"mostly overgrown weeds" which city was he in?

It depends on your education. If you missed out on most Ancient European stuff then a guide would be good. If you have a smattering of Roman history (say a couple of terms) then hardly worth it.

The idea of going to the eternal city and not seeing the eternal bit. ...

I cant imagine not going into the Colosium when in Rome. I have always found that having a guide for these types of sites has paid off and would highly recommend visiting it with a guide. we used Enjoy Rome for our tours in Rome.

Actually the Forum is one place in Rome that you really need a tour guide. It's a field of broken columns and pieces of marble, hard to imagine it as it was. The Coliseum is easier to picture, especially if you know a little about its history.

I'm not familiar with that tour. The Context Italy ones are highly recommended.

What mimar said. We've walked round the Forum twice now without a guide and I have no idea what I'm looking at - signage is terrible.

by contrast the Colosseum signage is excellent and very informative, and the Palatinate is very easy to understand. [all on the same ticket].

ParadiseLost has produced some excellent guides to the forum but I've never remembered to take them with me.

We took the 4-6 hour tour that included the Coliseum, the Forum and San Clemente with Francesca Caruso in September.
francescainroma@gmail
We found her to be a very engaging guide and she brought the area to life for us. We highly recommend. Additionally that local perspective is really priceless in our humble opinion(s). I agree that the Forum really requires a knowledgeable guide. A footnote-Francesca is featured in the new Rick Steves Rome episode.

Gomiki, we just returned from Rome. DH and I have been to the Colosseum 3 times, but this time our daughter and SIL were with us for their first ever visit to Italy.
We treated them to the Walks of Italy Colosseum inc. underground, and the Forum. Sounds like the one you are considering.

Our daughter and SIL loved the tour, and my husband and I felt that it was a great investment, as the tour guide, Tyson, really brought the place to life for us.

Given the choice to see a pile of old rocks, or Titus and his triumphant army marching down the Sacred Way, with precious goods and prisoners in tow, well, for us I would choose the tour.

Highly recommended.

Thank you everyone for the replies and suggestions.

sundriedpachino, that is the one we are thinking of taking! Thank
you for the feedback.

Gomiki-I also just returned from Italy and we took the Walks of Italy tour with the Underground. I would recommend it to anyone. Our guide was Vincenzo and we loved him. Brought Palantine Hill and the Forum to life. Although I enjoyed the underground, getting to go out on the stage in the Colosseum and then to the third level was the highlight for me. Our group was small (9 people) and although we had to navigate around some of the other tour groups, we had the underground, the stage and the third level to ourselves. We took the AM tour so when we started at Palantine Hill and then the Forum, it wasn't too crowded. We finished at the Colosseum which was pretty busy by then but again with the tour we were on, managed to bypass the crowds.

On thing about Walks of Italy is that they are allowed to use their own guides to do the underground. Some of the other tour companies use their guides for the other part of the tour but then you are handed over to Piericci for the underground. I'm sure they are fine but the groups are bigger.

Of all the tours I took in Italy the Underground Colosseum was my favorite and worth every penny. This was my first time there but my friend traveling with me at been before and she also felt the same way.

paula1470, more great feedback! Thank you.

We took the exact tour you are refferring to in September and it was very worth while. Apparently the person who didn't think the Coliseeum was very worth it wasn't listening or paying attention. It was great to walk out on teh stage of the Coliseum? The view from the top tier was amazing and the undreground portion was a great way to learn and understand how these massive "shows" took place there.

We also had Vincenzo and thought that the tour was well worth the money. i wish I could have absorbed more about the Forum. I would just say eat before you go and take a bottle of water.

denisea-Didn't you love Vincenzo's gladiator figures and the lion he pulled out underground? I agree I felt a little rushed in the Forum. It's just a lot to cover in a little over 3 hours. It wasn't too hot of a day for us but I always carry water with me. We were definitely ready to eat when the tour was over.

The figures totally worked...when he first pulled them out, I wasn't so sure but we did enjoy them!

It was hot and we both should have taken water, we started with just one bottle between us. I did buy a bottle between the Coliseum and the Forum. It was more a lack of base knowledge and inability to remember it all in the Forum (probably because I was starving by then) than it being rushed. It was fast but, like you said so much to cover! We still enjoyed the tour and were really glad we did it.

I'm toying with the idea of going to Rome in Feb on a trip being organised by the night school [which is also a further education college] where we will have 4 hours of italian in the mornings, and excursions in the afternoon.

The good news is that we will have a guide for all of our excursions, the bad news is that they will probably be in italian which will be quite a challenge. If i go i think that i will take print-outs of ParadiseLost's detailed guides - I might have a chance of understanding something then!

oops - that should have read "the night school where i am studying italian" - that makes more sense!

Annhig....can you hire Walter a guide? don't know how in the world he can remember all the stuff he knows! He would probably be the ultimate guide!!

agreed denisea!

it might be quite a long tour though.