Tours in Rome?
 

Any tours that are worth going on when in Rome? We will be there in November for 3 days so hopefully we will have nice weather!

I read about a tour of the Dungeons underneath the Colosseum, but didn't know if that was worth the price.

Any suggestions?

What are your interests?

We just want to see Rome. We have never been in this part of Europe. So would love to hear from other people's experiences.

I did tours of the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, Baroque, and Borghese Gallery. Thought they were all worthwhile.

I can imagine noting more boring than a tour of roman dungeons. this is a city that ruled most of the known world for more than a thousand years and has an incredible wealth of history, culture, architecture etc to explore. Certainly see the Colosseum - but the dungeons are worth about 15 minutes.

If you aren't familiar with Rome and it's history- suggest a couple of general tours - one of ancient Rome and one of the Vatican. Then you can explore on your own.

We just got back from Rome. We did the VIP Coliseum and Underground tour with Walks of Italy.

The Underground area is not really a dungeon, so much. A lot had to happen under the stage for the games above, including getting the gladiators and animals up to the stage. It was worth it to go to areas that most do not get to go to....so many people were trying to sneak in with our group. Not only do you skip the lines, but you go onto the stage of the Coliseum, the underground sections and the top tier. If visit the Coliseum on your own...you are pretty much only going to visit the second level of the Coliseum.

The guide was very informative and the tour also includes the Forum. We would not have known a lot of the info about the Forum without the guide. Worth it!!

We also did the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel with Walks of Italy and it was superb!

nytraveler, it isn't really a "dungeon" tour. denisea has it right on - it's a general Colosseum tour, but you only get access to the lowest (dungeon) and highest levels with this tour.

However, ours did not include a guided tour of the Forum (your Colosseum entrance fee does cover entrance to the Forum). denisea, who did you book your tour through? Ours was through Tickitaly, but was the same tour guide that we would have gotten through Pierreci. Did you go through a different tour company to get the Forum guide as well? Ours was in May 2011.

Whoever you book through, our Colosseum tour was around €30 apiece and I thought it was well worth it. If I had it to do again, I'd also spring the extra money for a guided tour of the Forum. If you haven't been to the Vatican Museums, I'd recommend a guide there if you want to really know what you're seeing, rather than just walking through to the Sistine Chapel.

We used Walks of Italy for the VIP Coliseum tour. The same tour included Underground and top tier of the Coliseum and the Forum in the same tour. They take a max of 12/group, so I think the cost is a little higher than some companies, but I would not want to go with a group of 20 or 30 people.

We also used Walks of Italy for their Pristine Sistine tour that includes the Vatican museums and a short time in St Peter's. Really excellent.

We did the Colosseum tour that included the lower level and the top level. We definitely liked it much better than just the main floor that you can go in without the guide.

For the Vatican, I'd suggest getting a tour of the museums and also the Scavi tour. The Scavi tour takes you below St Peters in a group of 15 or less. Go to the Vatican website and search around for the Scavi tour. Then you write a letter to the Vatican requesting tickets.

Thanks, denisea! I'll have to keep them in mind for a future trip, whenever that is. :)

You can do the Borghese Gallery on your own -- and definitely visit there -- but you need to get tickets ahead of time. Do a search on this forum for all the particulars.

We really enjoyed our tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's with Context Rome. Check out Daniella Hunt at www.rome-tours.com. We saw the Colosseum and Roman Forum with her, but she offers a wide variety of tours.

TTT

We did a private tour in Tivoli with Daniella Hunt and she is terrific. The time with her is worth the money but it is more expensive than a group tour.

We did Context Tours. They only take 6 people per tour and I think they are all PHD's (with personality!). We did the Coliseum and Forum on one tour and the Vatican on a separate tour. We enjoyed both very much and thought they were definitely worth the money. You can google them to find out about them. You do want a knowledgeable guide.

Lucky you.

We did tours of the St Peters Basilica/Sistine/Museum, also the Forum and a private tour of the Trastevere.
There are free walking tours of Rome that meet at Keats-Shelley house, near the Spanish Stepes, each evening. They are about 2 hours and give you an overview of the historical center sights.
Google Rome tours - that'll keep you busy for a few days :)