Rome - Group Tour a good idea?
 

Hi everyone! My mother (age 57) and I (age 30) are considering taking a trip to Rome together. We've both travelled a bit, and I would normally not choose to do a group tour for the obvious reasons. She is interested in this trip because we are Catholic and it's a pilgrimage trip that our diocese is organizing. I've never travelled to Italy before at all, and my mother hasn't been in the past 20 years.

Two reasons I would consider making this trip with the group rather than on our own are 1)if this group will allow us access to some activities we would not normally have, or 2)if it's a good price and we can opt out of activities with the group to do our own thing if we would like.
Another option which I'm not sure if it's possible is to travel on our own at the same time and meet up with the group for some of the activities.

Here are some of the activities on the itinerary:
Daily mass at various churches (which I wouldn't mind missing some)
St. Peter's Square of the Angelus and blessing
Full Day excursion to Assissi
Tour of the Garden of Vatican City, Vatican City and Sistine Chapel.
Wednesday - Papal Audience

The price of the trip is about $2700 per person. This inclues airfare from Kansas City, 6 nights at Hotel Michelangelo, Tours, Transportation, Tour Escort, Daily breakfast and 3 dinners, full day excursion to Assisi including lunch.

I'm guessing would could probably plan our own trip for a better price. But are any of the activities hard to do without a group such as this? I would definitely want tickets for the papal audience...how easy is it to get these on your own? And what about the tour of the Vatican gardens? Are they open to the public?

Thanks for any advice!

Hi KCGirl, I have been on a very similar tour as yours. I went with a group from my parish. One of the great things about it was the daily mass, especially because it will be with your priest in your language. The audience tickets are very easy to get. You can email St. Susanna in Rome, which is the "American church in Rome", and then pick them up when you get there. You can also ask your priest to arrange it for you. I stayed at the Michelangelo hotel, and it is easy walking distance to the Vatican, so a little farther out from other things, but still walkable. A tour of the Vatican gardens can be arrange by faxing the Vatican website. It sounds as if you are experienced in arranging these things for yourself, so if I were you, I might try to so some searches here, and give it a go. I would imagine it could be done more cheaply than the price you quoted. Also, if it would be possible to meet up with your group for the times you would like, then travelling on your own seems to be the more economical option IMO. Either way, have a wonderful trip!

Papal audience tickets are free and easy to get.
http://www.santasusanna.org/
For the Vatican Gardens, check here:
http://www.vatican.ca
I have read about that tour and you have to reserve, but I don't think it's that expensive.

Obviously there would be a benefit to traveling with like-minded people.

If I were to roughly estimate a budget for you for comparable amenities, it would be something like this:
$1000 each for airfare (just a guess, this can vary a lot). So $2000 for airfare.
150 Euros per night for a hotel - the Hotel Michelangelo is very convenient for the Vatican and St. Peters, but not so much for other stuff if you're on your own. If you wanted a hotel that was similarly nice but central, say 200 Euros per night. So 900 - 1200 Euros total for a hotel. The hotel would likely include breakfast.

You would have your pick of churches for mass and don't need a tour for that.

There are organized tours you can join to go to Assisi, but it's a long trip. Just one example, found by Google, at 93 Euros per person:
http://www.guestinitaly.com/tours/tour13.htm

You can get your own tour of the Vatican easily enough, for about 20-25 Euros per person, plus the 12 Euro admission.

The three dinners are perhaps worth 20-30 Euros each.

From a quick look, the price is not outrageous, but you could do better on your own.

I don't think I would do this tour. Partly because of the price, partly because I like to set my own schedule on vacation. Although I like to go to daily Mass, I'm pretty flexible about it on vacation. Note: In Rome, you can go to Santa Susanna (the American church in Rome) or the English, Irish churches for Mass in English if this is important to you. Personally, I'd love to go to Mass in Italian for a change!

Also -- it you are going to Assisi, you may find you want to stay overnight --not just go on the excursion. Nicer after the tour buses leave and much more relaxing for you as I believe it is a couple of hours from Rome.

Except for Mass with your tour group priest, you can arrange ALL of these activies easily on your own (and quite a few more, Catholic oriented and other). Keep in mind your $2700 includes the travel expenses for the leader(s) of the trip (the priest?). Breakfast is most likely the hotel breakfast, no? IF so, it is part of the hotel room rate. And the dinners? You'd probably enjoy going on your own if it is authentic food and Roman atmosphere you are after. If you really prefer the camaraderie of a larger group, then maybe the tour is for you...


If you need the support of a group, be sure and ask what is provided (i.e. in case one of you is ill or gets hurt). Try and determine if you would be better off with or without the group. (If I catch a cold and miss the day for St. Peter's Basilica, I can choose another day if I'm on my own. With the group, that might not be possible.)

Thank you all for you replies! I would definitely rather plan the trip ourselves rather than do the tour. It sounds like we can do anything that the group is doing even if we go by ourselves. Part of the fun is researching and planning the trip! Of course, if my mom really wants us to go with the group it won't be the end of the world. In addition to going to Rome, I'd like to spend a few days in another part of Italy. I'm going to go read up on Italy and Rome, and I'm I'll sure that I'll be back to post more questions! Thanks again!