Rome - tours/tour guides?
 

We'll be in Rome Oct 21-23 and want to really experience the art and history, especially that of the Vatican. We've been advised to join a tour or hire a guide. Any recommendations?

TIA - R.

I can whole-heartedly recommend Sonia Tavoletta. She has university degrees and training well beyond the minimum 2 years needed to be an official guide. Her email is [email protected]
Our group of 4 was blessed to have her as our Vatican guide. She will show you what you really need to see and weave a very spell-binding history lesson with her tour. Believe me with the Vatican's vast collection and expansiveness, one can tend to be overloaded with information and sites...she will focus on the important things and with such a charming and agreeable personality. Tell her what you are interested in seeing and she can focus in on what would be a great tour for you. She does other tours besides the Vatican as well.

and btw...i recommended Sonia to a fellow instructor of mine in our local city and she and her companion utilized her on a tour and were greatly pleased.

Check out the Vatican tours offered by the museum itself and you can rent an audio guide to do your own tour at your own pace when you buy your ticket. Check out the museum web site for Visitor Services and to take a Virtual Tour before leaving:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

When we were there, we just joined up with a group that was already in progress. The guide would say, come on in, I'm free, and then we would tip him at the end. We saw the same guide at the Forum later, and he was wonderful!

Rooster, it's been many years but a friend and I took an American Express tour of the Vatican through the American Express office located near the Spanish Steps. Our group was small and the guide was great - looked and sounded like a retired Shakespearean actor (with an Italian accent.) We walked from the Steps through the city to the Vatican and back. Our guide introduced us gradually to the beauties of St. Peter's and then ferried us through the Vatican Museums. It was worth the price. Even though it was a Tuesday in mid February, the site was mobbed and we were happy to have a knowledgeable guide.

Enjoy Rome!

Hi

You can cover a lot on your own and with a good guidebook. But I agree that it is nice to have some guided tour. We took one of Forum and Colosseum and one for the Vatican museum. Check out my trip report with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm for more details :-)

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures