Guided vs Audio Tours
Oct 13th, 2003 | 07:28 AM
#1
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Guided vs Audio Tours
We are a family of 4 (including 2 teenagers)visiting Rome the last week of November. Two of the stops on our list of "must sees" are the Vatican Museums and Palatine Hill/Coloseum, and we understand these sites offer both guided and audio tours.
The guided tours appear to be only slightly more expensive than the audio tours, so cost doesn't seem like the driving factor in choosing between the two. I also know a good guide can make the experience more engaging (especially for teenagers with short attention spans), but I worry that we will end up part of a mob chasing the guide from point to point. I'd worry less if I knew that each guide took only a small group.
I have also heard that you can avoid many of the longest lines by using the guided tours. My research is suggesting that reservations for these tours be made in advance (especially for the Vatican).
Recommendations anyone?
The guided tours appear to be only slightly more expensive than the audio tours, so cost doesn't seem like the driving factor in choosing between the two. I also know a good guide can make the experience more engaging (especially for teenagers with short attention spans), but I worry that we will end up part of a mob chasing the guide from point to point. I'd worry less if I knew that each guide took only a small group.
I have also heard that you can avoid many of the longest lines by using the guided tours. My research is suggesting that reservations for these tours be made in advance (especially for the Vatican).
Recommendations anyone?
Oct 13th, 2003 | 07:57 AM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
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The obvious answer would be that a guided tour would be the better option. Having said that, the Vatican Museum's audio tour is magnificent, the best I've ever experienced. It has one advantage: You determine what you want to see! (Of course, that could also be a disadvantage, if you're not that knowledgeable!) So, in the case of that museum, you can't go wrong either way!
Oct 13th, 2003 | 08:49 AM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
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Hi
I've had at least two experiences in Italy so far in which the guide provided by the institution for English-speakers on the group tour, spoke incomprehensible English. The venues were in Rome: Domus Aurea, and the Vatican.
The Vatican guide took an estimated 20 people.
I would have been much better off with the audio guide.
On the other hand, the guide provided by St Peters for their English-speaking guide turned out to be a native Brit which was a great relief and pleasure.
This language problem is not to be confused with the guides provided by walking tour agencies like Scala Reale, which employes native English-speakers. Scala Reale limits their groups to about 6. They provide truly excellent tours, as long as you are interested in history and culture.
I've had at least two experiences in Italy so far in which the guide provided by the institution for English-speakers on the group tour, spoke incomprehensible English. The venues were in Rome: Domus Aurea, and the Vatican.
The Vatican guide took an estimated 20 people.
I would have been much better off with the audio guide.
On the other hand, the guide provided by St Peters for their English-speaking guide turned out to be a native Brit which was a great relief and pleasure.
This language problem is not to be confused with the guides provided by walking tour agencies like Scala Reale, which employes native English-speakers. Scala Reale limits their groups to about 6. They provide truly excellent tours, as long as you are interested in history and culture.
Oct 13th, 2003 | 09:56 AM
#4
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Posts: n/a
Your question has brought up some interesting points. It's not always in your best interests to choose a guided tour, even though it would be your first inclination.
When we were at the Vatican, we did not arrange for a guided tour, and I felt this was the better choice. The Vatican is very crowded. This means many voices, even in the Sistine Chapel, where, technically, there are supposed to be no voices at any time. The gallery rooms have high ceilings and there are no sound-absorbing carpets or other devices to muffle all the noise. These factors combine to make it very difficult to follow what a tour guide is saying. We observed many tour guides having difficulty making themselves heard. No wonder, in all the cacophony of the Vatican! Unless you were in a very small group such as that which Scala Reale offers, I would rent the audio, as HowardR recommends.
On the other hand, a guided tour on the Palatine and Colleseum is excellent! The open air makes for easy hearing even in larger groups. And it's not really so much of a walk as a hike, and all good hikes are well served by a leader. An audio tour would give you the history of these places, and many interesting facts, of course, but if you want to know the juicy stories, a guide is your best bet. You'll hear so many off-the-cuff quips about this that and the other, to which an audio could not compete.
When we were at the Vatican, we did not arrange for a guided tour, and I felt this was the better choice. The Vatican is very crowded. This means many voices, even in the Sistine Chapel, where, technically, there are supposed to be no voices at any time. The gallery rooms have high ceilings and there are no sound-absorbing carpets or other devices to muffle all the noise. These factors combine to make it very difficult to follow what a tour guide is saying. We observed many tour guides having difficulty making themselves heard. No wonder, in all the cacophony of the Vatican! Unless you were in a very small group such as that which Scala Reale offers, I would rent the audio, as HowardR recommends.
On the other hand, a guided tour on the Palatine and Colleseum is excellent! The open air makes for easy hearing even in larger groups. And it's not really so much of a walk as a hike, and all good hikes are well served by a leader. An audio tour would give you the history of these places, and many interesting facts, of course, but if you want to know the juicy stories, a guide is your best bet. You'll hear so many off-the-cuff quips about this that and the other, to which an audio could not compete.
Oct 14th, 2003 | 08:18 AM
#6
Joined: Oct 2003
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Over drinks at our hotel when we were last in Rome, I had a discussion about this very topic. I had taken a tour of the Vatican the day before with www.threemillennia.com. The couple that I was talking to, told me that they had used the audio guide. They felt that it was extremely informative, however very dry. But they also expressed that they prefered that versus the large groups that they saw walking through. I understood there point. However, my experience was not one of those 40+ people groups led by someone that you can't understand. 3 Millennia keeps their groups sizes small and only uses native english speaking guides. I greatly enjoyed our experience. I don't think that I could of mastered that museum on my own. There is just too much to see and too many rooms. I feel it is better to have someone who knows the place take you through on a logical route, showing you what you HAVE to see.
