour guides in the Holy Land. I assume it applies also to the Vatican. My 2nd guest is to pose this question on the EWTN.com website. They are a cable TV network and have alot of connections in the Catholic world. My 3rd guess is to google on Vatican, pilgrimage, or tours. What you are looking for in a guide is someone who understands the artistic, historical, and religious significance of the architecture, artwork, maps, etc....like a Sister Wendy from Britain on PBS. For Budapest, I would use a separate guide. (Don't need to understand the religious significance as you do w/Vatican City.) When you are finished w/1 tour take a plane to the 2nd site and continue w/ the 2nd guide. Good luck and let us know who and how you finally decided.

There are lots of guides offering services in Budapest at Hero Square if you aren't able to pre-arrange anything. Not sure what's reasonably priced though. I had thought of hiring a guide when I went last summer, but didn't end up going with it.

I was in contact with Tera from this site -- she was very responsive. www.privatetoursbudapest.com.

Best of luck -- don't forget to go to Szechenyi Baths while you're there!