Context Rome tours...how do you like?
 

9 more days until Rome..and now I'm thinking about doing some tours...
We already have the Scavi tour set, and also requested one through the Vatican, but not counting on that.
I've heard great things about Context Rome, and I know my husband would LOVE having some kind of tour that included ruins and the colloseum.
My question is....is it pretty legit and wirth the 4 hrs and about 60 bucks?
I'm also thinking about doing some kind of tour for the Vatican museum, sistine chapel...is context recommended? And how private is the tour?

Thanks ikn advance..

Samantha

Hmm..so I just added the colloseum tour through context rome..but can't seem to find a basic one for the vatican museum/sistine chapel?? Hmm??

Try Rome Walks. We loved our tour of the Vatican/Sistine and the Colloseo/Forum:

http://www.romewalks.com/

Anna Roz

DH and I are not guided-tour people, but we did take a ContextRome tour of the Palatine Hill, the Colisseum and the Forum last year, and very much enjoyed and appreciated it. I took it primarily for the Palatine Hill part, as we've visited the other sites several times. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and was able to answer almost all of the many questions that I and the other people on our tour asked her (I am a big history buff, so probably asked her more obscure questions). There were 6 people on our tour, which was wonderful.

I would say, however, that ContextRome tours are geared more toward people who like history and wants lots of information. I wouldn't say you need to be knowledgeable about Roman history before the tour, because DH certainly wasn't, but I would say our tour was a good one for history buffs.

The other two couples on our tour had each taken one of ContextRome's Vatican museum tours the previous day, and one of them seemed to feel their guide there went into too much detail. Hmmm. A 3-4 hour tour of the Vatican museum - I would expect it to be detailed!

So I just searched the tour guy that would be ours if we chose context rome, and some posters on here have said that Carlos (the tour guide), skipped the Forum! That makes me a little worried, since we want to absorb as much as we can.
I do like how Context starts the Ancient rome tour in the morning...Icon tours doesn't start till 4pm, which seems a little late for a long tour.
I've heard great things from context rome..but of course we want the best experience!

Context Rome was fabulous. I took the Roma Antica tour last May and it was roughly 4 hours and at least half of it was in the Forum.

We will be taking a few Context Rome tours when we visit again in May.

hi, sammygrll,

WE are definitely non-tour takers, but in Rome, I really wished we'd taken one of the Forum - it is so difficult to make head or tail of it without the help of someone who can differentiate one pile of stones from another.

so I'd follow ops' recommendatinos and take a tour.

regards, ann

We just returned from a one-week trip to Rome. Our touring party consisted of two couples. We used Context Rome for three separate tours during our week in the Rome area and we absolutely loved our guides. They were all very passionate about their work, Roman history, Roman culture, and they were able to teach us everything from art techniques, to architecture, to details about the life of the gladiators. We had millions of questions and they were all very knowledgeable about their respective tours. There wasn't a question they couldn't or didn't answer with a passion.

The Context Rome tours are small, which allow you to have constant access to your tour guides to ask questions and get answers.

For our "Ancient Rome" tour there were just four people in our group and our tour guide was Richard Bowen; for our “All-day Trip to Pompeii,” which included the National Archeological Museum of Naples, our tour guide was Federico Poole and there were six people in our tour group. For our “After-Hours Vatican Tour” there were six people in our immediate group and our tour guide was Elizabeth Lev.

Our Context Rome After-Hours Vatican Tour, as a whole, had about 24 tourists in our group, four Context Rome guides, and three Vatican security guards. Other than our Context Rome tour group, we never saw another person during our Vatican tour. It was just our group of 24 tourists, broken up into four small groups, each led by one of the four Context Rome guides. It was very private and sitting in the Sistine Chapel with such a small group was truly a dream come true.

We still talk about our fantastic tours (and always will), and our tour guides will always be a memorable part of our trip. Kudos to our guides and Context Rome for such a fine job!

Sammygirl,

I was very happy with my Context Rome tour, except for the fact that my guide for Ancient Rome (Carlos) skipped over the Forum. I would suggest you correspond with Context in advance and reqeust equal time be given to the Forum.

Also, be aware that the guide named for your scheduled tour may very well NOT be who you get. Both my tours had guides other than who was named on their web schedule.

I would describe their tours almost as seminars. Small groups, lots of opportunites to ask questions, lots of info, very nice for those who have that level of interest!

I felt it was money well spent - and it comes out to much more than $60 US - more like $90 .

We just recently took a Context Rome tour of the Palatine Hill, Forum and Colosseum with Carlos. He was was great. I thought he spent enough time in the Forum.

At the beginning of the tour DH thought he could never last four hours but the time went by quickly. I highly recommend Context Rome.

Just back from Rome where we took the Roma Antica tour (palantine, forum, colliseum.) It was wonderful. Everything just came to life. Our guide, Adam, was so enthusiastic and descriptive. Definitely a highlight.

Another vote for Context - we used them twice in Italy - once in Florence with Emily Wise Miller - and once in Rome with Patricia. Could not have asked for a better tour on either occasion.

Hello Sammygrll,
We took a ContextRome tour of the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel/St. Peters...it was wonderful! Our guide (Jessica) spent way longer than the hours planned. There were 6 people in the group. It was extremely informative and is definitely geared toward those interested in specific historical/artistic information. (I love history & art.) In addition, I took a ContextParis tour at the Louvre, specifically Italian Masters. I was equally impressed with the guide/information/company. Hope this helps...