Rome Tour Companies
 

Has anyone ever used Icon Tours in Rome?

Just got back from Rome. Our hotel there (Daphne Veneto) said they had been using Icon for years with nothing but compliments from their guests. We had already pre-booked tours with Context Rome so we didn't actually use Icon. Our hotel's recommendations on everything else in Rome was right on the money, so I wouldn't hesitate to use Icon.

Dave

We are considering using Context while in Rome this summer. I have read the info on their website, but wondered about your experience with them. Which tour did you take?

rlbpf, My wife and I highly recommend Context. We did 4 tours with them: Arte Vatican, Pompeii, Roma Antica, and Borghese Gallery. All were excellant. The guides were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Most of the tours ran over the alloted time and the guides couldn't have cared less. The guides appear to be independent contractors who offer their services to Context while holding down other jobs. The intimate, small group setting lends itself to a lot of give and take with the guides which we really enjoyed. The Pompeii trip was really interesting and was supposed to include a tour of the museum in Naples where all the neat stuff from Pompeii is being preserved from the elements. However, Air Italia was engaging in a one day sick out/strike the day we took the tour which somehow led to the Pompeii portion of the museum (80% of it apparently) being closed... Our guide, who lives in Naples and met us at the train station, took us on a lengthy city tour instead which was terrific. Considering that it was a gorgeous sunny day in the upper 60s and that Naples has a lot to see, we weren't too disappointed with the way things turned out. One word of caution. There was some confusion on where to meet the guide for the Borghese tour (the info provided by Context gave 2 locations). We found the guide but the other people did not. So if you do that tour, I'd double check the meeting point.

Dave

Did you spend the day in Napoli with Marialaura? I just love her!

massagediva, No, we had Fiorenella (sp?) who was quite lively and lovely!

Dave

Off topic but please tell me if you likes the Hotel Daphne?

Mishka, we loved the Daphne Veneto. Super friendly and helpful, reasonably priced, excellant breakfast, use of a cell phone during your stay, free internet access, and good location for visiting most of the major sights, excepting the Vatican and Colliseum which would probably be 45 minute walks. If you didn't want to walk, there's a taxi station, bus stop and a metro stop less than a minute from the hotel. You can read a lot of reviews about the Daphne Veneto on www.tripadvisor.com (it's under the B&B icon for some reason). I also recommend the Veneto's website: www.daphne-rome.com. The property may be listed under the "Daphne Inn" which consists of 2 properties in close proximity to one another, one of which is the Daphne Veneto.

Dave

dcd, thanks for informative reply and we will make it a point to use Context while in Rome. Had you been to Rome on a previous trip and visited any of the sites you saw with Context? We took a Vatican tour on our last trip and since there is so much to see there wondered if a second visit with Context might be worthwhile.

rlbplf:

I hadn't been to Rome in 20 years and my wife had never been. With our Context Vatican tour, most of the time was spent in the museums/Sistine Chapel as opposed to St. Peters. I'd say maybe 30 minutes was spent in St. Peters. That said, Context is flexible and if your group preferred to focus on St. Peters, I'm sure the guide would oblige.

Dave

I highly recommend Context Rome, but I also had a great separate experience in St Peter's by using the services of one of the guides who conducts groups through St Peter's--you book through the Vatican Tourist Office on St Peter's Square
Tour was about an hour

dcd:
Who did the Roma Antica tour? Do you recall? We are signed up with Giovanna Terzuli for that tour and Elizabeth Lev for the Vatican. I've read good things about Elizabeth, but haven't heard of Giovanna. Thanks.

rlbplf:
We are going on the tours in late June and since I've been looking at the web site I've noticed quite a few of the tours filling up so you might want to make your plans now.

I have not met Giovanna,but in the last for years I have taken about twenty walks with Context Rome,and all of the docents have been really great.If you click on her name on the CR website,you'll get her bio.

that's the last four years! ((d))

For tours, I highly recommend Julia at Odyssey and Daphne at Three Millenia Tours. They've been amazing and shown me such a great time around the city!! Julia does a great Vatican tour and Daphne does a fun wine tour and Off the Beaten Path tour among others. ?'s feel free to write to [email protected]

wliwl:

Giovanna did our Roma Antica tour and was very good. The tour ran about 75 minutes long but she didn't mind at all. She appeared to be the youngest of the Context guides we had and one of the others told me she was relatively new. I think you'll like her.

Dave

Just back from our trip and for those planning, we used ICON for our Ancient Rome tour. They were GREAT!!!!

Had a Vatican/Catacombs tour booked through EnjoyRome/Vastours that was cancelled. We took their Catacombs/Religious sites tour. The sites were great but the guide was HORRIBLE. He could barely speak English.

motor_city_girl:

What was the size of the group on your ICON tour? Did you pre-book? I had been thinking we would do a couple of Context Rome tours, but the ICON option would be more affordable and with two teenagers, the shorter timeframe might be better as well. Thanks for any additional feedback!

motor_city_girl: Oops. I see from your post on another thread that you have already answered the number of people on the tour question. Do you know if they limit it to 10?