Missy2364

I'll be in Rome Nov. 10-15. Does the Vatican offer a decent tour or should I spend the money for Context Rome tour? Also, do you request Scavi tour reservations from Santa Susanna or the Office of Excavations through Vatican website? Thank you for any information you can offer!

gracie04

Hi

I can't comment on the tour through the Vatican itself, but I took the Arte Vaticana tour through Context Rome, and it was wonderful. Ask if Elizabeth Lev is available. She was great; very knowledgeable and personable.

Johanna

Missy2364

Thank you Johanna!

MaureenB

We took the Vatican tour last May. It was very good. But since it's the least expensive way to go, I wasn't being especially critical. We were especially happy to have the reserved entrance time and to avoid the long lines in the sun.

kybourbon

Scroll down to the Scavi for the booking process -
http://www.santasusanna.org/popeVatican/museums.html

massagediva

One of the great things about the Context Rome tour is that the group is limited to six people.There is ample opportunity to ask questions and make special requests.

Julienas

I thought I'd remembered a comment about the Vatican Museum's in house tour, I did a search and found this thread.
One person here didn't like it much.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34702458

Missy2364

Thanks everyone for the information. I have learned SO much reading the posts on this board.

almesq

We also took the Context Rome Vatican tour and thought it was excellent.
We also really enjoyed the Scavi tour and highly recommend it if you are able to get a reservation.

victoria_reynolds

We took 2 Context Rome tours (Arte Vaticana and Underground Rome). Both ended up being private tours because the others were either lost or late. Very expensive waste of money for those people! If you can afford it, take the Context Rome tour. For us, it was a bit of a stretch, and I'm not sure if it was the right decision. The Vatican tour was GREAT, but in the same way that a gourmet meal can be wonderful but never worth the hundreds of dollars it may cost you. At least that's my take. If you'd spend $300-400 on a meal without blinking an eye, that go with Context Rome and you won't regret it. If your budget is more limited, try Icon or Eternal City and unless you are an art historian yourself, I'll bet you'll be happy with them as well. The only option I wouldn't do is self-guided or audio tours, especially not if I was traveling with a group of family or friends. (I find it a pain when everyone is going at their own pace and the Vatican is way too crowded for that.)

massagediva

Victoria-The Context Rome Vatican Museums tour is 60 euros for a four-hour tour.It's not cheap,but not quite the same as a $300 meal.

CristinaR

Has anyone used Greenline Tours in Rome? My travel agent recommeded them.

mauitammy

We took the Vatican tour offered through the Vatican this past June. It was wonderful, but the best thing about it was that we avoided the horrendously long lines. I highly recommend the tour and we also did the Scavi tour which was also wonderful. Excellent tours.

wmandmj

We will be in Rome in Oct and we have reservations for the Scavi and for the audience with the Pope. Do we need reservations to tour the Vatican and the all that it includes? If so, how much time do we allow? We will see the Pope in the morning and do the Scavi in the afternoon? Will we need additional Vatican touring time? Is it open in the evening the week of Oct. 8? Please advise.

victoria_reynolds

If you want to see the Vatican Museums (which include the Sistine Chapel), you need to take a tour. Also, you may want a tour of St. Peter's Basilica. Your audience with the Pope and the Scavi tour are distinct from these tours. All are worthwhile. You'll probably need 2 days in the Vatican area.

victoria_reynolds

Just to clarify, you may be able to enter both the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's as a visitor without a tour guide, but you will likely prefer some sort of guide (at a minimum, an audio guide) to make your visit worthwhile. If at all possible, hire a live guide as a part of a small tour group. These range in price from the your offered by the Vatican to more expensive ones like Thorugh Eternity, Icon, Context Rome.

dorkforcemom

Missy - While I can't speak to the other tours, we took the ContextRome tour of the Vatican & museums in May. It was fantastic! It was my fourth or so time through the Vatican museums and I only wish I had done a tour with them earlier. Hope this helps....

maby17

wmandmj: We will also be in Rome in early October. May I ask when you wrote for your Scavi reservation, and when you heard from them? I e-mailed them in late June, but I'm still waiting and hoping... thanks for any information you can provide about how the process worked for you.

wmandmj

We sent for the Scavi tckts in May and we received our confirmation last week. It is in writing with notice where to pick up the tckts and the time we can enter. They did charge our credit card.

Good Luck. THis is a very special part of our trip.

MJ

nevertooold

We took the Context Vatican tour in May of 2005, and were able to arrange both the Scavi tour and the Vatican own tour this last July when my wife and I returned to Rome with our daughter.

BOTTOM LINE: if you can get on to the Vatican own tour DO IT. Although it was only for the Museum and the Sistine Chapel, it was more informative than Context, and after reading a few tour books (the best being Rick Steves' one on Rome), I am absolutely convinced that there is probably little difference between all of these tours and the information that they provide.
My suggestion is to read up a little before you go, try to get on to the Vatican own tour (it was great not having to stand in a very long and deep line-up), and do St. Peters with Rick.

Also, we found that although the Context tour was terrific for the Palatine, we were more impressed with a guide and tour that we picked up just outside the Colosseum, (we all wore "SPQR" labels) in regards to the Colosseum and the Forum.

I recommend that you save your extra euros for dinner, and use a less costly tour (my friends used Angel Tours, which gave a nice discount per person when requested). The experience and information probably does not vary greatly.