Rome: To book a tour guide or not
 

I've read all the raving reviews for Context Rome. Most people take the Ancient Rome and Vatican Tour with Context but Fodor's has Through Eternity pegged as the best for a Vatican tour. Agree?

I'm the independent type of traveller but given the amount of sights involved and the rich historical info I have no time to read up on before the trip, I'm debating on whether or not a tour guide is necessary? I would think Ancient Rome would probably need one. But can the Vatican tour be a self-guided audio tour?

I think it depends on what your objective is. If there are very specific items you want to see at the Vatican, I would do it with a guide as the complex is huge. To get in what you really want to see, it may be better to do it with someone who knows the lay of the land. Haven't done Through Eternity, but loved Context Rome. We did a private tour.

Never booked tours on any of my previous trips, but found the Vatican tour helpful. Wish I had done an ancient Rome tour, too - the Forum really needs someone to bring it to life for you (or at least for me). I vaguely recognized some of the structures from Roman archaeology classes in college, but couldn't put them in perspective while I was actually there.

Just spent a week in Rome and didn't use any guides. In retrospect, I think a guide for the Forum might have been a good idea as it's quite [who am I kidding] very difficlut to work out what you're seeing, though being there in Easter week with half of europe didn't help. As for the Vatican, I'm in two minds. THere are plenty of written guides to help you identify what you are seeing, and it is unlikely that a group guide will have the same interests as you, so you could spend lots of time looking at things you are not interested in, and not enough at what attracts your eye. So we could take advantage of Rick Steves' tip to use the group exit to the sistine Chapel, which enables you to slip seemlessly into St. Peter's without having to walk all the way back round the vatican walls, we didn't use the eletronic guides that you can hire at the entrance to the Vatican museum, and I don't think we missed them. I would suggest reading alot before you go, take a good detailed guide with you, and wear you most comfortable shoes!

ttt

I've done it both ways, and preferred my 2nd trip when I toured Ancient Rome and St. Peter's/Vatican with a tour guide. I used Icon Tours and was very pleased... our guide, Mike, was extremely intelligent, passionate and a great story-teller.

Would it be helpful/advisable to bring some kind of opera glasses or binoculars to the Sistine Chapel? How high is that old ceiling anyways?

Also, with all the warnings about the dreaded Vatican Muesums line, what is the average or longest time one would spend on the line for the museums? Say, strolling up around 10-11am. One hour? Two? Less?

If you access the Vatican web-site, you cam try to fax a reservation for thier official tours, either of the museum and sistine chapel or the vatican gardens, or both. You then avoid the queue entirely as you present yourself, apparently, at the exit door [to the right of teh entrance, just follow the queue snaking its way around the vatican walls] about 15 monutes before the tour is due to start.
i say apparently, as I tried this and never got through.
we got to the end of the queue at about 9am, and we were inside the Vatican looking at things at 10.30. We had a snack/lunch in the cafe [very reasonable, there is also a pizzeria and a restaurant] at about 12, and exited the "secret" door at the bottom right hand corner of the sistine chapel a tabout three, so we got straight into St. Peter's and spent about an hour there. [queue for the cupola was too long so we skipped it - an excuse to go back?].
Other postings suggest getting there at lunchtime or later to avoid the queue but this may not work ,if everyone eles has read the same advice.
I guess you have to decide whether you will be able to stand in line for as long as it takes, and not get too tired to enjoy the museum and the chapel. Good luck!