Need advice - Context Tours for Gallery Borghese & Vatican
 

I recceived this from my daughter who is visiting Italy & Spain with her husband and two children (ages 4 & 8). I don't know anything about these tours and wonder if anyone has used them and is the cost worth it.

"I am working on our itinerary for our visits to Italy and Spain. I would very much like to schedule two tours with an excellent company called CONTEXT which hires experts in the field. www.contexttravel.com

They lead family tours which are private and geared around children. I'd like to book one for the GALLERY BORGHESE and one of the VATICAN as well. The cost is high--around $680 combined but I think it it is not overpriced. "

I've taken tours with Context Travel in Rome and in Istanbul and found them excellent. I also know several Context Tour guides in Paris and can vouch for their expertise. The guides are residents of the particular city with expertise in the field the tour covers, e.g. an architect leading an architecture tour, a cookbook writer a food tour, etc.

The tours are limited to 6 people so if you are joining their family of four you should have a virtually private tour. I can't recall the price but I found it reasonable for the quality.

we took the tour you sign up for upon purchasing/picking up your ticket, and we thought they were fine. Around 10-15eu or so, I think. Check the website for the entry times they are offered.

Context is the leader among scholars who appreciate the various disciplines of travel. In 2004, Tom Rankin's Scala Reale joined Paul Bennett's Context to form the expansive company of specialists it is today. The docents of Context are no mere "tour guides." They are "first and foremost scholars or specialists, with MAs, Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees in their fields of study." I have used their services for well over a decade. I've done small group tours as well as private tours with them, depending on the budget and the guest list. IMO, they are the best.

I agree that Context tours are fabulous but is the money worth spending with young children in the group. For the Borghese, the difference in price is E20 for the museum docent-led tour and E280 for the Context tour. That's a huge amount of money. If it were only adults I would recommend Context but I don't think it's worth spending the money if one of the parents may need to leave the tour early because the 4 year old loses interest or needs to use the rest room.

Thanks so much to everyone!

DD said the tour was geared around children? So I gather it is a private tour for the family.

I will pass these comments on and really appreciate it.

>>>I'd like to book one for the GALLERY BORGHESE<<<

I'm don't think it would be worth it for such young children at the Borghese (280€ per person?). You are only allowed two hours in the Borghese.

<< 280€ per person? >>

It's E280 for the private tour. The price is for the group, not per person. The Borghese tour is E5 per person.

nanabee - if you go to the Borghese you need to arrive 30 minutes before your time slot to check everything.

Unfortunately I won't be there with them! So it's just DD, SIL and their two children.