I have a reservation for the Scavi tour at the Vatican but I also want to tour the Vatican and St. Peters. I am traveling with my husband and our 2 teenage boys and I don't want to tour everyone out. Should I take the Scavi tour and just visit the rest on our own or should we do both? How long is the Scale Reale tour? Maybe just do that one, the classic, for now. Help please!

When we took he Scala Reale tour of the Vatican, it lasted about four hours from 9:00 to 1:00. You begin in the Vatican Museum, continue on to the Sistine Chapel and end up in St. Peter's. We really enjoyed the tour and wished we had more time to see more of St. Peter's with the guide. But you can continue on your own.

Personally, I think your teenage boys would enjoy the SR tour because the guides are young and entertaining as well was informative. Both of our guides had a terrific sense of humor.

If you think both tours would be too much in one day, split them out into two different days.

The Scavi Tour is short ~1hr and I think teenage boys would find the tour pretty cool .
Go for both. Regards, Walter

Took the Scale Reale Ancient Rome tour with my two sons (12 & 16 yrs.) and we all truly regretted not booking a Vatican tour with them. We were with our guide for more than 4 hours and she was very interesting. I would definitely recommend SR for the Vatican.

Another vote for Scale Reale. I took a church tour and wish we'd done the vatican and the ancient rome with them. They will not tour out your boys. Be sure to mention you have teenagers--they'll find someone good for you.

Joelle

We took the Scavi tour with our 14 yr. old granddaughter. She liked it. It took 1 hour. It did bother her a little when the guide started talking about bones. Prepare your boys for the tour and I think they will enjoy it.

Did the Vatican and the Colosseum with SR last October- they were fabulous. They could easily hold teen-ager's interest- especially the cute young art student who did our Vatican Tour.
Jan

I see that the SR tours are really getting rave reviews! I just came from their website and it does look fabulous! Here's my question for you - my husband and I are taking our children, boy 11, girl 9, and I'm perplexed about what tours to do with them! I was an art history major, so I would LOVE the in-depth art and architecture tour, but I'm the ONLY one who would enjoy it! My husband and son would likely enjoy the Colosseum and learning about the gladiators and visiting the "church of bones" - our son would think that's really cool - the gorrier the better! Our daughter hates anything scary or gorry and would have nightmares! Should we do seperate tours - my husband and son on 1, my daughter and I on another?
Anyway, I want this to be a rich, rewarding and "educational" experience for them, but I want to keep it interesting and fun so they don't get "bored"! Has anyone taken the SR private family tour that's geared to kids? Any input or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

>I was an art history major, so I would LOVE the in-depth art and architecture tour, but I'm the ONLY one who would enjoy it!

If you get Liz, the art and history person from Scala reale, she'll make it interesting for everyone - she's very funny - my 14 year old daughter wasn't particularly interested in the subject, but she remembered things she told her about certain kinds of church art and owuld mention it in other churches.

You could take separate tours, it's not a bad thing for everyone in a family to take an interest in what other family members are interested in. Make a deal - they come on your art tour, you do something they want or buy them something. I'm a firm believer in bribing kids

Joelle

Thanks Joelle! I've got another opinion question. I'm considering hiring a private tour guide and am sonsidering both SR and www.througheternity.com tours. Another poster mentioned www.througheternity.com also and wanted to get more feedback on doing a private tour(s) with either one of them. Or, if anybody recommends any other tour company that does private tours or small group tours (10 people or less) that's not quite as expensive as SR. Thanks for your help!

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