Anyone Have Experience with Making Reservations with the Vatican for a Guided Tour?
May 31st, 2006, 11:15 AM
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Anyone Have Experience with Making Reservations with the Vatican for a Guided Tour?
We would like to make reservations for a guided tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel on June 23, basically so that we don't have a horrendous wait in line. I called a number for the Vatican given on this forum (06-6988-4466), and no one ever answered after multiple tries. Yesterday, we tried faxing a request (06-6988-5100) and have yet to receive a reply. Am I overly anxious? Does it take the Vatican a while to respond? If anyone has experience in this, I would appreciate their wisdom!
May 31st, 2006, 11:31 AM
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There is an endless thread about this in the Italy forum at www.slowtrav.com.
You will, eventually, receive a reply stating that your fax has been received, but the policy of the guided visits office of the Vatican Museums is to confirm visits only about one week in advance, which can be a major problem if you have already left home...
There is a telephone number that will get you a real person at the other end - 06 69884676 - but I would strongly suggest that you only call it after you have gone through the appropriate hoops of sending the fax request and if you are about to leave home without having received a visit confirmation.
You will, eventually, receive a reply stating that your fax has been received, but the policy of the guided visits office of the Vatican Museums is to confirm visits only about one week in advance, which can be a major problem if you have already left home...
There is a telephone number that will get you a real person at the other end - 06 69884676 - but I would strongly suggest that you only call it after you have gone through the appropriate hoops of sending the fax request and if you are about to leave home without having received a visit confirmation.
May 31st, 2006, 01:14 PM
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I posted almost this verbatim question a few months ago! It's worth it to jump through the hoops to get a Vatican Museums reservation via fax. We were successful with the very tortuous process, and it was a very nice tour with the advantage of jumping to the head of the very long line.
You can probably search my name and find more info. I faxed three times with no confirmation ever received back. I did get a reservation via fax from the Vatican exactly TWO days before my reservation date, at 5:00 a.m.,, and just barely before I left to catch my plane to Rome. So, maybe have the fax sent directly to your hotel in Rome.
Good luck!
You can probably search my name and find more info. I faxed three times with no confirmation ever received back. I did get a reservation via fax from the Vatican exactly TWO days before my reservation date, at 5:00 a.m.,, and just barely before I left to catch my plane to Rome. So, maybe have the fax sent directly to your hotel in Rome.
Good luck!
May 31st, 2006, 02:15 PM
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Hi Digbydog, I also faxed a request for the exact same day. I will let you know if I hear anything, but I am afraid I will be gone before confirmation, so included in my email the date I was leaving home, and the fax number of the hotel I was visiting in Rome. I am travelling other places first, so I hope it all works out, and the hotel recognizes my name on the fax and saves it. All the best luck to you in this, hope you have a wonderful trip regardless! pp
May 31st, 2006, 03:28 PM
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Here's an alternative. When our group was in Rome last spring we did a Vatican tour with a guide who was just going through the motions. One of our party was using a wheelchair and he was not at all sensitive to her (minimal) needs. The next day we toured the Colosseum and Forum with Francesca Caruso, who can be reached at [email protected] What a difference!
She will respond to your inquiry quickly, is knowledgeable, totally delightful, and as someone else said in an earlier post, passionate. Her fees are very reasonable, and we all agreed that her tour a highlight of our trip to Italy. She even volunteered a turn pushing the wheelchair.
She will respond to your inquiry quickly, is knowledgeable, totally delightful, and as someone else said in an earlier post, passionate. Her fees are very reasonable, and we all agreed that her tour a highlight of our trip to Italy. She even volunteered a turn pushing the wheelchair.
May 31st, 2006, 04:23 PM
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Thanks everyone for your responses! Sounds like this question has been visited before, and I should have done a search first. I think we will be gone before we hear anything, as Rome is the middle of our trip. Unfortunately, we are staying in an apartment, so we will not have a fax. Has anyone not gotten a reservation made a month ahead? Do you need to have the confirmation fax in hand?
Betsy, we booked Francesca Caruso for an ancient Rome tour. We have several friends who loved her. However, she is unavailable for the day we can go to the Vatican, as are all the other guides she recommended.
Betsy, we booked Francesca Caruso for an ancient Rome tour. We have several friends who loved her. However, she is unavailable for the day we can go to the Vatican, as are all the other guides she recommended.
May 31st, 2006, 07:46 PM
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Hi Digbydog,
We were in Rome in late June 2004, and I called that same number from our hotel room the day before we wanted the English guided tour at 11. They had room for all 4 of us.
Was I just lucky? I guess I'll never know.
Perhaps you could ask your hotel concierge to try for you?
good luck!
Dina
We were in Rome in late June 2004, and I called that same number from our hotel room the day before we wanted the English guided tour at 11. They had room for all 4 of us.
Was I just lucky? I guess I'll never know.
Perhaps you could ask your hotel concierge to try for you?
good luck!
Dina
May 31st, 2006, 07:59 PM
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Digby, I'm glad you'll get to tour with Francesca for ancient Rome. Tell her hello from the CA group of nine women who toured with her in April 2005. You may want to stay in touch with her in case she has a cancellation at any time during your stay.
